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These pictures speak for themselves so there is not much I can add to make the more interesting.
The Mardi Gras parade is at night but people start lining up the streets as early as noon. It was about 4 o'clock when I took this picture looking south on the corner of Oxford and Flinders Streets.
This is looking north on the same street corner (i.e., looking across Oxford Street).
The spectator's behavior was a show in itself!
The pastor of the church on the corner of Flinders and Albion streets must have had an open mind. He organized a band to entertain the waiting crowd and offered coffee and doughnuts to those who entered his church.
There was such a huge crowd that I'm sure only a small minority could have been gay. Generally it does not show but there are some obvious exceptions like the two examples below.
The parade started at 8 o'clock at night with several groups making fun of the Catholic and Anglican Churches. Perhaps it was to exorcise the powerful sexual taboos promulgated by these organizations.
It was probably meant to shock but it drew a lot more laughter from the audience that I would have expected. Such a strong statement would never have been possible in the United States where the constitutional separation of the state and the churches is more theoretical than actual.
I wonder what would have happened if they had dared to lampoon the sexual taboos and sexist practices promulgated by the Muslim religion!
It lasted almost three hours and there was a bit of everything. There were even devils and angels on stilts!
Of course a number of a overdressed drag queens like these two didn't miss the occasion to show their finery.
There were plenty of the underdressed variety as well.
How would you call this one? A "drag king"?
The floats and groups were sponsored by a wide variety of gay and lesbian organisations representing nationalities, professions, sports, sexual preferences and geographic origin.
Here goes the Brazilian group.
This scene shows how sadomasochism and domination turns on the leather pride group.
There were many groups I could not identify but it was entertaining to watch them anyway.
Some themes were quite obvious like Harry Potter's flying broomstick.
Red and white fish, flowers and dark blue armbands! Can you decipher the message?
Clearly, the overall message was that everyone was having a good time.
The good ship lollipop was followed by a large number of men and women wearing sailors caps.
Here also, gays and lesbians mingled to form this enthusiastic group of cheerleaders.
It was almost 11 when the parade ended. I walked back to my a hostel and all the bars I dropped into on the way, were full of happy people. I admit that I can't remember what time it was when I got to bed.
After resting a couple of days, I flew to Noumea.
