Sydney Mardi Gras organisers have launched a bold new schedule of events and guest performers for their 30th anniversary 2008 Festival - but a "simple" question posed by Festival Director Marcus Bourget has got people talking.
"As we celebrate the 30th anniversary, the question I have for you is a simple one – can we imagine a Mardi Gras without the Parade?" asked Marcus at the Festival guide launch.
"A 2005 study commissioned by New Mardi Gras for the Premier's Department concluded that Mardi Gras was responsible for bringing $46 million into the New South Wales economy. It remains one of my great frustrations that we are still unable to share in the millions of dollars we generate for the state."
Marcus said that Mardi Gras does get some support, but it pales in comparison to what it generates for the economy - and it's time something changed.
"Do we use the many hundreds of thousands of dollars it costs to stage [the parade] and instead use some of this money to invest and grow our Fair Day?" he asked.
"Does Fair Day become our community's mark of remembrance? Or do we strip back the parade to its essential core – a protest? Do we, in fact, start at Hyde Park with a walk of remembrance up Oxford Street and into Moore Park? A march without floats, without music and without crowds, but a march for ourselves, our friends, our families, our kids, our community?"
Mardi Gras' theme for 2008 is 'Brave New Worlds', and features a charity night of musical theatre, an art show, film festival, pool party, fair day in Victoria Park, shows from Margaret Cho, Cyndi Lauper, Pam Ann and many more international guest entertainers.
The Festival concludes with the annual Mardi Gras Parade and Party on Saturday 1 March.