RuPaul's DragCon LA is an annual

expo An expo is a trade exposition. It may also refer to: Events and venues * World's fair, a large international public exposition * Singapore Expo, convention and exposition venue ** Expo Axis, one of the world's largest membrane roofs, constructe ...

of drag culture held in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

billed as a "convention that celebrates 'the art of drag, queer culture and self-expression for all'", which debuted in 2015. Its sister event is

RuPaul's DragCon NYC RuPaul's DragCon NYC is an annual fan convention and expo of drag culture held in New York City, which debuted in September 2017. It is based on the successful RuPaul's DragCon LA which was launched in Los Angeles in 2015 billed as a “conven ...

started in 2017, and is considered the "world's largest celebration of drag culture." The event is an outgrowth of the internationally successful ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'', which generated '' Drag Race Thailand'', ''

RuPaul's Drag Race UK ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' is a British reality competition television series based on the American television series of the same name. The television series, a collaboration between the BBC and World of Wonder, premiered on 3 October 2019. T ...

'', ''

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' is an American reality competition spin off edition of the original ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which is produced by World of Wonder, for Logo TV and later VH1. The show premiered on October 22, 2012, on Logo TV, b ...

,'' and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

's ''

The Switch Drag Race ''The Switch Drag Race'' is a Chilean reality competition television series, presented by Mega as a Chilean version of the hit American show ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. The purpose of the series is to find Chile’s top ''transformista'' (''transfor ...

''. ''RuPaul's Drag Race and'' the DragCons come from World of Wonder Entertainment (WOW), a

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

based in Los Angeles. At RuPaul's DragCon LA, past ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' contestants and other well-known drag artists meet with fans, take pictures, sign autographs, and sometimes perform or take part in a discussion panel, as well as sell merchandise. The discussion panels vary from more obvious topics like clothing, fashion, wigs, and makeup, to history of drag, drag activism,

trans rights A transgender person is someone whose gender identity is inconsistent or not culturally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth and also with the gender role that is associated with that sex. They may have, or may intend to establi ...

, queer pop culture, and political issues facing the LGBTQ community. WOW's co-director and producer of the convention,

Randy Barbato World of Wonder Productions is an American production company founded in 1991 by filmmakers Randy Barbato and Portsmouth-born Fenton Bailey. Based in Los Angeles, California, the company specializes in documentary television and film productio ...

shared that ironically the panels can be quite deep because although drag queens are known for being fun and about their looks, the queens are smart artists and activists, he also said, "For us, drag has always been political!" The main stage presents performances and runway events all day long. There is also hundreds of vendors offering drag supplies and accessories; in 2016, two hundred vendors sold $2.3 million of 'DragCon exclusive merchandise' by vendors and exhibitors on the expo floor. In 2018, the two U.S. DragCons, co-produced by RuPaul and World of Wonder brought in $8 million with a combined 100,000 visitors. According to ''Glossy'', "the event's core demographic are 18- to 34-year-olds, with 60% female attendees and 40% male. About 60% of DragCon's audience identify as

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

and 40% as heterosexual." ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

'' notes that DragCon is similar to the annual Burning Man art festival in that attendees exhibit radical self-expression, the culture is participatory and inclusive, and what is presented is

ephemeral Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...

. In 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the event went online as Digital DragCon.

History

In 2020, and due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing and stay-at-home orders—starting in March throughout California—resulted in large events being cancelled, postponed, or like the "reborn" RuPaul's Digital DragCon 2020, going online. The two-day event will be hosted by RuPaul with guests including Jackie Cox, Love Connie,

Karen from Finance Richard Chadwick, better known by the stage name Karen from Finance, is an Australian drag performer and a runner-up on the first season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under ''RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under'' is a reality competition stream ...

Varla Jean Merman Varla Jean Merman is a character originated and portrayed by Jeffery Roberson, an American actor, singer and drag performer. Varla's fictitious pedigree boasts that Ernest Borgnine is her father and Ethel Merman is her mother. Merman is perhaps be ...

, "

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth d ...

" singer

Rebecca Black Rebecca Renee Black (born June 21, 1997) is an American singer and YouTuber. She gained extensive media coverage when the music video for her 2011 single "Friday" went viral on YouTube and other social media sites. "Friday" was derided by many ...

, and

Tony Hale Anthony Russell Hale (born September 30, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his role in the Fox comedy series '' Arrested Development'' as Buster Bluth. Hale played Gary Walsh on the HBO comedy ''Veep'' from 2012 until ...

from ''

Veep ''Veep'' is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci as an adaptation of his sitcom ''The Thick of It''. The protagonist of ''Veep'' ...

''. The convention will feature "performances, panels, merchandise" and be streamed for free on World of Wonder's YouTube channel.

Beauty influencers

According to World of Wonder (WOW) co-founder Fenton Bailey, " RuPaul was the first drag queen associated with beauty (products), with MAC Cosmetics in the 1990s." ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' has highlighted how the drag queens embrace and use make-up as "drag stress-tests the best beauty products"; many are also beauty influencers for various brands including their own; some of whom have booths at the convention to sample and sell products. ''Glossy'' notes that of "beauty festivals" ''DragCon'' is one of few with "ultra-engaged audiences." In 2015, the first year of ''DragCon LA'', there were eight beauty companies presented. ''DragCon'' "has seen 615% year-over-year growth in beauty vendors and sponsors"; with "more than $8.2 million in on-site sales in 2018, and 93% of attendees purchased merchandise valued at $200 or more."

Interacting with drag queens

Ginger Minj Joshua Allen Eads, stage name Ginger Minj (born September 11, 1984), an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, and reality television personality. After achieving recognition for placing as the runner-up on the seventh season of the real ...

, when asked the value in meeting fans personally, said it helps humanize the drag queen they've only seen on the screen, and "helps them realize that this is a serious job for us, not just fun and games on TV". She notes that the queens have a job because of the fans so she cultivates positive relationships with them.

References

{{Drag Race 2015 establishments in California Annual events in California Events in Los Angeles Recurring events established in 2015 Drag Race (franchise) LGBT events in California Drag events