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Celebrate Mardi Gras 2025 with ACON

As we prepare to celebrate Mardi Gras 2025 at Westfield Sydney, we’re proud to engage with ACON, an organisation dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ communities to live their healthiest and most authentic lives. This year’s theme, “Free to Be,” beautifully captures the spirit of inclusion, creativity, and empowerment that Mardi Gras represents. We sat down with ACON to listen to the incredible stories of LGBTQ+ talents and their journeys.

What is ACON?

ACON is a community-driven organisation that provides vital health and well-being services to LGBTQ+ people across New South Wales. From creating safe spaces to promoting equity, ACON ensures that everyone in the community feels supported, heard, and valued. Their work spans health promotion, advocacy, and fostering a sense of belonging for all individuals, regardless of where they are on their journey. “ACON wants to support our communities to live their healthiest lives,” says Micheal Woodhouse, CEO of ACON. Their mission is not just about health; it’s about humanity and understanding. Duy Tran, Community Health Promotion Officer in Greater Western Sydney, highlights ACON’s transformative role: “ACON’s an organisation that's creating opportunity for people who haven't had a seat at the table to feel held and listened to and validated.”

“Free to Be”: 2025 Mardi Gras Theme

The theme “Free to Be” resonates deeply with the values of ACON. As Micheal Woodhouse explains, “Free to be means being able to be our true and open wonderful selves. To have the confidence to reveal any aspect of our lives that we wish. It’s about being free to be me.” Through their work, ACON exemplifies what it means to embrace individuality and celebrate diversity. “What I love about ACON and the work that we do is that it is very humane work. We come from a lens of actually meeting community at Community,” shares Jinny-Jane Smith, First Nations Program Manager.

A Celebration of Creativity
Mardi Gras is also a platform to showcase the incredible creativity of the LGBTQ+ community. Yesim Karasu, Team Leader at Trans Health Equity, notes, “I wish the Australian public knew how creative the LGBTQ+ community is and how that shines through so much of our work.” This year, Westfield Sydney will amplify this creativity with vibrant installations, performances, and community-driven experiences that reflect the spirit of “Free to Be.”

Join the Celebration
Westfield Sydney invites everyone to join us in celebrating Mardi Gras 2025 and supporting ACON’s incredible mission. Together, we can create a space where everyone feels empowered to live authentically, embrace their creativity, and truly be free to be themselves.

Visit our immersive gallery space on Level 1, outside New Shanghai, from February 14 to March 4, to listen to the incredible stories of LGBTQ+ talents and their journeys.

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We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the Traditional Owners of the land we gather on today and pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and their Elders past and present.

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