RuPaul’s DragCon Recap

May 18, 2015

It wasn’t difficult to pull together a little entourage for DragCon and together, we topped up with champagne before stepping into wonderland. The West Hall was packed with members and supporters of the rainbow tribe picking over merchandise, lining up for autographs, mugging for the camera and mostly gathering around their favorite celebrity queens for photo ops.

Trying to get next to the Drag Race stars themselves proved difficult as their popularity is off the charts and there was a ton confusion as where to queue up to meet a particular queen. (No worries though as the fans were almost as fabulous and more than happy to oblige when photos were requested.) The stars themselves were for the most part, extremely obliging to their fans and lived up to their larger than life personae. Latrice Royale and Willam Belli in particular went out of their way to interact with guests trading anecdotes and wisecracks in a way that was very personable.

Many of the queens from past seasons were spokesmodels for the various vendors of makeup, prosthetics, costumes, accessories, etc. which proved frustrating for both fans wanting pics and the vendors themselves who are obviously there to sell. Some of the girls were very savvy, coming prepared with merchandise, press kits, media packets and a TON of showmanship. Those behind the curve were able to look, learn and take notes for next year.

All thought of getting into the various panel discussions went right out the window and most of the time was spent wandering around talking to the fans and catching up with long lost friends. Unfortunately for a lot of folks, DragCon coincided with Long Beach Gay Pride which may have kept many people away however, with attendance clocking in at 13k plus, I don’t think anyone need guess whether or not the event was a success! Will this become a regular thing? I certainly hope so!