The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 40^th Anniversary Magazine hits newsstands this Thursday and we LOVE the amazing cover:

Finding a single image for the cover of the magazine proved a challenge for editor Maeve Marsden and art director/designer Kate Oliver. How do you select one iconic image – or one subject – to capture four decades of LGBTQI activism, pride and celebration when the community itself is so diverse?

Inspiration came from photos taken at the 2017 Mardi Gras workshop. The workshop is an institution, the place where so many of the fabulous floats that make their way up Oxford Street are born. One of the images captured little piles of glitter marked up with quantities, ready to be ordered to bring the floats to life. Kate adapted the image for the cover to include 40 squares of glitter, one for each year of Mardi Gras.

We asked our Mardi Gras Workshop Production Manager Liz Carter about her part in the glittery goodness: “At the start of each season I sort and weigh all of the glitter – a process that assists me in knowing how much glitter we have, and how much I need to order in for the coming season. It takes around a day. As I sift, sort and weigh I get to think about the set up of the Mardi Gras Workshop, the crew, the floats, the events and although we all moan and laugh about the glitter living with us for 6 months. I’m always happy to see its sparkle because it means Mardi Gras is back and everything is about to get a whole lot more fabulous.”

Get your copy of this beautiful keepsake delivered to your door by pre-ordering The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 40^th Anniversary Magazine now on the ABC Shop website or at newsagents and selected bookshops from this Thursday 8 February.