Bushwig Makes its Southern Debut This Weekend
On Saturday, Castillo Blanco will host 12 hours of drag culture as the Brooklyn-based festival makes its New Orleans debut.
On Saturday, Castillo Blanco will host 12 hours of drag culture as the Brooklyn-based festival makes its New Orleans debut.
[Story by Kate O'Brien]
[Updated] Bushwig is a Brooklyn drag festival that proudly celebrates its five-year existence this year, and on Saturday, May 13, it ventures to New Orleans for the first time. Castillo Blanco Art Studios (4321 St Claude Ave.) will host this multimedia show of live band performances, international DJs, and drag performers from around the world. Drag queen Babes Trust hails from England, and performs with one of the headlining bands, Bottoms. She describes the event as “an all-day affair with typically about seven queens performing an hour with nonstop music throughout”.
Babes describes her band’s music as, “Noisy electronic, sometimes categorized as drag core.” Other festival headliner bands include CHRISTEENE, Quintron and Miss Pussycat, and Bushwig will also include performances by drag queens Horrorchata, Neon Burgundy, Merrie Cherry, and many more. There will also be a Brooklyn-influenced DIY style show, Tarot card readings, witchcraft potions, vintage clothes, and wigs for sale. The festival will begin at 1 p.m. and ends at 2 a.m.
Babes believes that there’s a lot of crossover between the Brooklyn and New Orleans drag performance scenes. “A lot of people here who are a part of it know a lot of people in Brooklyn, and vice versa,” she says. She sees the debut of Bushwig in New Orleans as more than just a chance for two communities to connect. “Now more than ever it’s important to celebrate diversity and acceptance,” she says. “What better way to resist oppression than with art and music?”
Updated 10:06 a.m.
The original poster art has been replaced with the photo of Bottoms.
