Cork has a long and vibrant tradition of drag performance.

As the birthplace of the grande dame of drag Danny La Rue, who made his first debut at Madden’s Buildings near Blackpool in Cork on July 26th, 1927, an explosion of queens have taken their tentative first steps onto the stage in front of an adoring Leeside audience.

Now a new documentary will highlight the colourful history of drag in Cork using interviews and fascinating archival footage… and you can watch the premiere online for free on Friday, February 12th, 2021.

Dragging Up The Past features interviews with Cork’s most beloved queens, including Fabula Di Beaumarchais, Kitty Cartier, Twiggy Moondust, Candy Warhol, Letycha Le’Synn, Mia Gold, Nettles, Liam Bee, Dakota Mode, Will A.Blige, Alternative Miss Cork director Eddie Kay and Ireland’s youngest drag queen, 15-year-old Kevin Corr, aka Karma O’Hara.

Directed by former CIT Digital Media student Robin Guiton and produced by MTU Cork LGBT Society, Dragging Up The Past will be launched online with a virtual Q&A session featuring the filmmakers, and some of the featured drag stars.

Check out the trailer here:

The Queen of Ireland Panti Bliss will join the chat to discuss her involvement through the Alternative Miss Ireland drag pageant and she will be joined by West-End and Broadway make-up and wig designer and close friend of Danny La Rue, Richard Guy Mawbey.

“We were absolutely gutted having to postpone the launch which was planned for April last year, but the lockdown afforded us a chance to put more work into the footage and to record more interviews.” said Project Coordinator Konrad Im.

“LGBT+ history has been something that was hidden in the shadows or completely erased in the past, so it’s important for projects like this and the fantastic Cork LGBT Archive to be supported. We’re excited to finally release the documentary to the public, and proud to be in a position to record the history of drag in Cork for future generations”.

Tickets for the documentary launch and Q&A session are available free of charge Eventbrite. If you’d like to help raise funds for the Gay Project, who inspired this project at the beginning, you can donate a few euro at gayproject.ie.