The last glittery remnants of Sydney's 2023 Mardi Gras have been swept from the streets while many partygoers continue their revelry into a second day.
Anthony Albanese made history during the parade on Saturday night when he became the first sitting prime minister to join the 45-year-old march.
He was among the tens of thousands of people who made a riotous rainbow return to the queer community's spiritual home as the Mardi Gras parade reawakened Oxford Street for the first time since 2020.
Mr Albanese led the Rainbow Labor float with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns.
"It's unfortunate that I am the first (prime minister to march), but this is a celebration of modern Australia. We're a diverse, inclusive Australia and that's a good thing," he said.
"People want to see that their government is inclusive and represents everyone, no matter who they love, no matter what their identity, no matter where they live."
Having marched in Mardi Gras dozens of times before, the prime minister urged people to think of the original parade participants, known as the '78ers.
"(They) were thrown in jail for the simple fact of who they were, because they happened to be gay or lesbian," he said.
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe was removed from the parade after lying on the street in protest and temporarily halting the march.
The Mardi Gras celebration, which carried the theme Gather, Dream, Amplify, featured many veterans alongside crowd-pleasing newcomers.
Dykes on Bikes and their male counterparts led the charge, delighting parade viewers as they filled the streets with exhaust fumes and queer joy.
Other Mardi Gras hits included Surf Life Saving, whose representatives wore budgie smugglers and beach towels, and DIY Rainbow's We Love Britney Spears float, which blasted Baby One More Time from its back speakers.
About 12,500 marchers on 200 floats danced, sang and celebrated as they commemorated the parade's homecoming.
The crowd was largely well-behaved and the parade went ahead mostly without incident, NSW Police said.
Four people were arrested for offences including assaulting police after one officer suffered a suspected broken nose during an arrest on Oxford St and a second officer suffered grazes and a black eye during an alleged assault on the way to Moore Park.
For many parade attendees, things were just getting started, with thousands later migrating to the Mardi Gras Party at the Entertainment Quarter.
Perpetual partygoers will then head to the Mardi Gras Laneway in the early afternoon.
The event, "the epitome of kick-ons," started as a portable speaker on a milk crate. It has since expanded to a multi-dancefloor party with an open-air stage that will host 10,000 ticketholders until early on Monday morning.
WorldPride will continue for another week before finishing with a historic march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where 50,000 people are expected to take part in a call for global equality.
WorldPride has been called Sydney's biggest event since the 2000 Olympics and is expected to host more than half a million people across its 300 or so events.
