On April 18th, I had the pleasure of getting to go to the third annual “Draggieland” hosted here at Texas A&M. Although the conservative school had pulled funding and public support from the event, the organizers of Draggieland persevered, and with crowdfunding and public support, went on to host the event anyways at Rudder Auditorium! The way
I want to preface this by saying that I’ve never been to a drag show before and had never even seen an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I had no idea what I was in for but wanted to go and support! First off, the event was completely sold out! Every single seat in Rudder Auditorium was full. The set-up was amazing as well, with the lights and design of the stage being perfect.
To kick off the show, the two hosts, Petty and Nirvana Piranha for the night gave an opening performance that got everyone super excited for the drag performers of the night! Afterward, the performers came out and gave it all they got. Through performances ranging from slow songs to up-beats, the performers came out and gave it their all. Lily Adonis Fable performed first and gave up a great show!
Alaina gave an amazing performance that touched my heart as she had her entire family in the audience! Her father was blowing a small blow horn at the beginning and end of her performance to show his support.
The performance that took away the audience’s breath, though, was Jessy B. Darling! She came out in Megamind drag and danced to Bad Guy by Billie Eilish. She had the entire crowd cheering and hollering as she danced and gave the performance of a lifetime in her big combat boots!
After a final farewell performance from the last queen of Draggieland, the audience discovered that for the very first time in Draggieland history, they would have the opportunity to vote for the winner of the Draggieland show.
A few short minutes later, Jessy B. Darling was crowned the winner of Draggieland 2023! The crowd was hollering for her as she accepted her crown! It was beautiful to see all the contestants together holding hands as the winner was announced.
I can’t wait to see what Draggieland 2023 brings!