Costume Pardi Mardi Gradi Celebrate Mardi Gras with glamorous upcycled garments
24 February 2024
In the Centre for Creativity
Workshops
From jeans, to recycled tote bags, to your own personal creation! Join sustainable fashion designers Sally Jackson and Gary Bigeni in decorating your own recycled tote bag at the Sydney Opera House Centre for Creativity to celebrate this years Sydney Mardi Gras!
| Date | Time |
| Saturday 24 February 2024 | 10am - 12pm & 1pm - 3pm |
Note - Some sewing experience is necessary, however enthusiasm and a willingness to make and try new things will also help!
A Kids and Family workshop is also available on Sunday 25 February
| Ticket | Price |
| Adult | $49 |
$8.95 booking fee applies per transaction
Prices correct at the time of publication and subject to change without notice. Exact prices will be displayed with seat selection.
The only authorised ticket agency for this event is Sydney Opera House. For more information about Authorised Agencies, see the frequently asked questions below.
Sydney Opera House Insiders pre-sale
9am, Tuesday 24 October 2023
Become a Sydney Opera House Insider to receive exclusive pre-sale access
What’s On e-newsletter on-sale
10am, Wednesday 25 October 2023
General Public tickets on-sale
9am, Friday 27 October 2023
In English
Wheelchair accessible
There are a number of wheelchair and companion seating locations available.
To book accessible seating contact Box Office via email or telephone on:
+61 2 9250 7777 (Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm AEST)
Find out more about accessibility at Sydney Opera House
Run time
The duration of this workshop is 2 hours.
Event duration is a guide only and may be subject to change.
Age
This workshop is recommended for those 16+ and adults of all ages.
The Opera House is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children that visit or engage with us. Read our Child Safety Policy.
What to bring on the day
Bring your uniqueness and creativity! Gary Bigeni will use slow hand-dying processes in his signature colourful style on upcycled denim tote bags. These beautiful hand-made accessories will be available for participants to use and take home as part of the workshop.
Celebrate Mardi Gras with glamorous upcycled garments
To celebrate Sydney Mardi Gras 2024, sustainable fashion designers Sally Jackson and Gary Bigeni will facilitate a weekend of workshops for adults and kids to create unique and custom-made tote bags for your Mardi Gras celebrations.
Workshops designed by Sally Jackson, alongside queer designer Gary Bigeni, attendees work with recycled and sustainable fashion materials, generously donated by Upparel, to repurpose material offcuts into glamorous costume accessories.
Participants will receive an upcycled denim bag lovingly hand-dyed in Gary Bigeni's bold signature colourful style. Each bag is constructed from upcycled garments painted separately, creating an original work of art on each bag. Bigeni's slow hand dyeing techniques achieve brilliant colours that are ready to wear.
In this workshop, participants will customise these accessories using fringing, beading and other textile manipulation techniques to create a bespoke to flaunt wherever they celebrate Sydney Mardi Gras, as well as learn the essential and dynamic history of upcycling textile waste with handy tips to incorporate this thinking and making into your everyday life.
Of course, no workshop is complete without the necessary catwalk and photoshoot to proudly display your creations with friends.
Sydney Opera House Presents
Meet the artists
Sally Jackson
Sally Jackson is a Sydney-based couture designer specialising in bespoke garments made from high-quality vintage fabrics combined with layered printing and hand-crafted surface treatments.
Sally has been a sustainable and ethical fashion activist for over a decade. Her experience ranges from teaching up-cycled garment design and construction at the Powerhouse Museum, University of Technology, Sydney, and, most recently, collaborating on the First Nations Fashion and Design movement, having participated in a group show at Sydney Fashion Week in May 2022.
Sally's Collection, 'The Bowerbirds', is made from 100% preloved fashion and textile waste.
Gary Bigeni
Gary Bigeni pushes the limits of fashion as individual expression through his custom made-to-order fine art collections. Original designs are hand-painted by Gary directly onto ethically sourced eco-cotton, then made in very limited production runs using sustainable manufacturing practices. Intended to last a lifetime, all pieces are gender-neutral and designed to reflect the distinctive personality of the wearer.
