Overview
When a huge global pride festival is heading Down Under for the first time — making its debut in the southern hemisphere, in fact — how do you celebrate? For Sydney WorldPride, there's a dazzling list of options. The LGBTQIA+ fest will hit town from February 17–March 5 with 300-plus events, and it's dropping its full lineup on Wednesday, November 9. It's also setting up a giant rainbow sand sculpture to help kick off the fun.
On that very day, to add something else stunning to the program launch — other than the program itself, that is — a giant Sydney WorldPride rainbow sand sculpture will grace the Bondi Pavilion forecourt. The festival team are making a big deal of the occasion because it deserves it, and because it'll also be 100 days until the event itself kicks off, with this sandy rainbow taking up residence just from sunrise to sunset on the Wednesday.
Head on down and you won't miss it. Expect it to feature in your social feeds heavily, too. The sculpture will measure 2.4 metres in height and 4.5 metres in width, and is apparently the largest rainbow sculpture of its kind.
Spectacular sights and Bondi Beach naturally go hand in hand, of course. The famed Sydney stretch of sand is also known to host extra eye-catching attractions — a statue of Borat and a Stranger Things rift have all graced the spot in the past.
Also, Sydneysiders have had plenty of rainbows to enjoy recently, all celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community. Darlinghurst is famously home to a rainbow crossing — and in Surry Hills, the City of Sydney implemented a lengthy path in Prince Alfred Park decked out in the same multicoloured stripes. Also, Coogee also has its own cheerfully hued monument, turning part of the suburb's beachfront into a rainbow walkway.
Sydney WorldPride's one-day-only rainbow sand sculpture is the first in a whole heap of rainbow art and installations coming to the Harbour City, and Greater Sydney as well, courtesy of around 45 free public artworks spanning everywhere from the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney to the Scenic Skyway in Katoomba.
Before the full lineup is announced, the fest has already unveiled big-name events like the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade to Oxford Street, Kylie Minogue headlining the opening concert, plus MUNA and G Flip doing the same at the closing gig.
Find the Sydney WorldPride at the Bondi Pavilion forecourt from sunrise to sunset on Wednesday, November 9. Sydney WorldPride will run from February 17–March 5, 2023. For more information, head to the event's website.
Images: Destination NSW.
Thinking about Sydney WorldPride's big opening gig, Live and Proud: Sydney WorldPride Opening Concert, too? General admission tickets have sold out, with only Sydney WorldPride's affordability option left — but you can still head along thanks to Concrete Playground Trips. The Sydney WorldPride package includes tickets to the Domain Dance Party and Live and Proud: Opening Concert, plus three nights at the PARKROYAL Darling Harbour Sydney.