New Mardi Gras and Australian Marriage Equality are teaming up with an unusual partner to raise money over the Mardi Gras festival period – Taronga Zoo.

Guests will be privy to a little after-hours mingling with the animals at the dinner taking place March 3. And Mardi Gras CEO Anna McInerney, believes the event will be popular addition to the festival program.

“We are delighted to back this event which we believe will be popular with locals and visitors alike,” said NMG CEO Anna McInerney. “Many people in our surveys have told us they would like a dining experience as part of the Mardi Gras programme. This event will deliver upon that request, and also give a boost to the marriage equality cause.”

Tickets for the dinner party go on sale today, and marriage equality does not come cheap. Dinners will be between $230 to $250 per person and includes drinks, transport to and from the zoo, and entertainment throughout the evening – including a night-time tour past some of the zoo’s exotic animals, maybe even some with homosexual tendencies. Dinner will be served at Taronga’s Harbourview Ballroom.

“The money raised will be used to provide the key missing piece in the lobbying effort,” said Australian Marriage Equality spokesperson Alex Greenwich. “We will publish a public education document which states clearly and simply all the arguments for marriage equality and refutes the main arguments against. It will focus on the lived experiences of couples and families and draw on the submissions to the recent Senate inquiry. This document will then be sent to members of Federal Parliament to educate them on same-sex marriage.”