2006 mardi gras

Crowd numbers - 200,000 people disappear!

On Saturday evening 4 March at 11 pm the media were reporting that there were 500,000 people at the 2006 mardi gras parade.
This in itself was not a surprise since the mardi gras organisers had been stating for months that there would be "half a million Sydneysiders at the event". Over the years they have tended to predict the expected number and then report that that many people attended.

On the day of the parade and early evening the media were repeating the mardi gras organisers' estimate that 500,000 were gathering for the parade. Some reports said the organisers' figure was 450,000 people.

Then the reports saying that this was indeed the number were printed online by 11 pm that night.

BUT by Sunday the figure was being quoted as 300,000 people.

An amazing article in the Sydney Morning Herald reported on the reasons behind the change.

When SMH asked a Mardi Gras spokesman yesterday why overnight they had REDUCED their crowd estimate from 500,000 DOWN to 300,000, "Scott Gillespie, assured the Herald the 300,000 figure was accurate, because organisers were using a new internationally recognised system of crowd-counting - "something to do with so many heads per square mile or something", he said. But he was unable to provide further information, nor find anyone else who could do so."
What was that? We don't know how we arrived at that figure but be assured it is accurate!! Heads per sq mile in a 35 metre wide street!! What a bad joke!!
Interestingly, the NSW police stated yesterday that "Our estimates have always been very different to [the organisers'] numbers."
Then why did they endorse them for so many years until we started asking questions. Where is their credibility?

What is the reason for the change in the figure overnight?

The real reason is that the media were confronted about the accuracy of the figure - we sent all the media another email (having previously sent a press release) challenging them about their reports and giving them an analysis of how to calculate crowd numbers.

We have known all along that they were NOT accurate -
Click here to see our pictures of 2002 and see if you can spot 31+ rows of people on each side of the parade that year.
NO? Oh dear, where could they have gone? Of course, they were never there, but that is the number of rows needed on EACH side of the parade to give a total of 300,000 people.
The parade route is 1,600mt long - assuming a very tight 3 people per metre = 4,800 people per row. 300,000 divided by 4,800 = 62 rows. (2 people per metre is more realistic but that would mean even more rows!)
Homosexual journalist Adam Carr used the above formula in 2002 and stated there were between 60,000 and 75,000 people at mardi gras. Click here for his article.

References:

Gay pride fairytale hits Sydney
SMH, 4 March, 2006
This article written on 4 March says there were 500,000. Some reports say this is the organisers' figure.

Some reports quote the organisers' figure at 450,000....
Reuters quoted this figure in the following article - it is no longer online.
Australia celebrates gay and lesbian Mardi Gras
Newsweek, Reuters. 4 March 2006.

By Sunday / Monday the organisers' crowd figure had been revised DOWN to 300,000 people.

Mardi Gras winner
AAP, March 06, 2006
POLICE say they were pleasantly surprised at the behaviour of around 300,000 people who lined the streets for Sydney 's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade...."

And this is the revealing article from the Sydney Morning Herald on the change to the crowd figures....

A fairytale ending to the night before
SMH, 6 March 2005
This is the report with quotes from the organisers on the crowd numbers.

Financial Problems...

When mardi gras folded in 2002 due to financial problems, and with debts $700,000, the 'assets' were bought by a consortium of interests.

However in 2005 the organisation, now called 'New mardi gras', was again in financial trouble with debts of over $300,000.

They blamed poor bar sales, excessive fencing costs for its Hyde Park launch and a budget blow-out as the main causes.

In addition to their operating loss, mardi gras said last year they had been told they owed $196,000 in tax from the 2003 season!

In an effort to show how valuable the mardi gras is to the economy of Sydney , the organisation commissioned a financial study last year. The study is said to show that "visitors who travelled to Sydney for Mardi Gras earlier this year contributed $46 million to the state economy".

It was conducted by Professor Ian Marsh, of the University of Sydney, and Shaun Wilson, of Macquarie University . The study found that more than 6100 people came to Sydney specifically for Mardi Gras. On average, international tourists spent $403 on each of their 17 days here, while interstate arrivals spent $279 on each of their 6½ days.

How they found out who actually came to Sydney for the event is not reported.

References:

New strife for Mardi Gras after big loss

SMH, 6/5/2005

Fund-raising flop threatens to rain on the Mardi Gras parade
SMH, 10/10/2005