DragWorld London 2019

We’ve just got back from London after going to DragWorld 2019 at Olympia on Saturday. We had such an amazing time! So we wanted to share our experience with you guys. Here is the low-down of all things DragWorld.

What’s The Tea at DragWorld?

Markets and Stalls

As you walk around the hall, there are so many things that will catch your eye, from elaborately dressed drag queens to colourful banners and balloons. But one of the things that caught our eye is the multitude of different market stalls selling all kinds of drag paraphernalia. There were items of official DragWorld Merchandise, cupcake stands, cards and stationary and even its very own ‘Drag Market” which had everything from latex dresses, wigs, make-up and elaborate sunglasses. You would be blown away by the choice on offer and frankly spoilt for choice.

Catwalk Stage

Both days were full of brilliant performances, outfits and lip-syncs but some of our favourites from Saturday included Rhyss Pieces, HERR, and Crystal Lubrikunt. This stage was packed throughout the day and was lucky if you got a seat. It was well worth the wait though as the sheer variety of drag on offer here was amazing and included performers from across the UK and beyond.

There were some amazing AFAB drag artists on show and it was refreshing to see a good mix of representation. Although we saw very few children in drag.

Panel Stage

This stage was even busier and had a tight schedule throughout the day featuring topics such as “All Drag is Valid” (with Amber Cadaverous, Luna Moon, ZODI & Paul Aleksandr ), “We’re Born Naked, The Rest is Drag”(with Chiyo, Violet Chachki, Kat Wilderness and Meth), “So, You Wanna Be a Drag Superstar?” (Biblegirl666, Tatianna, Derrick Barry and Trinity (the Tuck) Taylor) and the busiest panel of the day “No Tea, No Shade”.

This panel featured Ginger Minj, Alaska Thunderfuck, Jinkx Monsoon, Latrice Royale, and Willam and was understandably one of the main attractions of the day. We managed to meet Ginger Minj and Willam earlier in the day and seeing all of them together talking about life and their experiences on Drag Race, including behind the scenes gossip, was a real highlight. It was really funny too!

The Queens

So we’ve mentioned some of the RuGirls in attendance, and if you were lucky, or if you had a meet-and-greet ticket you could also meet Trixie Mattel, Phi Phi O’Hara, Kim Chi and Shea Couleé.

There were also large queues for Manchester’s own The Family Gorgeous, Charity Kase, Donna Trump, and Oedipussi Rex.

Some Queens were charging fans to meet them at their booth in addition to charging for meet and greets which did make it harder to them and meant that people were waiting for hours in a queue only to be turned away later as they sold out. This was one of the only real downsides to the event.

There was good turn-out of Kings in attendance too, but we heard they were largely on the stage on Sunday so it was real shame that we missed them!

Final Thoughts

So after a busy day, and such an amazing time it’s safe to say we’d love to go back next year. We’d recommend it to any drag fan and it’s definitely a day well spent. We would recommend trying to get a meet a greet ticket though if you have your heart set on meeting your favourite Queen as meeting them at their booth is far from guaranteed.