The Rendez-vous de la Drag, the first forum for French-speaking drag culture in Canada, will take place on Saturday and Sunday at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. Rita Baga, co-speaker of the event along with Michel Dorion, tells us about this show inspired by RuPaul’s DragCon in Los Angeles, London or New York.
It had been several years since Rita Baga tried to convince the organization of RuPaul’s DragCon events to make a stopover in the metropolis while she worked in the Fierté Montréal team.
It wasn’t in their plans, but the idea stuck. “I told myself that, especially in Quebec, there is a love of drag, whether you’re on the show Drag Race or not,” explains the finalist of Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs. The world is at stake.
We felt it was also symbolic this year as our critics appeared again. It’s a nice distraction, but above all a great opportunity to meet people.
The Montreal event brings together several artists from Quebec and abroad, including Barbada, Mona de Grenoble, Rock Bière, RV Métal, Sasha Baga, the Belgians Athena Sorgelikis and Drag Couenne, and the French Kam Hugh and La Big Bertha.
A kind of drag comic-con
Like Comiccon, these events that bring together fans of video games, among other things, the Rendez-vous de la Drag focuses above all on big stars who man the kiosks at the Palais des Congrès throughout the weekend.
It’s an opportunity to interact with drag performers but also to encourage them because they have merchandise, photos, jewelry or wigs. It’s like an exhibitor trade fair where the exhibitor is a liability.
The drag meetings are open to all target groups, whether drag newcomers or drag fans. The event is also open to children and the program is free of any nudity or vulgar content. Several Drag 101 classes are also offered on the weekend, from makeup to wig making.
The Drag Gala with Véronique Cloutier, Mathieu Dufour and Barbada
The Rendez-vous de la Drag will conclude in style with the presentation of the drag gala hosted by Michel Dorion and Rita Baga on Sunday evening, where prizes such as “Miss Personality”, “Extravaganza” and “Party Animal of the Year” will be awarded.
Several personalities such as Véronique Cloutier, Varda Étienne, Caroline Néron, Joe Bocan, Guillaume Pineault, Mathieu Dufour and Richardson Zéphir will be at the party and will present prizes. The evening will also be punctuated by performances from Geneviève Leclerc, comedian Anne-Sarah Charbonneau and drag performers Ra’Jah Ohara, Icesis Couture and Barbada.
The Drag Gala has been a tradition for around fifteen years. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, that was more than three years ago. It is a meeting of drag artists of all kinds, explains Rita Baga.
This year we opened it up to all drag artists in Quebec, not just those who worked at Cabaret Mado and Cocktail. With more and more drag artists no longer just working in the Village, we wanted to open it up on a larger scale.
The Rendez-vous de la Drag will take place on October 28th and 29th at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. Tickets are available on the event website (New Window).