Even as a young Maltese boy living in Sydney, Australia with his three siblings and mother, creativity was always present for Gary Bigeni. As a child, he would sneak into his mother’s wardrobe and cut large circles out of the bottom of her dresses so he could create collections for his GI Joes and Barbies. Years later, following fashion training at East Sydney Tech, Gary Bigeni launched his eponymous label and secured himself as part of the Australian fashion cohort.
UPPAREL
Changing the whole system, UPPAREL is Australia and New Zealand’s leading textile recycling company. Their commitment is to leave a positive impact for the next generation which is echoed through the triple bottom line framework – people, planet and profit.
Other information
Venue information
Our foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer.
Getting here
The Sydney Opera House Car Park, operated by Wilson Parking, is open and available to use. Wilson Parking offer discounted parking if you book ahead. Please see the Wilson Parking website for details.
Please check the Transport NSW website for the latest advice and information on travel. You can catch public transport (bus, train, ferry) to Circular Quay and enjoy a six minute walk to the Opera House.
Covid-safe information
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We’re committed to making your experience safe, comfortable and enjoyable, with a number of measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. We remind our audiences and visitors to please stay home if you feel unwell. If you need to discuss your ticketing or booking options, contact our Box Office team on 02 9250 7777.
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We have a number of safety measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. While face masks are no longer required, we ask all our patrons and visitors to practise good hygiene.
The Sydney Opera House no longer requires patrons to show that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Frequently asked questions
We advise that you arrive 15 minutes prior to the event. Ticket purchases and collection at our Box Office is discouraged and eTicket or postal delivery methods should be used, wherever possible. However, if you are collecting your tickets from the Box Office, we recommend doing this at least 60 minutes before the event starts.
Prior to the workshop, please notify us if you will need a chair for the session, so we can have those available. Please email accessibility@sydneyoperahouse.com to request a chair or notify our team of any additional needs you may have.
The authorised agency for this event is the Sydney Opera House.
Only tickets purchased by authorised agencies should be considered reliable. If you purchase tickets from a non-authorised agency such as Ticketmaster Resale, Viagogo, Ticketbis, eBay, Gumtree, Tickets Australia or any other unauthorised seller, you risk that these tickets are fake, void or have previously been cancelled. RESALE RESTRICTION APPLIES. For more details, please refer to our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Attendance at Events.
Please contact Box Office on 9250 7777 as soon as possible to advise if you can no longer attend.
Food and beverages will not be allowed unless specified in the event. Opera Bar, Opera Kitchen and Portside are also available to purchase food before your event. Please bring a credit or debit card for any on-site purchases to enable contactless payment.
All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to the foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer or as directed by Sydney Opera House staff, adhering to COVID-safe rules.
The health, safety and wellbeing of everyone at the Sydney Opera House is our top priority. In line with this commitment, the Opera House became a smoke-free site in January 2022. Read our Smoke-free Environment Policy.
The Opera House is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children that visit or engage with us. Read our Child Safety Policy.
The Opera House has also developed a Child-friendly Code of Conduct to engage with our youngest visitors.
You may also like
BullyBully
6 – 12 Jul 2025
Ages 3+ | Award-winning joyous physical-theatre for children and families featuring hilarious quarrels, catchy songs, and hilarious bickering banter.
A Bucket of Beetles
6 – 8 Jun 2025
Ages 5+ | From Yogyakarta’s renowned Papermoon Puppet Theatre comes a work grounded in Indonesia’s centuries-old traditions of puppetry, following the story of a little boy Wehea and a very special rhinoceros beetle...
Elements of Freestyle
26 – 29 Jun 2025
In this adrenaline-fuelled explosion of extreme urban sports, dance, music and theatre, the Netherlands’ ISH Dance Collective create breathtaking poetry.
