Banff is gearing up for its second annual Pride event in the community and organizers promise it will be sassier than ever.
The event’s founder, Joe Bembridge, a.k.a. drag queen super star Miss Ellen Q, said this year will be “bigger, better and bolder.
“We have expanded to a two-night event,” he said. “Banff as a community gets to take pride in the fact our first Pride exploded and most of these take time to develop and it showed we are a progressive community.”
The inaugural Pride last year saw a sold-out event at Wild Bill’s with Miss Ellen Q headlining. This year, Friday night (Oct. 24) will see an indoor snow globe party – an avant ski as opposed to aprčs – at Aurora followed by the big event on Saturday (Oct. 25) at Wild Bill’s.
Bembridge said he is thrilled to return to the best stage and venue in town with Miss Ellen Q and the Pumas and five other handpicked drag queens from across Alberta: April Storm, Argintina Hailey, Misty Meadows, Ruby Hymen and host Visa De’Klein.
“Since the success of launching Miss Ellen Q and the Pumas, Ellen made it to the finals of Alberta’s Next Drag Superstar and from there she was booked at Red Deer Pride, Medicine Hat Pride and Calgary Pride, which is kind of a huge accomplishment in a year because there are a lot of drag queens out there. So for her to get booked over other ones is really awesome,” he said. “I got to work with a plethora of really talented performers and these are my hand picked five to show off their fabulous in Banff.”
Performances are at 10 and 11 p.m. and midnight and, of course, get sassier as the night goes on. Tickets in advance are $15 and $20 at the door. Bembridge said proceeds will help Banff Pride develop in the community.
“The importance of this event is that 100 per cent profits go to the Banff Pride organization, which has a mandate to have visibly queer events happen in the Bow Valley,” he said. “We hope there is enough money and energy raised from this event that we can also start connecting more with youth and hopefully start an LGBTQ youth group, as we have been approached by local teens saying ‘what can we do for Pride?’ ”
