A sea of fluorescent colour, glittering floats and eye-capturing costumes have overtaken central Sydney as the queer community broadcast a message of pride to the nation.
Tens of thousands of people lined Oxford Street and craned necks from rooftops and balconies to catch a glimpse of 181 floats taking part in the 47th Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade.
A vast array of LGBTQI performers - some clad in minimal attire - marched to the beat of their own drum, personifying this year's theme of "Free to Be".
By tradition, Dykes on Bikes delivered a deafening first blast to the night's soundtrack before several floats representing First Nations communities and the 78ers - trailblazing gay activists whose bold protest in 1978 sowed the seeds for Australia's largest LGBTQI celebration.
Historians from South Australia, queer Queensland doctors and migrant communities representing Turkey, Japan and other nations highlighted just some of the 11,000 participants' diversity, covering the entire LGBTQI spectrum.
William Weller slipped on a cut-back black and gold Julius Caesar costume and led 19 other "warriors" from the northern NSW city of Tamworth to spotlight the regional queer community.
"It's about the visibility and just being able to show Tamworth has a pride community," he told AAP of Tamworth Pride's third march.
"We've been looking forward ... to seeing the community tonight and just being ourselves."
Emergency department specialist Bhushan Joshi and friends embraced fluro and '80s vibes as the queer doctors and dentists' group GLADD jived to a sunny remix of Olivia Newtown John's Get Physical.
"We want to challenge the shame and guilt that the queer community sometimes feels towards their body or keeping fit," the emergency consultant told AAP.
Rainbow meanwhile took a dark twist to her float's circus theme and painted themselves scaly green to morph into Medusa the Seducer.
"The headpiece took days to make," she said.
Some opted for the safety of rainbow-splashed corporate logos while others boldly flaunted buttocks and chests for an adoring crowd.
Underscoring the parade's political undercurrent, hundreds in the parade adopted a second unofficial theme, holding signs demanding trans kids be protected.
Anthony Albanese made an appearance for the third time as prime minister, while Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and federal independent MPs Allegra Spender, Zali Steggall and senator Lidia Thorpe marched, and Deputy Premier Prue Car was among several state ministers joining public servants in NSW government floats.
Mardi Gras was a celebration of how far the LGBTQI community had come while sadly marking an uptick in verbal abuse, threats of violence and assaults, Equality Australia said.
"It's a reminder that for many people in our communities, particularly trans people, such targeted acts of hate are a year-round occurrence and that despite our gains we are still fighting for equal rights and protections in the law," chief executive Anna Brown said.
Members of Free, Gay and Happy performed the Time Warp in line with their Rocky Horror Picture Show themed float.
The group was founded by Teresa Leggett after she supported her former husband Michael to come out.
"He thought it would be better to be dead than gay," she said, "so I took him to his first Mardi Gras to show him how amazing the gay community was."
Being part of the parade was surreal, Ms Leggett said.
"It's a sound you've never heard before, 250,000 people at that very moment wish they were you," she said.
The parade was not the end of the party, with crowds set to dance through the night across Sydney's rainbow pubs.
The most sought-after ticket? The eight-hour Mardi Gras Party rave at Moore Park, where more than 10,000 are expected to party to dawn.
