Sydney will be transformed into a Rainbow City for Sydney WorldPride 2023, with organisations across Greater Sydney, including the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust and the Scenic Skyway in Katoomba, installing free public artworks to celebrate the 17-day LGBTQIA+ festival and welcome to the world to Sydney.
The installations include a 50-metre-long abstract floral rainbow wall made up of around 18,000 colourful plants at The Calyx inside the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney – one of the enormous living green walls in the Southern Hemisphere.
The floral rainbow wall forms part of the Garden’s new Love Your Nature horticultural exhibition, which fittingly celebrates the diverse world of plant love with a kaleidoscope of colour, plants and passion.
The City of Sydney will install its floral installations, including planter boxes and a floral wall, which will be created using hundreds of plants and foliage in the colours of the rainbow flag.
Randwick Council will also update its famous 27-metre-long rainbow walkway at Coogee Beach to add the colours of the Progress Flag, a version of the traditional rainbow flag that includes additional stripes to represent people of colour and the trans community.
In the Blue Mountains, Katoomba’s famous Scenic Skyway will be transformed into a giant progress flag, a dramatic vision against the Three Sisters’ World Heritage landscapes and the Jamison Valley.
Meanwhile, the University of Sydney will showcase a night-time rainbow mural throughout the festival at its Footbridge Gallery at the University’s Camperdown campus. Made of rainbow LED lights, the mural will mark the 45th anniversary of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in 2023. Designed by award-winning interactive designer and diversity advocate Dr Xavier Ho, the mural will be unveiled to coincide with the University’s inaugural Hunt-Simes Institute in Sexuality Studies, which is being launched to coincide with Sydney WorldPride 2023.
The aim is to have 45 artworks part of Rainbow City, to celebrate 45 years of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Public space holders in Greater Sydney can contact Sydney WorldPride to express their interest as long as the artworks must are free to access, substantial and have no branding as part of the artwork. Artworks can take any form – from flowers and lights to water and sculpture and can be based on any interpretation of the rainbow.
A Rainbow City map will be published in early February to allow Sydneysiders and visitors to travel the city to view the glorious kaleidoscope of rainbow art.
Sydney WorldPride Chief Executive, Kate Wickett, said: “It is so exciting to see organisations from all sectors across Sydney – from public institutions to businesses –embrace WorldPride positively. Sydney is a world-class city that celebrates diversity, and I can’t wait for visitors to see the fantastic display of support for the LGBTQIA+ community when more than 500,000 take part in Sydney WorldPride next year.”
Sydney WorldPride accepts applications from public space holders who want to be part of Rainbow City.
Sydney WorldPride is taking place between 17 February to 5 March 2023. Over 17 days, Sydney will host more than 300 LGBTQIA+ events, including the Rainbow Republic presented by Optus, Blak & Deadly: The First Nations Gala Concert, as well as the much-loved Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, which will be returning to Oxford Street for the first time in three years.
To see the Rainbow City grow in number in the coming months, please visit www.sydneyworldpride.com/rainbow-city
