WorldPride

The opening event in the Domain kicked off 17 days of LGBTQIA+ fun and festivities.

[Olivia Ireland](/by/olivia-ireland-p536pn)is a breaking news reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via WorldPride 2023 coincides with the 50th anniversary of the first Australian Gay Pride Week, the 45th anniversary of the Mardi Gras Parade and the fifth anniversary of the Australian marriage equality plebiscite. The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. The parade will go up Oxford Street and down Flinders Street before ending on Anzac Parade. The concert was a sellout with 20,000 tickets issued. Kylie Minogue headlined WorldPride’s opening concert at the Domain on Friday night,

Live and Proud was a drag spectacular, with Casey Donovan and Charli XCX among the many highlights.

Mardi Gras 78er Robyn Kennedy gave a powerful spoken-word performance as Sheldon Riley sang his composition Rise (“I won’t just survive / Oh you will see me thrive”), accompanied by the huge Out and Loud Gay and Lesbian Choir. Indeed, the lineup of Indigenous artists was particularly strong: Donovan, Jessica Mauboy, Electric Fields’ Zaachariaha Fielding, soprano Deborah Cheetham. We were treated to a post-millennium setlist from Minogue, dressed in blue and black jumpsuit: Spinning Around, Get Outta My Way, Light Years, Supernova, Your Disco Needs You, Slow and Can’t Get You Out of My Head. Minogue would be a repeat guest over the years in the party’s packed, sweaty pavilions. For dance we did en masse as an essential queer communal act, almost 45 years after the city’s first Gay Mardi Gras ended in 53 arrests and some brutal police bashings. The political messages, meanwhile, did not go unheeded.

Sydney's biggest weekend in years has kicked off with the WorldPride opening concert featuring a star-studded cast including Kylie Minogue and Jessica ...

Kylie Minogue was a force of nature, leaving the audience in utter awe with every move.

“The queer community have kept my career alive, and I feel so understood in this space and I owe everything that I have to all of you. For anyone who dares to discount a woman in music after she pushes 30, the 54-year-old music supreme, also titled Australia’s highest-selling recording artist of all time, was a force of nature, leaving the audience in utter awe with every move. Ben Franklin, former Minister of the Arts, took to welcoming the next act - a showcase of Australian ballroom culture featuring the almighty House of Silky, House of Luna, and House of Slé. The coursing beats of Get Outta My Way are next to follow as Minogue flawlessly dances about the stage, with any freeze frame capturing an impeccable stature of poise and control. It was a lot sweatier than this though because it was indoors but I’m so happy to be here with all of you tonight.” Two backup dancers join her for 1999, but the three together deliver the same intensity of a full stage. Australia’s pop powerhouse Jessica Mauboy arrives in an entourage of hot pink and a waterfall of curls flowing down her back, opening her set with her infectious party-starter Glow. Riley offers a tear-jerking ode to the 78ers, the marchers of Australia’s first Mardi Gras in 1978 who through their fight, paved the way for the beautiful celebration we get to enjoy together today. Smashing out hit after hit, the energy doesn’t dip even for a moment as Mauboy electrifies the audience with crowd-favourites Running Back, Been Waiting and Burn. Kate Wickett, CEO of Sydney WorldPride, then stepped out before the crowd in a roaring blaze from her Dykes On Bikes entourage, thundering across the stage. Our co-host Casey Donovan returns again, this time in a shimmering cascade of flamingo pink satin, belting a breath-taking rendition of the Bob Dylan classic Make You Feel My Love. Courtney Act ducks away momentarily to return to the stage in glittering gold, sans balloons, kicking off a full musical number, pulling out all the stops for a completely camp spectacular.

On the ABC, the Sydney WorldPride Opening Concert kicked off with a bang, pulling in 214000 views. Kylie Minogue headlined the event.

Rockwiz on Fox8 topped the subscription TV charts with 40,000 views, followed by Credlin on Sky News Live with 38,000. On the ABC, the Sydney WorldPride Opening Concert kicked off with a bang, pulling in 214,000 views. Kylie Minogue headlined the event with a surprise performance from Dannii Minogue. Earlier in the night, Hot Seat reached 318,000, followed by For The Love Of Pets with 284,000. On the program, electronic retailer, The Good Guys became aware of a data breach that occurred in 2021. The AFL practice match between West Coast and Port Adelaide clocked 32,000.