The clean-up has begun after 11,000 people marched, danced and celebrated the 47th Mardi Gras Parade, displaying Australia's rich and diverse queer culture.
Those with stamina were sitting on crates early on Sunday morning nursing headaches, half-finished cans of beer and puffing on cigarettes as council workers swept streets and dragged massive rubbish bags.
Groups representing rainbow families, transgender people, queer people with disability, those with Tourette's and those with a deep love for deafening motorcycles were among more than 180 distinct communities and corporations adding to the colour of Saturday night.
Political leaders including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and federal independents Allegra Spender, Zali Steggall and Senator Lidia Thorpe were among those to march along the 1.3km route through Darlinghurst.
Police arrested four people in minor incidents.
These included a 57-year-old man forcibly trying get around a road closure with his car and allegedly threatening a news cameraman as he was being hauled off by officers, and a 48-year-old man inappropriately touching a woman as well as punching a man who was with her.
"A small handful of people did the wrong thing, and they were dealt with swiftly and appropriately," NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Rod Smith said.
"The vast majority of the large crowds were well behaved and looked after each other."
Underscoring the parade's return to its progressive political roots, hundreds in the parade adopted a second unofficial theme to "Free to Be", holding signs demanding the community "Protect trans kids".
"Everyone has come together to appreciate the community and show love and respect," onlooker Christina Saroukos told AAP from parade centre point Taylor Square.
"All the detailed costumes, the dancers and their choreography ... They've really put the effort in and it shows," her sister Olivia said. Â
Australian pop queen and gay icon Kylie Minogue sent a supportive message to the revellers from her concert late on Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in western Sydney, where thousands of fans shouted Happy Mardi Gras in unison.
An official closing party, dubbed Laneway, will close out the wider 16-day Mardi Gras festival on Sunday.
