The Aurora Fundraising Ball 2023
Saturday 24 June 2023 from 6pm to 11:30pm
In a year that Sydney shone with Pride, the Aurora Ball returns to Sydney Town Hall for an evening of frivolity and fundraising, 45 years after the first Mardi Gras.
Welcome to Burlesque will transport you to a seductive world of cabaret style music, theatre and performance. Hosts Jeremy Fernandez (he/him) of ABC and Mon Schafter (they/them) of ABC Queer, will be joined by a cast of incredible performers and community heroes – Hollywould Star, Onyx, and Bettie Bombshell, with a special Acknowledgement of Country delivered by the one and only Felicia Foxx.
This year we have set an ambitious fundraising goal of $300,000. We know that only 5 cents in every $100 received by an Australian charity goes to a registered LGBTIQ+ organisation, and with your help we can change that figure.
The program will include powerful words from 78’er and founding member of Aurora, Robyn Laverack, who will share her experience at the first ‘mardi gras’ protest on 24th June, 45 years ago, and Dhaksh Sooriyakumaran (they/them), an inaugural Amplify Pride Fund grantee, will share about their project with Trans Justice Project, tacking anti-trans hate online.
The evening will celebrate how far we have come since then, and refocus on how much is yet to be done to achieve the promise of that first Mardi Gras march – that all LGBTIQ+ people can live proudly, free of prejudice and discrimination.
Image: Ann-Marie Calihanna