Get Ready, Darlings: Mardi Gras 2026 Goes ECSTATICA ✨🌈

Sweet Release
Sep 29
3 min read

Hold onto your wigs, Southern Highlands queers and allies, because Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has just dropped the glitter bomb of the season.

The 2026 festival theme has been revealed and honey, it is nothing short of electric. Welcome to ECSTATICA - a dazzling call to joy, resistance, and radical self-expression that’s going to leave Oxford Street vibrating with sequins, sweat, and unapologetic fabulousness.

What’s ECSTATICA All About?

Announced in true Mardi Gras style at Darlinghurst’s Gazi supper club, the theme was unveiled with a lineup that slayed the house down: Charisma Belle serving high drag glamour, Atomic Blonde spinning beats that shook the room, and TV goddess Faustina Agolley holding court as host.

According to Mardi Gras Interim CEO Jesse Matheson, “Ecstatica is what happens when you find your people, your community, your family. It’s the joy you can see, hear, touch and celebrate together.” In other words, babes, it’s the pure euphoric magic that happens when we come together and scream YES! in rainbow harmony.

This isn’t just about floats and feathers – it’s about crafting a living, breathing masterpiece of resilience and power. Think of it as one giant queer symphony of fabulousness, with every beat of glittery bass reminding the world we’re here, we’re queer, and we’ve got choreography.

A Legacy of Glitter & Grit ✊🌈

Co-Chairs Kathy Pavlich and Mits Delisle summed it up best: “Ecstatica carries the legacy forward. Joy is not only a feeling, it’s an act of resistance and renewal.”

Forty-eight years strong, Mardi Gras has always been more than just a party – it’s protest, it’s visibility, it’s family, and it’s fierce AF. And as we march toward the golden 50th anniversary in 2028, Ecstatica is our glitter-covered rallying cry to remember where we’ve come from while sashaying boldly into the future.

Mark Your Diaries, Sweethearts 📅💃

Here are the dates you need to tattoo on your heart (or at least stick in your phone):

Festival Season: 13 February - 1 March 2026
Fair Day: Sunday, 15 February 2026 - pack your picnic blanket, sunscreen, and a six-pack of glitter spray.
The Parade: Saturday, 28 February 2026 - where the world will once again stop and stare as our community turns the streets into a kaleidoscope of queer ecstasy.

Want to Strut Your Stuff?

Darling, this is your time.

Float applications are now OPEN. If you’ve got a vision - whether it’s 30 drag queens on roller skates, a giant inflatable disco ball, or a brigade of leather daddies dressed as highland cows (you’re welcome for that idea) - get it in.

📩 Apply for your parade entry now or email fairday.stalls@mardigrasarts.org.au if you’d rather hawk rainbow cupcakes and queer merch at Fair Day.

Why It Matters to Us in the Highlands 🌄💖

We may be based in the rolling green hills of the Southern Highlands, but Mardi Gras is our spiritual home. It’s where we gather, connect, and shout from the rooftops that queer joy is unstoppable. ECSTATICA isn’t just Sydney’s theme - it’s ours too. It’s every drag bingo night, every Pride picnic, every time we show up for each other in this community.

So dust off your heels, polish that crown, and let’s get ready to descend on Sydney together, Southern Highlands family. Because in 2026, the streets are ours and honey, it’s going to be ECSTATIC.