While occasional deluges of rain kept some of the faint-of-heart at home, hundreds of brave drag queens descended on the Onderdonk House in Ridgewood, Queens for the fourth edition of New York's annual drag fest, Bushwig. Founded in 2012 by local queens Horrorchata and Babes Trust, Bushwig is a platform for the city's thriving gay scene to come together and celebrate the art of drag.The faint-of-heart wouldn't have lasted long anyway, with headlining acts like gay punk band Bottoms, Long Island chillwave group Mr. Twin Sister, and weirdo rapper Chae Buttuh complemented by provocative drag performances. One queen screamed Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" into a microphone. Another doused herself with lube. A bearded trio bathed themselves in instant lemonade. One emotionless performer lip-synced "All Tomorrow's Parties" while slowly popping heart-shaped balloons.Gay culture has always gone hand-in-hand with dance music, so we took this opportunity to ask some of Bushwig's gaudiest, bawdiest, and most glittering drag queens about their relationships with raving.THUMP: Do you think rave culture and queens go together?
Lady Quesadilla: Of course! Yeah definitely! It's just another environment of nightlife. Drag queens, we're everywhere. You can find us at a quincenera, a bar, a dive bar, or a rave.Do you think rave culture and queens go together?
Drag has a very wide spectrum of performance. Certain types of drag go along with raves. There's some drag that's like cabaret style, and there are other types of drag that absolutely encourage partying and going hard. So I think it really just depends on the performer, but I think they definitely have overlap.Do you think rave culture and queens go together?
I used to be a raver back in the late 90s. That was a blast. Then I tried to go to a nightclub when I wasn't on ecstasy and it was pretty lame. So, in that sense, they are very different, because I think drag is really fun to appreciate even when you are not rolling. The long-term duration of a rave is kind of counter-intuitive to drag because, listen, we can't be in this mug for that long, so that's a little tricky. Are you guys throwing a rave, what's happening? Where's the rave, is the question.Do you think rave culture and queens go together?
Definitely. Especially the Brooklyn drag scene, because, as you can see here, it's all about people coming together, the music, all different kinds of drag and artistry mashing together. So it definitely goes together.Do you think rave culture and queens go together?
Yes and no. I would say, honestly, more no. Because at a rave, the look is so secondary. The look needs to be practical because you have to rave in it. Whereas drag can be totally impractical and it doesn't matter. It's contrived and it's beautiful and it's a mess all at the same time.Do you think rave culture and queens go together?
I think queens and everything go together. We are like gatekeepers of culture and general debauchery. I think there's room for everyone in that space, no matter how you identify, or what culture you connect with. We are for the people.
We Had a Kiki With the Founders of Bushwig, New York's Fiercest Drag Queen Festival
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1. Lady Quesadilla
Lady Quesadilla: Of course! Yeah definitely! It's just another environment of nightlife. Drag queens, we're everywhere. You can find us at a quincenera, a bar, a dive bar, or a rave.
2. Daphne Sumtimez
Drag has a very wide spectrum of performance. Certain types of drag go along with raves. There's some drag that's like cabaret style, and there are other types of drag that absolutely encourage partying and going hard. So I think it really just depends on the performer, but I think they definitely have overlap.
3. Kimberly Clark
I used to be a raver back in the late 90s. That was a blast. Then I tried to go to a nightclub when I wasn't on ecstasy and it was pretty lame. So, in that sense, they are very different, because I think drag is really fun to appreciate even when you are not rolling. The long-term duration of a rave is kind of counter-intuitive to drag because, listen, we can't be in this mug for that long, so that's a little tricky. Are you guys throwing a rave, what's happening? Where's the rave, is the question.
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4. Munroe Lilly
Definitely. Especially the Brooklyn drag scene, because, as you can see here, it's all about people coming together, the music, all different kinds of drag and artistry mashing together. So it definitely goes together.
5. Amber Alert
Yes and no. I would say, honestly, more no. Because at a rave, the look is so secondary. The look needs to be practical because you have to rave in it. Whereas drag can be totally impractical and it doesn't matter. It's contrived and it's beautiful and it's a mess all at the same time.
6. Ragamuffin
I think queens and everything go together. We are like gatekeepers of culture and general debauchery. I think there's room for everyone in that space, no matter how you identify, or what culture you connect with. We are for the people.