#DragQueenHistory during 2048 06

Hello darlings! Emma here, back with another #DragQueenHistory installment for ya! It's been a whirlwind of time travel lately, darling, flitting about in my magical pink tutu - which, by the way, still fits perfectly after all this temporal traversing! Snaps fingers with a pink manicured hand, winking mischievously

Anyway, this month, I'm zipping us all the way back to June 2048, which just happened to be the busiest drag month of the year in a most fascinating way!

The theme this month is: *"Drag Across The Globe: Global Drag Extravaganzas!" *

Because you know how I feel - Drag is universal, it's an art form that speaks to everyone, regardless of where you're from! So grab a cuppa, settle in with your fluffy pink bathrobe, and let's dive into a global tour of drag, starting with…

Las Vegas, Nevada is renowned for its show-stopping acts, but this month it went a whole different level, honey!

Imagine… Disneyland, but with drag. Dragtopia was an epic event! Imagine acres and acres of themed lands, showcasing drag from every state and every genre! We had:

• Glam-burbia: Filled with houses turned into dazzling drag rooms for makeup masterclasses, drag storytelling and life-affirming drag coaching for young queens.
• Twerk City: The name speaks for itself - endless drag shows with focus on drag dancers and fierce performances. Think RuPaul's Drag Race meets Madonna’s “Vogue" music video. It was truly an epic drag explosion of talent!
• The Golden Girls Estate: Dedicated to old school drag with a special focus on comedy. It featured drag bingo with the fabulous Divas From Hell troupe. The show-stopping finale included a live lip-synch with the one and only, legendary Divine, resurrected from the drag heavens by a super secret special effects drag company (sorry, no spoilers! But let me tell you, it was mind blowing).
• The Drag Queens Of Rock: Dedicated to the glam rockers in drag. Live bands, makeup sessions, guitar and keyboard lessons, even rock ballad and hard rock dance classes! My, it was fierce, honey.

And for those who were looking for a little more mature fun…

• The Midnight Strip Club: A grown-up space where a select few experienced queens took to the stage for risqué performances (with a few cheeky nods to drag history of yesteryear! Remember the days before “drag culture” became mainstream… ahem…)

Oh honey, Dragtopia truly had something for everyone, with workshops and classes to fill your time! Drag Utopia was so popular it is said that New York City had to impose a “drag-dress-up” moratorium to cope with the demand! (New York City always loved a dress code violation and fashion faux-pas) But alas, by July, everyone’s favourite Dragtopia came to an end.

So, back home in Derbyshire, where I always do my best drag performances and have the most fun, the drag scene was abuzz with Dragtopia fever! It felt like every queer pub, nightclub, and performance space in town was hosting an epic drag event. Everyone wanted a piece of this American drag pie!

• The Chesterfield’s Drag Palace: A classic drag nightclub housed in a renovated cathedral that, by all accounts, never slept! There were drag shows galore. And on weekends? A special tribute show called “Legends Of Drag”, with queens reimagining looks and numbers from the greatest drag legends of our time. I swear I saw a couple of Dame Edna Everage-esque looks! It was a whirlwind of laughter and amazing performances! I heard that some drag queens were even staying overnight for 48 hour long drag spectaculars… It was absolute chaos, honey!

And that's not all, darling! It was pride month and all of the local pride events in the UK were bursting with drag. It truly felt like the whole nation had gotten infected with the drag bug. We saw drag queen appearances from iconic queens from all around the globe. My, the fashion and make-up... divine! And, let's be honest, I may have accidentally worn a tutu at almost every event... But you can't blame me! I mean, a little pink tutu sparkle is all you really need for pride, right? Winks

Our next stop is Japan for a whirlwind tour of drag culture. They say if you want to know a country's soul, you look at their pop idols. And let me tell you, the Japanese are truly masters of the idol world!

This month in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto it was the height of drag season. The country was experiencing an entire generation of drag kings and queens. This was a phenomenon! I'm talking drag idols* who became major pop stars, doing live TV performances and singing songs on huge stages and festivals, just like your regular idols. There were tons of fan clubs, fan websites and dedicated Instagram accounts to these queens!

But you see, honey, drag in Japan has always been more subtle, integrated into pop culture in its own way, almost hidden in plain sight… There's a real element of camp performance in Japanese Kabuki Theatre (just think about the make-up!), but what's amazing is that even on TV they incorporated drag elements (Think the super fashionable drag looks in “Love Live!” or "Cardcaptor Sakura"!).
This gentle merging with mainstream pop culture meant there wasn't an obvious "drag scene", but in June the “drag explosion” finally became unavoidable in Japan. *The pop idols met drag and we *all got something wonderful! **

You can bet your bottom dollar I managed to score some tickets to a drag karaoke session in Shibuya, where I was so, so, SO surprised to discover… a drag-karaoke competition where people not only had to sing like a diva, but wear gorgeous tutus. Honey, they made mine look boring.

So you can see why I had to write about the June drag scene. It’s amazing how one month in 2048 turned into the defining year for the global rise of drag, a truly draggy month!

But don’t worry! This is not the last time we'll travel. There is still much more of #DragQueenHistory to be discovered, darling. We are, after all, on the biggest and most fabulous Drag Queen Time Travel tour imaginable! And guess who's guiding it? That's right! Me!

Catch you next month with more pink tutus, more fashion and even more Drag Queen Time Travel. Until then, wear your heart on your sleeve, your sparkles in your hair, and don’t forget, you are loved! *Until next time! *

*Love always, *

Emma.