RuPaul’s DragCon Slays the LA Convention Center
RuPaul announces RuPaul’s DragCon 2017, April 29 & 30, 2017
Weekend passes are NOW available at 2016 prices.
RuPaulsDragCon.com
Los Angeles, CA (May 9, 2016) — For two days the Los Angeles Convention Center was the glittering epicenter of everything fun and fabulous. Celebrating creativity and individuality, the second annual RuPaul’s DragCon was embraced by a wildly diverse crowd of gay, straight, young, old, singles and families alike.
The weekend started with the official ribbon cutting on Saturday morning by RuPaul who warmly welcomed the “tribe” and reminded everyone, that “this is the beginning of the rest of your life!”
A crowd of 22,575 — many of whom came “dressed to express” — cheered and descended upon the West Hall to take in everything this 2016 edition had to offer.
On the convention floor, in between lips sync contests, over 200 vendors were selling make up, jewelry, fashions, wigs, vintage wear, and even wigs for dogs. RuPaul met fans in a giant booth that displayed the drag superstar’s Madame Tussauds wax figure and a retrospective of famous gowns. Upstairs, over 50 panels and screenings covered topics from “maximizing your social media” and ”building your brand”, to real women who love drag and make up tutorials, to The Drag Queens of Comedy and the classic sitcom Golden Girls.
All day, fans lined up to pose for photos with the internationally famous queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race. And Autograph Alley was busy with visits from stars like Amber Rose, Blac Chyna, Henry Rollins, Big Freedia, Todrick Hall, Debbie Gibson, and many more.
“RuPaul’s DragCon celebrates every color in the rainbow. Seeing so many parents with their wide-eyed daughters and sons is maybe the most rewarding thing of all. Drag is the future,” shares Fenton Bailey, co-Founder of World of Wonder and RuPaul’s DragCon.
RuPaul began the second day arriving at the event on roller skates and took a spin around the exhibits. He also rolled right into people’s hearts with a moving keynote early Sunday afternoon given to a standing-room only crowd who immediately leapt to their feet and gave him a standing ovation. With Mother’s Day as his theme Ru spoke movingly about his own mother who “died of a broken heart” and urged all those facing adversity and disappointment to be a mother to themselves and others by not taking life too seriously and being able to laugh through the darkest moments. His three sisters were in the audience as well as Mary Wilson of The Supremes, RuPaul’s favorite singing group since childhood.
The 2nd installment coincided with the launch of the RuPaul’s DragCon YouTube Channel, which featured content from and inspired by the first drag convention in herstory, as well as included highlights from this year’s weekend.
The RuPaul’s DragCon Digital Channel is designed to transform the two-day event into a year round experience with fresh and exclusive programming that will debut each week, including RuPaul’s DragCon panels, attractions, celebrities from the convention floor and beyond.
Produced by drag legend RuPaul together with World of Wonder Productions and Comikazee, RuPaul’s DragCon tripled the floor space for its 2016 convention. After drawing standing room only attendance for its 2015 panels, World of Wonder added many more elements for DragCon 2016.
“You’re born naked and the rest is drag. I first said those words decades ago. And they could not be truer today. That’s the unifying theme that brings together so many diverse and beautiful people at RuPaul’s DragCon — Sensitive, creative souls that are looking to inspire and be inspired by their tribe. To express themselves and be the realization of their imagination. That’s the power of DragCon,” States RuPaul.
Tickets are available for RuPaul’s DragCon 2017, taking place on April 29th & 30th now at: https://www.showclix.com/event/dragcon2017/tag/drag
ABOUT RUPAUL
RuPaul skyrocketed to international fame with the release of the album Supermodel of the World, which was followed by roles in over 50 films and television sitcoms, the host of The RuPaul Show (VH1), morning drive radio on WKTU & WNEW and currently hosts the podcast What’s the Tee? With Michelle Visage.
RuPaul has been a spokesperson for WebEx, Rockport and was awarded a seven-year contract as the “first face of M.A.C. Cosmetics.” Wax portraits of RuPaul are displayed at Madame Tussauds in both NYC and San Francisco. RuPaul is the author of the autobiography Lettin’ It All Hang Out and Workin’ It. Released in 2014, “Born Naked” is RuPaul’s 10th and highest charting studio album to date. RuPaul is returning as a judge for the second season of the hit GSN series, Skin Wars. RuPaul is Executive Producer and Host of the global phenomenon “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on Logo, entering its eighth hit season.
ABOUT WORLD OF WONDER
Innovative production company World of Wonder is behind such entertaining and award-winning hit series as RuPaul’s Drag Race (Logo), Million Dollar Listings (Bravo), #CandidlyNicole (Vh1), Big Freedia (Fuse), and Island Hunters (HGTV). Million Dollar Listing NY is a 2015 Emmy® Award nominee for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program. RuPaul’s Drag Race won the 2014 TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming. Big Freedia (Fuse) won the 2014 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program. World of Wonder has also created award-winning films and documentaries such as Inside Deep Throat, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Wishful Drinking, Monica in Black and White, and The Last Beekeeper, which won an Emmy® Award for Outstanding Nature Programming. Seven of their films have premiered at the Sundance Film festival including Becoming Chaz and Party Monster, the documentary and feature film starring Macaulay Culkin. World of Wonder has created a substantial digital footprint with its YouTube channel WOWPresents, along with an award-winning blog, The WOW Report. Co-founders Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey authored The World According to Wonder, celebrating 21 years of production, which can be found online at http://worldofwonder.net/. Randy and Fenton were honored with the IDA Pioneer Award in December 2014, celebrating exceptional achievement, leadership, and vision in the nonfiction and documentary community.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Cinematic Red
Annie Jeeves
Annie@cinematicred.com
