The new iteration returns for the first time in years in the age of drag-as-mainstream-TV and queer and trans equality, but also a pointed demonstration against bigotry in the age of Trump

Burning Man, these days the most wealthy, white, micro-dosing, techno-futurist of festivals, attracting hordes from around the world, got underway in the Nevada desert this weekend. But New York had a fringy answer.

Wigstock is back. The festival of drag fashions, sequins, stilettos, big hair and, in almost every conceivable way, Burning Man’s opposite, has sprouted up in Manhattan for the first time in years.

More than a decade since it was last staged, the new iteration of Wigstock, “is back in NYC as the hormonal convergence issues in the age of asparagus,” its original founder in the eighties, Lady Bunny, explain, tongue firmly in cheek, to the Guardian on Saturday.

But which of the two should be interpreted for greater cultural significance is open to question.

The New York festival, held on a pier at the south end of Manhattan on Saturday afternoon and into the wee hours, promised a cavorting extravaganza from the who’s who of drag and outré cabaret acts in the city. Bianca Del Rio, Lypsinka, Joey Arias, Justin Vivian Bond, Murray Hill, Sherry Vine and Amanda Lepore were among 50 drag acts, all wrangled by veteran drag queen, comic and activist Lady Bunny.

“New York has become increasingly corporate and dull,” said Bunny, aka Tennessee native Jon Ingle, who started the ball rolling in 1984. It began then with an impromptu, late-night performance by drag queens in Tompkins Square Park, in a part of Manhattan known as Alphabet City, for a captive audience of homeless people who lived in the small park. Over time it faded out and more recent revivals have had mixed success.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lady Bunny, drag queen, comic, activist and original founder of Wigstock in the eighties. Photograph: Lisa McNulty/The Guardian

“But rather than whine like the jaded scenester I am, I prefer to throw a wiggy, end of summer bash event to add something entertaining, hopefully annually,” said Bunny, who is known for her high, high, teased blonde wigs and corny humor.

She added: “The Wigstock festival did not yet curl up and dye!”



Two thousand, six hundred miles away in Black Rock City, Nevada, tens of thousands of Burning Man festival goers on Friday night watched as two wooden trains collided amid a series of explosions. The festival’s pyrotechnic events were ringed by wardens in an effort to prevent a repeat of last year’s fatal tragedy in which 41-year-old Aaron Joel Mitchell, 41, ran into the Burning Man effigy.

Wigstock was a little more down home, a more folksy celebration in the age of drag-as-mainstream-TV and queer and trans equality – and yet a pointed demonstration against divisiveness and bigotry in the age of Donald Trump’s presidency (rather than asparagus). There was a nod to commercialism, of course, it’s not quite post-modern. Wigstock is a ticketed event on the roof, no longer a free for all under starry skies. It was organized not only by Bunny but by prominent actor Neil Patrick Harris and his husband, David Burtka.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka. Photograph: Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

Wigstock is legendary, emerging during the Aids crisis and the backlash against gay pride. The title, obviously, is a play on Woodstock, after the iconic hippie music festival in upstate New York in 1969, the same summer the Stonewall riots in the city sparked the gay liberation movement.

Heading into the downtown venue as it got underway on Saturday afternoon, Paul Alexander, songwriter and one of the original stars of 1995’s Wigstock: The Movie, said: “Society has opened up a lot and recognised we’re a part of it. We’re slowly getting mainstream jobs, and not just zoned for sex work. [TV star] Ru Paul had a lot to do with that. He opened up the eyes of the world to our acceptance.”

He was not wearing drag on this occasion, just an amazing hat of denim dreadlocks. Nikki Exotica, a self-described trans pop star, was sporting a long dark wig, furry cat ears, a mask and a latticed, rubbery skirt over a thong, with high heels. She said: “I’m so excited to be here. We’re bringing the nineties back. But now it’s about inclusiveness and that’s what being trans is about.”

Lady Bunny wore a psychedelic dream frock and a wig stretching about two feet off the top of her head.

The most memorable New York Wigstock in history was when Australian performance artist Leigh Bowery performed All You Need is Love, which culminated, impossibly, with him “giving birth” to his assistant Nicola, who had been hiding all the while upside down in his flamboyant costume.

“The year that Leigh Bowery came out was the best,” recalled Kim Hastreiter, fashion stylist and co-founder of Paper, an independent pop-culture magazine.

According to Hastreiter, Wigstock emerged from the Pyramid Club, a tiny bar on Avenue A at the corner of Tompkins Square Park that was the nocturnal home to fringe drag acts by the likes of Ru Paul and Joey Arias, and bands like Deee-Lite and Ultra Naté, the artist Taboo and fashion designers Marc Jacobs and Stephen Sprouse.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 performing at Wigstock 2018. Photograph: Lisa McNulty/The Guardian

“It was all about kids and young people just going wild. I don’t know if they were on acid or what, but if was definitely psychedelic. Many were performers or into art and the fashion was fantastic,” said Hastreiter.

But the effect was longterm. Bowery became known as a forerunner of extreme body modification, while Pyramid Club drag act Ru Paul Charles went on to turn drag into unthreatening education-cum-entertainment for middle America with his award-winning TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Neil Patrick Harris, star of the recent revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway, promises a tribute this year to Aretha Franklin, whose funeral was on Friday. The Queen of Soul will be played by drag queen and contestant on Ru Paul’s show, Latrice Royale.

Harris shot wigs from an air gun into the crowd. Peppermint, another star of Ru Paul’s Drag Race, lip synched. The roof top crowd lapped it up. Feather headdresses and erotic dancing came as standard.

So forget the laminated-cards, wrist bands and wealthy tech exclusivity that Burning Man has become, says Lady Bunny.

“There’s something for everyone in this show [Wigstock], from live music to lip-synch, to drag kings to house music artists. I’m really glad that people feel the need to be so inclusive now – but at Wigstock, we always were inclusive.”