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Photos: Earth's Best Drag Queens Return To NYC For Bushwig 2015
By
Scott Heins
Published Sep 14, 2015
Modified Sep 14, 2015
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Scott Heins
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By
Scott Heins
Published Sep 14, 2015
Modified Sep 14, 2015
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No amount of rain or grey skies could dim the dazzle of Bushwig, which once again brought brilliant drag queens from around the world to mingle and perform in Bushwick. Now in its third year, the festival was hosted at Onderdonk House all day Saturday and Sunday, before sashaying over to a number of after-parties (the wildest of which wrapped up around 8 a.m.).
Local queens including Patti Spliff, Aja, Glossy, Soigné, and Charlene were joined by performers and fans from South America, Europe, and all corners of America. Bushwig is all about attitude and acceptance, and despite each day bringing dozens of performers on stage (some of whom wielded props including sunscreen, milk, and buckets of fake blood), the crowd never tired; if anything, the cheers and howls grew louder as day turned to night.
Qweenamor, who has performed in drag nationwide, came to Bushwig from Chicago, where she had been living for a month. 2015 marked her first Bushwig, and while she proved to be a hit on stage, streets and sidewalks are her preferred venue of choice. "I want people to see a queer that have never seen a queer before," she said Friday.
"It was really, really beautiful and amazing," Glossy Bohemond said after getting off stage on Sunday. Bohemond performs as Mimi, a character inspired by her grandmother that she's been working on for about a decade.
Sprawling, colorful, upbeat, and completely unconcerned with giving a single fuck, Bushwig 2015 was a smashing success and shouldn't be missed when it comes back around in 2016. You'll rarely see such unchecked, irrepressible attitude in one place, forming a boisterous rebuke to New York City's expanding sameness. "People are looking at us like 'What?'" Merrie Cherry said from the stage. "And we're like 'You're welcome!'"
Tagged
brooklyn
bushwig
drag shows
original
Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
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