While Sydney's LGBTQIA+ nightlife is loud and proud all year round, it'll be truly buzzing when Mardi Gras 2024 celebrates Australia's queer communities with fabulous events, parties and concerts from 16 February to 3 March 2024. Shimmy onto a packed dancefloor or gather your tribe in an intimate corner booth — there are plenty of LGBTQIA+ venues to enjoy across the city's queer-friendly neighbourhoods.

Party all night in Darlinghurst and Surry Hills

Feel right at home at the Darlinghurst end of Oxford Street, Sydney's LGBTQIA+ heartland and the setting of the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. Ease into the scene with a beer or a cocktail at The Colombian Hotel, a multi-level pub occupying a prime position on the corner of Oxford and Crown streets in Darlinghurst. Count your blessings if you can snag a stool at the venue's long open window — you can settle in for an epic session of people-watching.

Lose track of time as you dance and dine across the four levels of the iconic Oxford Hotel, a couple of minutes' walk up Oxford Street from the Colombian. Or step back in time a few doors down from the Oxford Hotel at Palms on Oxford, which draws an inclusive crowd for its classic disco and pop from the '80s, '90s, and '00s from Thursday to Sunday. And strike up random conversations with strangers in between drag shows at the busy Stonewall Hotel, across the road from The Oxford Hotel on Oxford Street.

Launch yourself into the local clubbing scene at Oxford Street's Universal, a dual-level space with dancing downstairs and drag and performances upstairs, and Darlinghurst institution Arq, which has reopened its Arena dancefloor and Vortex performance space, just off Taylor Square on Flinders Street, following extensive renovations. Dance the night away amid confetti cannons, Australian pop royalty and Sydney's biggest drag acts at POOF DOOF, an all-inclusive party that takes over the top two floors of Kinselas on Taylor Square each Saturday night.

Take a breather at The Beresford, arguably Sydney's most upscale queer haunt that's only a few minutes' walk away from Taylor Square on leafy Bourke Street in Surry Hills. Refresh with a drink in the leafy courtyard during the popular Sunday afternoon DJ sessions, perhaps lingering to head upstairs to dance later in the evening.

Fire your imagination in Newtown and surrounds

Spread your wings and explore Sydney's inner west, a ring of suburbs close to the city centre that are home to many of the city's bohemian and LGBTQIA+ residents. Feel your senses come alive as you make your way down colourful King Street in Newtown and adjoining Enmore Road in Enmore, encountering small bars, cafés and venues that welcome queer and non-queer patrons in equal measure. Restore your energy levels with a refreshing drink at safe spaces for rainbow communities like Newtown Hotel, The Bank Hotel and the Marlborough Hotel, or 'the Marly', which hosts regular queer events.

Join a raucous basement party at the inner west's quintessential LGBTQIA+ venue, The Imperial, a few minutes' walk away from Newtown in Erskineville, catch a drag show over dinner at The Impy's Priscillas restaurant, or head upstairs for pizza with a side dish of dirty Italian disco at Carlotta's Rooftop bar.

Catch experimental theatre, a sweaty rave or a blistering punk gig at The Red Rattler, a queer-run non-profit venue established to amplify the voices of Sydney's non-conforming artists and performers in Marrickville, a 10-minute drive from Newtown.

Connect with locals at events and parties

Celebrate inclusiveness at the biggest event on the LGBTQIA+ calendar, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, though you'll also find plenty happening outside the regular Mardi Gras festival period in February and March.

Leather up and head along to an Extra Dirty dance party at a variety of venues across the city. Find like-minded lesbians at the sophisticated Lemons With A Twist get-togethers on the first Friday of the month at the Burdekin Hotel in Darlinghurst. And dip into the city's bear culture at Bear Essentials, Harbour City Bears' massive disco held each year during the Mardi Gras festival, or join the gay social group at inclusive gatherings each Friday night at the Oxford Hotel in Darlinghurst and on Sunday afternoons at the Town Hall Hotel in Newtown.

Connect with the Queer As Fvck crew, which hosts gigs by local independent rock bands along with DJs and drag artists, if you prefer guitars to glitter balls. Or lean more alternative with the House of Mince's regular Club Mince events, which often feature edgy international DJs and rappers.

And look for the next pop-up event by Heaps Gay, which seeks out under-utilised indoor and outdoor spaces for 12-hour fiestas. Heaps Gay events are so friendly and inclusive that they've become popular with non-LGBTQIA+ patrons too.

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