To celebrate Mardi Gras this year, the Four Pillars Laboratory will transform into The Fab Lab – a fitting debut for the bar’s first year on Crown Street (since opening up in June 2020). The Fab Lab will be your one stop with their pre-Mardi Gras Weekend Party Extravaganza this Friday night. For $60, you’ll get two gin cocktails, two delicious Made-From-Gin snacks, live DJs and spectacular drag performances. Grab your tickets here. Can’t make it to the party? Swing by The Fab Lab this week for a Peach Emoji cocktail, a cheeky mix of Rare Dry Gin, peach rosé, watermelon and peppermint gum. Take a bottle home for $60 or sip on a glass in-house, with 20% of sales from both donated to the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, who care for the thousands of Australians living with HIV.

This Saturday and Sunday, Chin Chin will be wrapping up the Sydney Mardi Gras festival in style, with the ultimate recovery brunch. Rather than reinventing the wheel, Chin Chin is putting a fabulous spin on their regular $55 weekend menu, which will have you reaching for your phone. Pink pad thai, pink mud crab and prawn bao with pink sauce are just the tip of the iceberg, there’s also an all-new, pretty-in-pink cocktail menu, featuring gin, tequila, rose liqueur, yuzushu, strawberry and more. To ensure the weekend is truly one of a kind, two of Sydney’s most loved Queens will bring glitz and glamour to the house of Chin Chin – Burley Chassis will perform on Saturday, and Felicia Foxx will be Sunday’s finale performance. Book your tickets now here.

Absolut Vodka is hosting a range of parade viewing parties around the country this Saturday, so you can get your covid-safe march on. Swing by Universal Bar & The Oxford Hotel in Sydney, The Court in Perth, Poof Doof at Chasers in Melbourne and the Family in Brisbane. Don’t feel like hitting the town? Whip up a couple of Absolut’s Queen Beach cocktails – a zhooshed up version of a Sex on the Beach. The main ingredient is, of course, their new limited edition rainbow bottle. The best part is, $5 of every Absolut Vodka rainbow bottle purchased will be donated to a range of grassroots LGBTIQA+ charities in regional and rural Australia. Grab your 700ml bottle for $42 at liquor stores around the country, or pick up a ready-to-drink can pack for just $19.99.

For those who scored tickets to the main event at the Sydney Cricket Ground this Saturday, the Taphouse will serve as the ultimate before and after party. Within walking distance from the main event, and known for their wonderus selection of craft beer, the Taphouse promises a fun-filled glittery escape. Dazzling Drag Queen Krystal Kleer will serve as the entertainment and MC for the night, sharing live coverage of the parade and keeping spirits high, accompanied by DJ Karmel Jäger throughout the night. Activities throughout the day include drag bingo (with hefty bar tabs as the prize), and a best dressed winner will be announced that evening. Doors open at 10 am, entry to The Taphouse is free entry and is open to all.

Ahead of the much anticipated Sydney Parade this Friday, Alibi Bar will be hosting a pre-parade party from 3-6pm in celebration of pride, protest, passion and diversity. Follow the sounds of Mariah, Tina, Liza, Madonna and Kylie and you’ll find yourself at ‘Gaylibi’ – a sparkly and festive take on Alibi Bar at Woolloomooloo’s Finger Wharf. Punters will be greeted by a trio of Queens, dressed to the nines, and a Queentail mocktail (which can be upgraded to a cocktail at the bar). Keep an eye out for Drag royalty, Vybe, Jacqui St Hyde and Minnie Cooper. The night’s motto is ‘come for the glitter, stay for the party, live for the Queens’ – and we plan to do just that.