Thousands turned out to welcome back the parade for the first time since 2019, and they were not disappointed as at least 40 groups marched, sashayed, skipped and roller-skated their way to the Victory Memorial Gardens.

There was a keen sense of nervous energy among those marching as they gathered in Bolton park before the parade, and for some it was an emotional return to Wagga.

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Al Winter and Wen came to the Mardi Gras from Wangaratta and Shepparton respectively, and they said it's important for the community to support events like this in regional towns.

"It's a new event, it's only its second year and we know the importance, being in regional Victoria, of representation and visibility. And we were like, 'we're going support this, support Wagga and show our visibility'," Winter said.

"It's not like walking down pride march in Melbourne. I've got goosebumps thinking about it, because the first year, no one knew what to expect, but the love, the support from the whole community as you walk down the street was overwhelming," they said.

"We couldn't imagine this in our home town."

Teddy Cook came to the event from Sydney representing ACON, a community organisation helping LGBTQ people and people with HIV in regional NSW.

They said the event dispels any notion that Wagga is an old fashioned conservative regional town.

"That's a myth, this place is very progressive ... it's really profound ... our communities are everywhere, not just on Oxford Street, so it's equally as important to be celebrating Mardi Gras in Sydney as it is here. In fact, I'm more excited about being here."

Riverina native Victor Dodds said he couldn't imagine an event like this happening when he was growing up.

"It's pretty good to actually have an event like this going on in a regional area," he said.

"I think everyone is just glad something like this still going on and the interest is still growing."

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