Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is an annual gay pride parade and festival for the LGBT community in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Although not a furry event, furries have been involved in the Mardi Gras for many years, organizing a float in the Mardi Gras' street parade.

2006 Event
The furry float for the 2006 Mardi Gras was designed and constructed on a small Hilux ute by Dustan Da Fox, Lupie and Ivan. This was Dustan and Lupie's first year as chief organisers. The float was called "Furries on the Loose" and was themed around furs confined to a zoo breaking out of their cages. Furs ran around while Zookeepers attempted to round-them-up. Some of the escaped furs brandished signs torn from their 'cages', the official side saying 'CAUTION FURRIES - These Animals Yiff' and the reverse side graffitied with 'UNLOCK YOUR CAGE'.

The float, signs and zookeeper shirts were designed and created by Lupie and Dustan Da Fox. The marchers also wore ears and tails if they had them.

Due to the small size of the float vehicle most of the fursuiters had to walk with the non-fursuiters. Some fursuiters became ill from heat stress & dehydration during and after the parade. Since then all future parade entries have had a vehicle large enough to accommodate all the fursuiters so they are not required to walk the parade route.

Furries involved in the 2006 parade were:

Fursuiters

 * Ivan, Lupie, Marcwolf, Marko the Rat, Oz Kangaroo, Ristin, Tzup

The following furs suited in fursuits loaned by Oz Kangaroo:
 * Kushantaiidan, Wolven

Non-fursuiters

 * Bandit, Claybear, Ciron, Dustan Da Fox, Frey Falcon, Harley Coyote, Jay Fear, JayFox, Yuumei Doragon

Support crew

 * Ivan - Sound & Lighting, Techie Fox - Media/photography, Tursiae - Media/photography

2007 Event
The furry float for the 2007 Mardi Gras was a constructed on a flatbed truck by Dustan Da Fox and Lupie, with the theme "Furries Love to be Wild". The jungle-undergrowth design was painted with the assistance of Barbary Lion, Harley Coyote, and Jay Fear.

The fursuiters attending the event rode on the float whilst non-fursuiters walked behind wearing black T-shirts with a rainbow-colour pawprint motif. The marchers also wore ears and tails if they had them and some carried rainbow coloured pawprints.

Furries involved in the 2007 parade were:

Fursuiters

 * Lupie, Marcwolf, Marko the Rat, Oz Kangaroo, Rabid Lycanthrope, Ristin, Stephen Quoll, Techie Fox, Tzup

The following furs suited in fursuits loaned by Oz Kangaroo:
 * GreyFox, Harley Coyote, Weasely, Wolven

Non-fursuiters

 * AlexOtter, AngelKitty, Auri, Bandit, Barbary Lion, Dustan Da Fox, Frey Falcon, Jay Fear, Miles the Otter, Smacky Wolf, Will Bunny, Yuumei Doragon

Support crew

 * Claybear - Driver, Hendikins - Media/photography, Ivan - Sound & Lighting

2008 Event
The furry float for the 30th anniversary 2008 Mardi Gras was a constructed on a flatbed truck by Dustan Da Fox and Lupie. The float was "Planet of the Furs", a parody of Planet of the Apes to tie in with the Mardi Gras theme of 'Brave New Worlds'.

The planet design, T-shirts and 'furrified' Statue of Liberty were designed and created by Lupie, and Dustan Da Fox. Assistance on T-shirt production was provided by Barbary Lion and Yuumei Doragon with assistance on float assembly provided by BC Wolf and Ivan. Techie Fox choreographed the music.

Most of the fursuiters attending the event rode on the float whilst non-fursuiters walked behind wearing white T-shirts stylised to represent spacesuits. The marchers also wore ears and tails if they had them.

Furries involved in the 2008 parade were:

Fursuiters

 * Atpaw, BC Wolf, ColinRaccoon, Ivan, Lupie, Marcwolf, Marko the Rat, Rose Quoll, Stephen Quoll, Taubu, Techie Fox, Weasely, Zwabbe

Non-fursuiters

 * AngelKitty, Bandit, Barbary Lion, Dustan Da Fox, Frey Falcon, Harley Coyote, Jay Fear, JayFox, Jes'ad, Kai, KibaWolf, Koneko, Lady Red, Luketh, Mindfyer, Nipper, Packer, Paws, Wolven, Xy, Yuumei Doragon

Support crew

 * Claybear - Driver, Hendikins - Media/photography, Ivan - Sound & Lighting, Temba - Media/photography

2009 Event
Mardi Gras 2009 was the 31st annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. It launched on February 14, 2009, and the street parade and party was held on Saturday March 7.

