Now in it’s second year RUPAUL’S DRAGCON UK is the world’s biggest celebration of drag culture. Featuring extraordinary drag queens from all over the world who have battled and lip-synced for their lives on the global phenomenon and Emmy-award winning franchise RuPaul’s Drag Race, this second iteration of the UK convention is bigger and fiercer than ever before with over 150 world-famous drag queens in attendance and presided over by RuPaul Charles himself. The event this year moved from the previous venue to the larger Excel London from 6th to 9th January 2023. We attended the event as official press thanks to World Of Wonder on the Friday.
The attending queens across the weekend included all the winners of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK – The Vivienne (Series 1 winner), Lawrence Chaney (Series 2 winner), Krystal Versace (Series 3 winner) and Blu Hydrangea (winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs. The World) as well as previous winners of the US show including Trinity The Tuck, Yvie Oddly, Jinkx Monsoon and Jaida Essence Hall, and fan-favourite queens from global Drag Race editions including Pangina Heals (Drag Race Thailand; RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs The World), Elektra Bionic (winner of Drag Race Italia Season 1), Vanessa Van Cartier (winner of Drag Race Holland Season 2) and many, many more. A full list of talent in attendance can be found here.
Alongside main stage performances, merch, signings and meet & greets with queens at their booths, other attractions included a special appearance and exclusive DJ set from RuPaul Charles, on the Main Stage sponsored by Crocs; exclusive and intimate panel discussions with fan-favourite queens sponsored by Audible; a sponsored Anastasia Beverly Hills Makeup competition judged by RuPaul’s very own make-up artist Raven, president of ABH Norvina and Season 1 winner of BBC Three’s Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star Ellis Atlantis; immersive activations from RuPaul’s Drag Race and WOW Presents Plus shows; and a range of family fun activities in the Kids Zone sponsored by WildBrain’s Teletubbies, including a Kids Fashion Show on the Sunday and meet & greets with Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po themselves! There was also After Hours drag performances on the Saturday & Sunday evening available as separate ticket to attendees with specially selected line-ups featuring some of the shows biggest stars. Check out our full gallery of images from the event below:
This was our first time attending RuPaul’s Drag Con UK and only the second year the event has ran. There were reportedly some issues with overcrowding the first year the event as held (at the smaller venue of London Olympia) and the move to the larger and more open plan layout of Excel seems to have paid off and eased most of these issues. With it’s ease of access, transport links and plaza with seating and food/drink outlets we feel Excel is the premier venue for events of this kind in the UK.
Access to the venue and entry queue was fairly stress free with clearly signposted queues for standard and VIP ticket holders and inside the main hall is split into branded alleys ‘Sickening Street’, ‘Henny Lane’, ‘Deathdrop Alley’ & Catwalk Boulevard with the space split equally between Talent Booths, trader stalls and activations with the ‘Main Stage’ and ‘Pink Carpet’ being the focal point of the event with the grand opening of Friday featuring a ‘Queen’s Walk’ featuring most of the attending queens walking the Pink Carpet and the daily DJ set from RuPaul Charles allowed attendees a chance to party and even show off their dance skills on stage.
Overall we felt the event offers a lot for attendees to do and see over the weekend although most Queen’s require a minimum purchase for meet and greet at their booths so attendees should budget to spend extra on-top of their entry tickets. All Star ticket holders also benefitted from Early access, priority queues, access to the Yasstonbury lounge and a special viewing platform for the main stage (a separate disabled viewing platform was also provided for all attendees) among other benefits. Although we should point out the VIP lounge and viewing platforms had limited seating and were at full capacity for most of the event. The floor did also get a little crowded for the most popular shows and panels and there was limited seating, food/drink outlets and toilets in the main hall (although there was plenty more in the central plaza).
We are very much look forward to attending RuPaul’s Drag Con UK again in the future and would recommend it for fans of the show and/or drag culture in general.
Look out for our video highlights from the event coming soon to YouTube.com/IndieMacUser
RUPAUL’S DRAGCON UK is open at ExCeL London until 5pm on Sunday 8 January 2023. Tickets are still available and can be purchased via https://uk.rupaulsdragcon.com/ and RUPAUL’S DRAGCON LA is also now on sale.
Series 15 of RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE premieres exclusively in the UK on the streamer of all things drag, WOW Presents Plus, from 2AM GMT on Saturday 7th January 2023. Subscribe now at https://uk.wowpresentsplus.com/
RuPaul’s Drag Race reveals new Global All Stars series & Season 15 premiere date
Indie Mac User 