RuPaul’s DragCon LA came to a close Sunday night, but not without breaking records. The convention saw over 50,000 attendees — increasing total attendance by 500 percent since its debut in 2015.
“As we wrap up another DragCon on Mother’s Day, it is especially exciting to see all the families that come to share the experience,” World of Wonder co-founder Fenton Bailey says in a statement. “DragCon is about life, love, laughter and inclusion. It’s about tearing down walls, not building them.”
The final day of DragCon was full of excitement. Here are our five biggest highlights.
1. Chad Michaels remembers meeting Carrie Fisher
Dressed as Cher, Britney Spears and Tina Turner respectively, Chad Michaels, Derrick Barry and Vegas staple Hot Chocolate sat down to discuss the art of impersonation. During the panel, Michaels recalled a time when she met Carrie Fisher at a party. Decked out in his Cher getup, the queen approached Fisher and told her he grew up wanting to be Princess Leia — to which the Star Wars actress quickly responded that she had dreamed of growing up to be Cher. Adorable.
2. Jasmine Masters wants to shut it down
Ahead of her panel discussion, season 10 queen Blair St. Clair joked that she hoped she wouldn’t get kicked off again (the queen was eliminated from Drag Race following a challenge that involved participating in a spoof DragCon panel). Joined by Aja, Milk, Jasmine Masters and Ginger Minj, the queens discussed online bullying, with the Queen of Jush, Masters, offering the boldest solution: “How about all of the queens from Drag Race — how about we all just shut down social media? Cause if we’re not on there, they can’t hate.” Milk supported the idea while Minj joked that she loved Reddit too much.
3. The queens take over Instagram
Throughout the day, queens took over Billboard Pride’s new Instagram account to talk about their spirit animals and which superpower they’d choose. Check out our IG story for commentary from The Vixen, BenDeLaCreme, Jinx Monsoon, Aquaria, Aja and, of course, MISS VANJIEEEEEE.
4. Ru has Vangie fever
At the end of the convention, Mama Ru took the stage to address the crowd for a keynote address — but not before leading the crowd in a “Miss Vanjie” chant. He then asked the infamous meme queen to join him on stage, where he asked about her experience becoming such a sensation. “Bitch, I was gagged,” said Mateo.
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5. Porkchop gets Ru-demption
After the convention wrapped, fans made their way to the RuPaul’s DragCon Pageant, where queens who were eliminated first on their seasons battled it out for the crowd. Judged by Michelle Visage and Bebe Zahara Benet, the contestants — which included Pandora Boxx, Coco Montrese and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo — competed in a talent portion, a high fashion runway and a Q&A segment. Fans had the opportunity to vote on their favorite of the night, with Naysha Lopez and Tempest Dujour tieing for the title, receiving $2,500 each. But it was Porkchop — the first queen ever to sashay away on Drag Race — that was anointed the competition’s winner by the judges.
DragCon NYC will take place September 28-20. Tickets are now available at rupaulsdragcon.com.