After Dark at the Hyde Park Barracks makes a fabulous Mardi Gras return

Queer icon DJ Sveta is a recipient of the Mardi Gras Lifetime Achievement Award and has worked with everyone from Kylie to the Presets. Sveta will be leading a ‘sonic journey’ through the Hyde Park Barracks Museum. Special headsets that use geolocation technology will give you Sveta’s musical interpretations of the different parts of the historic site as you move around the museum. 

Independent broadcaster FBi Radio is back on board to curate an impressive music line-up for the atmospheric outdoor stage in the Barracks courtyard. Expect electronic music legends Stereogamous (Jonny Seymour and Paul Mac) supported by electro-pop newcomer Kavi, along with resident FBi DJ Isa.

Gladdy Drawing Club will be running a body-positive, queer and inclusive life-drawing class on the night. Queer artist Noni Cragg will lead the session, and models will include drag queen and bodybuilder Yanita Werkout, burlesque star and comedic entertainer Rosie Rivette and athlete and advocate for trans representation in life modelling, Ted Stein. Places in these sessions are strictly limited and you can sign up for a place on arrival. Sketch pad and pencil supplied. 

The hammock rooms of the Barracks once offered sleeping quarters to over 1,000 men at a time. The hammocks have been recreated using authentic tightly woven flax linen, and visitors now can try them out for themselves. For After Dark at the Hyde Park Barracks, lie back and get comfy as you listen to diverse writers read queer fiction, poetry and essays that have influenced and inspired them. Places in these sessions are strictly limited so sign up at ticketing on arrival.

Rosebery’s Archie Rose Distilling Company is Australia’s most highly awarded distillery, famous for gin, vodka and whisky. They are spearheading the pop-up bar for After Dark at the Hyde Park Barracks. You can also buy a delicious and waste-free meal from the Oz Harvest Food Truck, with chefs creating delicious vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes on site and all leftovers at the end of the night redistributed to people in need. The team from Nighthawk Diner will also be in attendance with a vintage American pick-up truck and classic trailer engineered to deliver burgers and fries.

Creative producer Jacqui North will discuss queer histories with Sydney Living Museums curators Dr Scott Hill and Mel Flyte. They’ll cover the story of Lord Alfred Douglas and Maurice Schwabe and their connection to the trials of Oscar Wilde. You’ll also hear the story of the Prince Francis Joseph of Braganza and his flight from scandal. Discover the role Australia played in both of these true narratives, and view North’s artwork ‘The Love that Dare Not Speak Its Name’, a light art projection using historical letters from 1893, unearthed by the State Library of NSW.