ABC and triple j secure broadcast rights for Sydney Mardi Gras

National broadcaster ABC has secured the television and radio rights for Sydney’s annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade for the next three years.

The network has obtained the rights to the celebrations until 2024, with triple j named as the official host radio broadcaster.

2022’s Sydney Mardi Gras parade will again take place at the SCG, as it did this year, but will operate at 100% capacity and all attendees must be fully vaccinated.

It will air at 7:30pm on both ABC and iView on Saturday, March 5.

The ABC has also landed the rights to WorldPride, which Sydney will host in 2023 and marks the first time that the international event will be held in the Southern Hemisphere.

Though SBS has broadcast the parade for the past eight years, the ABC was the first network to film and air the celebrations back in 1994.

“We’ve waited 28 years for it to return and from 2022 onwards, we will provide coverage of Mardi Gras that only the ABC can, without commercial interests,” ABC managing director David Anderson said.

Network chair Ita Buttrose echoed this sentiment, saying “The decision to first broadcast the parade in 1994 paved the way for other media to cover the event and since then the ABC has been proud of its support of the LGBTQI+ community in Australia.”

While next year’s parade will go ahead at the SGC in 2022, it is expected to return to its traditional home of Sydney’s Oxford Street the following year, with WorldPride celebrations from February 17 to March 5.