{"id":507519,"date":"2026-02-27T12:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T12:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/507519\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T12:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T12:36:08","slug":"mardi-gras-parade-bad-bunny-and-grace-jones-headline-blockbuster-last-day-of-summer-in-sydney-sydney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/507519\/","title":{"rendered":"Mardi Gras parade, Bad Bunny and Grace Jones headline blockbuster last day of summer in Sydney | Sydney"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mardi Gras annual parade, Bad Bunny<\/a> and Grace Jones will headline a bumper nightlife lineup in Sydney on Saturday that will draw more than 350,000 people and test the city\u2019s security and transport systems.<\/p>\n

Sydney\u2019s Mardi Gras showpiece, its sequin-spangled parade, will transform Oxford Street with 170 floats, 10,000 marchers and 250,000 spectators, its organisers estimated on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

On the same evening, avant garde pop diva Grace Jones<\/a> is expected to play to 6,000 people in the Opera House forecourt. Meanwhile, fresh from Super Bowl stardom, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny will perform for 40,000 people at the Olympic Park\u2019s Engie Stadium. A further 15,000 Hilltop Hoods fans will attend a concert at nearby Qudos Bank Arena.<\/p>\n

In the city\u2019s south-west, more than 50,000 people are expected to head to Lakemba\u2019s night markets in celebration of Ramadan.<\/p>\n

For the first time outside New Year\u2019s Eve, the metro will run all night \u2013 the initiative is being touted as the Mardi Gras Express \u2013 as well as limited 24-hour services on trains and light rail.<\/p>\n

Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n

The New South Wales minister for tourism, Steve Kamper, said there was \u201csomething for everyone\u201d on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a huge start to 2026 in Sydney, with Ed Sheeran already playing to a sold-out Accor and an incredible Sydney festival, and this weekend is going to be another blockbuster,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras CEO, Jesse Matheson, said safety was the festival\u2019s priority and that organisers looked forward to \u201cdelivering a powerful and joyful celebration this Saturday\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said organisers worked year-round with agencies and NSW police, and that he was \u201cfocused on ensuring the parade is a safe, welcoming and inclusive space for our community and allies\u201d.<\/p>\n

The gay community was on Wednesday rocked by news of Sydney gay and bisexual teens being lured and then physically attacked by Islamic State-inspired individuals, as reported by the ABC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A NSW police spokesperson said the force had supported the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade for many years and that officers would \u201cconduct a high-visibility operation to ensure the safety of participants, attendees and the community across the event\u201d.<\/p>\n

Police said officers from the public order and riot squad, would be patrolling the event, \u201chowever there is no specific, active or imminent threat\u201d.<\/p>\n

Businesses, bars and venues have been granted extended operating hours, and on Thursday it was announced that the parade route, stretching from Hyde Park down to Moore Park, had been added to Australia\u2019s National Heritage List.<\/p>\n

Brenna Hobson, the director of programming at the Sydney Opera House, said the weekend \u2013 and Grace Jones\u2019s show \u2013 were \u201cgoing to be historic\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a massive swathe of major international cultural moments happening all across the city with Mardi Gras up the road and Bad Bunny<\/a> in the stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a cloudy day forecast, the Bureau of Meteorology\u2019s Robert Urbaniak said there was \u201ca chance of showers any time on Saturday, but nothing too heavy\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere shouldn\u2019t be too many surprises, but unfortunately it won\u2019t be a sunny day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

More than 50,000 people are expected at Lakemba\u2019s Ramadan night markets on Saturday, a Canterbury Bankstown council spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Police said the markets, like other Ramadan events, had long been supported by the force and that officers were liaising with community leaders to keep people safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo provide reassurance to the Muslim community, there will be additional police resources, including under Operation Shelter, deployed to religious and community sites and events based on community needs and risks\u201d, police said.<\/p>\n

The Olympic Park precinct is designed to cope with crowds of up to 80,000, while spectators at Sydney\u2019s New Year\u2019s Eve fireworks display last year numbered more than 1 million.<\/p>\n

Transport for NSW urged people to plan their travel ahead of time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mardi Gras annual parade, Bad Bunny and Grace Jones will headline a bumper nightlife lineup in Sydney…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507520,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-507519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}