The furry float for the 2009 Mardi Gras was a constructed on a flatbed truck by Claybear, Ivan, Lupie, and Wolven. The float was "Furovision", a spoof on the Eurovision Song Contest to tie in with the 2009 Mardi Gras theme of 'Nations United'.

The logo design for the T-shirts and float was designed by Lupie. The props were constructed by Barbary Lion and Yuumei Doragon with assistance on final float assembly and setup provided by Amaya, BC Wolf, Dustan Da Fox, Ivan, Jes'ad, Lupie, Techie Fox, Wolven and Yuumei Doragon.

The fursuiters attending the event rode on the float whilst non-fursuiters walked behind wearing black T-shirts with 'Furovision' on the front and 'Furovision Song Contest - Mardi Gras 2009' on the rear. Participants wore ears and tails if they had them and were provided with prop microphones and handheld confetti lauchers.

Jes'ad and Techie Fox choreographed the music using songs from the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Eurovision Song Contests. The tracks were:-

Dancing Lasha Tumbai - Verda Serduchka (Ukraine - 2007) Water - Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankoulov (Bulgaria - 2007) This is my Life - Euroband (Iceland - 2008) Hero - Charlotte Perrelli (Sweden - 2008) Show me your Love - Tina Karol (Ukraine - 2006) Vodka - Morena (Malta - 2008)

The 2009 parade was also aired live on Foxtel via their 'Main Event' pay-per-view service.

Furries involved in the 2009 parade were:

Fursuiters/Costumers

 * BC Wolf, ColinRaccoon, Devil, Dustan Da Fox, Gaz_a, Ivan, Lupie, Marko the Rat, Spence, Stephen Quoll, Taubu, Techie Fox, Wolven, Zwabbe

Non-fursuiters

 * Amaya, AngelKitty, Barbary Lion, JayFox, Jes'ad, Kai, Paul Fox, Sarketch, Stripe Husky, Treemeadow, Verity, Yuumei Doragon

Support crew

 * AussieHusky - Catering, Claybear - Driver, Eldrich - Media/video, Hendikins - Media/photography, Ivan - Sound & Lighting

2010 Event
Mardi Gras 2010 was the 32nd annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. It launched on February 20, 2010, and the street parade and party was held on Saturday February 27.

The furry float for the 2010 Mardi Gras was a constructed on a flatbed truck by Claybear, Ivan, Lupie, Barbary Lion, Dustan Da Fox and Wolven. The float was "Studio FiftyFur", a spoof on the Studio 54 Disco to tie in with the 2010 Mardi Gras theme of 'History of the World'.

The logo design for the T-shirts and float was designed by Lupie. The float decorations were constructed by Barbary Lion, Dustan Da Fox, Techie Fox, Yuumei Doragon and Odax Lynx with assistance on final float assembly and setup provided by Barbary Lion, BC Wolf, Dustan Da Fox, Ivan, Lupie, Techie Fox, Wolven and Yuumei Doragon.

The fursuiters attending the event rode on the float whilst non-fursuiters walked behind wearing black T-shirts with 'Studio FiftyFur' on the front and 'Studio FiftyFur- Mardi Gras 2010' on the rear. Participants wore ears and tails if they had them.

Jes'ad mixed the music using disco songs from the late 70s and early 80s. The tracks were:-

Patrick Hernandez – Born to be Alive Donna Summer – Hot Stuff The Trammps – Disco Inferno Bee Gees – You Should be Dancing Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop til you get Enough Michael Jackson - Blame It On The Boogie Earth, Wind & Fire – Boogie Wonderland KC & the Sunshine Band – Shake, Shake, Shake

The 2010 parade was also aired live on the Arena cable/satellite network.

Furries involved in the 2010 parade were:

Fursuiters/Costumers

 * BC Wolf, ColinRaccoon, Dustan Da Fox, Ivan, Lupie, Marko the Rat, Spence, Stephen Quoll, Wolven, Eldrich (in Ziggy, provided by Marko the Rat)

Non-fursuiters

 * Amaya, AngelKitty, Arti Husky, Barbary Lion, Flicker, Helena, JayFox, Jes'ad, Little Fluff, Luketh, Odax Lynx, Paul Fox, Paws, Sarketch, Silver, Stripe Husky, Teal, Techie Fox, Treemeadow, Yuumei Doragon

Support crew

 * Claybear - Driver, Techie Fox - Media/video, Hendikins - Media/photography, Ivan - Sound & Lighting