The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has taken a bold step into the digital age with the launch of its first official app, writes Liam Heitmann-Ryce-LeMercier.
Starting from 30 October 2025, the LGBTQI+ community will be able to connect with friends while planning events for the Mardi Gras Pride festivities, as well as locate queer- and ally-run businesses across Sydney.
The organisation’s Interim CEO Jesse Matheson, appointed to the role in July 2025, has overseen the development of the new app since he took on the top role. His ambitions are for the app to become a part of the queer infrastructure of Sydney.
“The driver behind the app is, by going digital, an opportunity for us to have a year-round presence within the community,” Matheson says. “It’s an opportunity to use our resources and our connections with community; to support the LGBTQI+ businesses and economy throughout the year.”
The app will share the full program of events, including times, locations and ticketing links, for the upcoming 2026 Mardi Gras festival. The app also identifies the many queer venues and shops across Sydney, in order to guide visitors toward inclusive businesses that support the pink dollar as well as keep the community safe.
Matheson underlines that the organisation identified a desire within the queer community to feel more connected to queer life in New South Wales, outside of the core Mardi Gras period.
“They want to be connected to the LGBTQI+ community, not just during season but throughout the year,” he explains. “This app allows our community to go to exactly where the people are: on their phones, in their pockets. This app will be a digital companion for our community members throughout the year.”
With a projected 400,000 visitors travelling to Sydney annually for Mardi Gras in the height of summer, the need for a centralised source of information served as one of the most prominent motivations behind developing the app.
Early ideation determined that a printed program would best be replaced by an entirely digital alternative, and one that could be utilised across the entire year.
“We had a look to see if there is a similar app around the world,” Matheson says of their initial research. “We know that other Prides do have apps for people to purchase tickets, but the use of the app to actually be a hub for the entire community – not just during season, but throughout the year – looks to be a new used case.”
One of the major focus points of the app is the urgency to keep the queer community safe. In developing the new app, the organisation surveyed over 200 members of the LGBTQI+ community. The leading outcome was a desire for enhanced safety measures – not just at the Pride festival, but when going out in general.
“We built in a number of safety features within the app,” Matheson explains, “to ensure that people can feel really safe and secure when they come to Mardi Gras. A good example is what we are calling the Safety Circle, which is a group chat function. So if you’re marching the parade for the first time, your parade float can stay in touch without having to give out your Facebook or Instagram, or your phone number. You stay very much within the Mardi Gras ecosystem.”
Other safety-centric features include a 000 emergency call link, as well as a map identifying locations to report homophobic assaults or slurs. Specific venues will also feature safety badges on the map, to help visitors locate dedicated safe spaces
Looking forward, Matheson hopes for the app to be expanded further and to serve more of the queer community.
“We are in discussions with different venues and different community organisations,” he says, “exploring how they can get their services involved in this app, to really make it key to the entire community.”
