As thousands of marchers gather in the marshalling area ahead of Saturday night's Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festivities, the team at SBS are gearing up to present a labour of love - this year's float, which is all about celebrating fearlessness.
"Fearless does not mean you have no fear – everyone experiences fear, it’s part of who we are," the creative team behind SBS's 2019 float said in a statement.
"Fearless means living your life in a courageous way, taking action despite your fears."
In response to Mardi Gras’ theme for this year, the SBS float is a call to action, encouraging members of the Australian LGBTIQ+ community to shine their light and express their individuality. Centred around a magnificent lighthouse, the float is symbolic of shining a light on fear and weathering the stormy, choppy waters of what we’re afraid of.
A concept drawing of this year's SBS float. Source: SBS
It all sounds great in theory - but how did the idea go from paper to parade-ready?
"SBS generally come to us with a bit of a vision of what they want to see," explains Sydney Mardi Gras float extraordinaire Liz Carter.
"We talk about how we feel the float might be made and what kind of materials we might use in production - and then together we'll come up with something quite impressive and amazing."
"I work with the most fabulous crew," Carter continues, explaining the team effort that goes into bringing a Mardi Gras float to reality each year.
"People with amazing skills in carpentry, in scenic and sculpture and costume."
Trust us when we say that the final result is pretty special - and we can't wait for you to see it shine its way down Oxford Street tonight.
You can watch SBS On Demand's Thinking Queer collection , a collection of programs that explore the social, political and cultural issues facing the LGBTIQ+ community.
SBS's Sydney Mardi Gras float is all about embracing individuality. Source: SBS
A live stream of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade will be available on SBS On Demand, the account and page on Saturday March 2. SBS Arabic 24 will report live from the parade to Arabic-speaking audiences around Australia.
You can watch the SBS parade coverage on Sunday March 3 at 8.30pm.
