Sun shines on Fair Day

Thousands of community members, their families, supporters and pooches flocked to Victoria Park for a Fair Day of fun on Sunday.

New Mardi Gras CEO Michael Rolik said the organisation was “delighted with the start to the season”.

“We had our daily meeting today, and people were just so pleased to have seen so many having fun,” Rolik told Sydney Star Observer on Monday.

“You lead up to these things with a bit of anticipation, but things went very smoothly.”

The biggest glitch was the theft of a golf buggy, which has been reported to police, during the Friday night bump-in.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore officially launched Fair Day by commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) group.

“The achievements of the GLBT communities over the past 40 years — law reform, same-sex relationship recognition, increased community respect and acceptance and fabulous events like Mardi Gras — all stem from those initial steps,” she said. She pledged $17,000 to the Pride History Group to help fund its anniversary events this year.

It was fun that was on most people’s minds at Fair Day though. Hordes gathered for the ever-popular Doggywood show, won this year by a six-year-old Japanese spitz named Stevie. The Mr & Mrs Fair Day competition also drew crowds, as a pair of naughty nurses, dressed in head-to-toe pink and black, took out the award.