LOS ANGELES—The inaugural RuPaul’s DragCon—the first drag convention in HERstory spearheaded by RuPaul and World of Wonder—was successful beyond expectations, and will continue next year at the Los Angeles Convention Center on May 7‐8, 2016.
Last weekend, nearly 14,000 drag fans brought fierce personality and panache to the Los Angeles Convention Center, and reveled in the cornucopia of personalities, looks, make‐up and fashion that DragCon offered.
“Drag is a broad church that welcomes one and all. It is a celebration of difference, diversity and the power of imagination to look how you want to look, and be who you want to be. DragCon preached the word both in person at the convention and online,” said World of Wonder’s Randy Barbato.
“Panels on make-up, nightclubbing, parenting and wrestling delivered a broad experience for drag queens, their fans and their families,” added World of Wonder’s Fenton Bailey.
World of Wonder, it will be remembered, produced the excellent documentary Inside Deep Throat.
On Sunday, RuPaul brought attendees to their feet with his much-anticipated keynote speech, sharing hilarious and inspirational stories.
“Until now, we’ve gotten to see each other on Twitter, but here we get to meet each other in person. This is about finding your tribe,” said RuPaul.
And the fans did. All kinds of fans, hailing from six continents and including families with young children, were out in full force. Many came dressed to strut, and all were eager to meet, take photos and chat with their favorite drag queens and icons. Hundreds of thousands of fans engaged online, posting, commenting and sharing photos, videos and stories on social media channels using the #DragCon hashtag, which was trending on Facebook throughout the weekend.
“We set out to create a positive and life‐changing event for the fans, and believe we accomplished that," said Regina Carpinelli, co-producer of DragCon. "And the fan experience will continue to be our focus for DragCon in the years to come."
Pictured: RuPaul at the ribbon-cutting ceremony opening DragCon.
