These are the words of Giovanni Campolo-Arcidiaco, co-chair of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, a voluntary position which the amicable Italian has held for one year.

Campolo-Arcidiaco has been a proud member of the LGBTQI community since his first Mardi Gras 22 years ago.

For two years he was membership director of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Business Association and, more recently, he was president of Queer Screen (Mardi Gras Film Festival) for four years.

Speaking to La Fiamma, Campolo-Arcidiaco said that his current role is not just about overseeing the coordination of the fabulous parade and festival which happen every February, but is a day-in day-out role which supports diversity, inclusion, equity and social justice through culture and the Arts.

Indeed, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras team have just won a bid to host the WorldPride 2023 festival in Sydney.

This is a massive achievement, which will see the ever-brightening Sydney host an international pride event that focuses the world’s attention on LGBTQI rights, communities and culture in the Asia-Pacific region.

Campolo-Arcidiaco said the Sydney team already has well-established connections with Asia-Pacific InterPride members such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, and Sydney’s successful bid for WorldPride is “very exciting” for the whole region – it’s the first time the vibrant event will be held in the Southern Hemisphere.

WorldPride was established in 1997 in New York City at the 16th annual conference of Interpride, as an international celebration of diversity, human rights, culture and inclusion.

“I happened to be at the first Worldpride event in Rome in 2000, and now it’s coming to Sydney,” Campolo-Arcidiaco said.

In the meantime, however, there is the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to organise, and Campolo-Arcidiaco said that the ball has been rolling since late-June.

One of the biggest challenges in organising the event is finances, which is why Campolo-Arcidiaco maintained that it’s so important “to uphold working relationships with the City of Sydney Council, Destination NSW, our sponsors and supporters and, of course Police, Ambulance and Roads Authority” for an event as big and colourful as Sydney’s annual queer parade.

Mardi Gras 2018 saw 17,500 participants involved in its delivery, with 12,500 people in the parade and 449 artists, and attracted an extraordinarily diverse national and international audience to Sydney.

The term Mardi Gras actually means Fat Tuesday in French, and is a phrase used in Europe to describe festivals traditionally held on the Tuesday before Easter, when Lent, a time of fasting, begins.

It is a day synonymous with celebrating, feasting and revelry, and in Italy is enshrined in the famous Carnevale.

In Sydney, however, Mardi Gras has come be associated with a new meaning: a pride event for all people, with a focus on LGBTQI rights.

Campolo-Arcidiaco said that the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras dates back to 1978, when “a political protest for LGBT rights” was held, “as part of a landscape of human rights movements”.

At that time, homosexuality was illegal in Australia.

Those protesting decided to create a street parade to involve more people, and while there were many arrests made – some violent – the day was a landmark occasion in the evolution of Mardi Gras.

“The name stuck and it became very significant,” Campolo-Arcidiaco said.

So much so that regional towns across Australia, such as Wagga Wagga, now name their queer pride events Mardi Gras.

Campolo-Arcidiaco was born in Reggio-Calabria and attended the University of Parma.

He lived in London for some time, learning English and working in photography, before moving to Sydney 20 years ago.

For the last 15 years, he has been extremely active in the LGBTQI community, while maintaining a separate career.

“It’s important to be active in what you believe in, rather than sit and just criticise others,” Campolo-Arcidiaco said.

He added that the coming Mardi Gras will be fantastic for its extraordinary range of events, which include a Queer Contemporary art exhibition at the National Art School, a program of comedy and burlesque shows at the Seymour Centre, and a Koori Gras Blak Diva workshop.

When asked what he was most looking forward to, Campolo-Arcidiaco laughed, then replied: “I really try to see everything!”