Shining at Mardi Gras 2022: Behind the Scenes
Did you see us at Mardi Gras? Like many in the queer community, our fabulous Out For Australia volunteers marched in the SCG Stadium with wide grins and our banner held high. But what’s the story behind our parade?
The meaning behind our float
As early as December last year, our team of Mardi Gras coordinators were in the planning stages. Heading the operation was Ian Thomas, Mardi Gras Director, who we proudly welcomed into the role.
Ian has been volunteering with Out For Australia for about 12 months, having first joined as last year’s 30 Under 30 Director. After retiring from public relations and event management, he now works full-time as a visual artist, which has allowed him to take on projects with Out For Australia to produce colourful, creative events like Mardi Gras.
"We had a brainstorming session to try and work out what we wanted to do [for Mardi Gras]," said Ian. “We talked about what OFA is and what it does, and how that could fit with the theme.”
That being ‘United we shine’, the official theme for Mardi Gras 2022. The team ended up taking inspiration from Out For Australia's core mission: to provide visible mentors, role models, thought leadership and targeted support to LGBTQIA+ professionals.
The result?
‘United in the power of mentorship
we create shining futures for our community.’
This formed the look and feel of our parade.
Shining in our costumes
If you saw us at Mardi Gras, you might have noticed our white and silver outfits. Each one embodied the power of our parade theme.
“To communicate who we were, half of the group would wear t-shirts with Out For Australia [written] on the front, and ‘Mentors, Events, and Community’ on the back,” Ian said. “A simple distillation of who we are and what we do.”
Caption: Lacey-Jade Christie and Frances Gamble smiling and posing for the camera. Frances wears a t-shirt with ‘Out For Australia’ written in big text.
Inspiration for the t-shirt design came from English designer Katherine Hamnett, who used message t-shirts in the 80s to make strong political statements. Hamnett’s public request for her design to be ripped off led to individuals like Holly Johnson from ‘Frankie Goes to Hollywood’ to design Frankie t-shirts as an act of queer activism.
In their case, the Mardi Gras team wanted to show all the pillars of our organisation that support LGBTQIA+ people to be their authentic selves: Mentors. Events. Community.
As for the other half of the group? “They were dressed in outfits representing students and professionals—the people we [Out For Australia] talk to,” Ian said. Graduate caps, chef uniforms, medical scrubs, lab coats, painting overalls, even an astronaut spacesuit. These paid tribute to the people we support across education and the workplace.
Caption: Hayley Dobbin, shining graduate, laughing while holding an ice cream cone.
Caption: Chris Bamford (choreographer), Ian Thomas (OFA Mardi Gras Director) and Micheal Do (float participant) smiling and posing for the camera.
Colour played an important role in the overall design. The team wore white to stand out amongst the rainbow Mardi Gras crowd, using silver embellishments to represent the theme of ‘shining futures’.
And shine they did. Through a costume workshop held by renowned Australian fashion designer Gary Bigeni (@garybigeni) the team customised their outfits however they wished. They used everything from sparkling sequins to glittering rhinestones. For those of us who couldn’t make it in-person, the workshop was streamed via Zoom.
Caption: Mannequins dressed in the OFA Mardi Gras costumes, from the workshop held in The Nest Creative Space in Redfern, Sydney.
Caption: Designer Gary Bigeni working with float participant, Gino Sang Ho. Gino is trimming white fabric.
Caption: OFA volunteer, Kenny Phan, who designed the OFA t-shirts and banner. Kenny is surrounded with sewing equipment while handling sparkly fabric.
Dancing in the spotlight
Seventy-five seconds in the spotlight isn’t a lot of time, but it was enough for our parade to bust out some moves.
The team brought in choreographer Chris Bamford (@chunkydancer) to put together a dance routine and a few in-person rehearsals, with video recordings for people out of the state.
Mystique Smyth, one of Chris’ dance students, also headed the parade as dance leader.
The chosen soundtrack was the Dubrocca remix of ‘Work’ by Rihanna ft. Drake—fitting our focus on authenticity in the workplace!
Caption: Mystique Smyth (dance leader) shown dancing at the front of the OFA Mardi Gras parade.
What was it like to march?
This year was actually the first time Ian was part of a parade.
“I didn’t expect the atmosphere to be quite so amazing,” he said. “There was a point where we had to queue up in our floats and then go into the tunnel [of the SCG Stadium]. We turned the corner and suddenly, there was this explosion of light and noise.”
Caption: The OFA parade shown from the back as they enter the crowded SCG arena.
Caption: Float participant, Fin Walker, in a sparkly chef’s outfit.
From there, Ian and the rest of the team marched around the field of the stadium, before stopping in front of thousands of viewers and doing the dance routine they spent weeks rehearsing for.
“The experience of being there was joyful,” Ian continued. “It felt really special to be celebrating what makes the queer community shine in such a public arena, and to feel that support and sense of community on a major scale.”
“On a personal level, I found the whole thing emotional. My partner, my daughter and her friends were marching with me. So alongside the amazing OFA volunteers, I got to march with some of the people closest to me.”
For those of us who couldn’t be there, we were proud to see Out For Australia on our screens. Amidst the sea of colours, they were shining icons united under a banner of our organisation’s signature coral red.
Caption: The OFA Mardi Gras team waits in the tunnel to enter the SCG arena. They are cheering and posing for the camera, the red banner held high. It reads ‘Out For Australia. United in the Power of LGBTQIA+ Mentoring’.
Special thanks to everyone who helped with Mardi Gras this year: Ian Thomas, John Willers, Minh Pham, Jai Leighton, Frances Gamble, and countless others featured throughout this post and beyond.
Photography by Erwin Chen.
Where to from here
Next year will see Mardi Gras and Sydney WorldPride working together to present a truly global LGBTQIA+ pride festival. While it’s a long way away, we’re excited about getting involved. You can, too!
Right now, we’re recruiting for a range of roles in our organisation. From being a National Mentoring Director to a Data Analyst, you can experience the power of mentorship, events, and community that Out For Australia stands for. Mardi Gras is only the tip of the iceberg—we have so many initiatives that support and elevate the voices of our community.
So why wait? Check out our available roles on our Volunteer with us page.
