Let’s talk shop

Shopping saves lives.

Yes, something gay people have known for years can once again be proven to the rest of the world this Saturday at the annual Bobby Goldsmith Foundation fundraiser, Shop Yourself Stupid.
It’s set to be bigger and more colourful than ever this year, with great bargains and live entertainment right up and down the length of Oxford Street in Darlinghurst and Paddington all afternoon.

Participating businesses on the day will once again be offering discounts to shoppers, with every dollar spent helping to raise funds for people living in poverty with HIV/AIDS.

Celebrity drag queen Mitzi Macintosh is in charge of the entertainment. I’m the drag wrangler, she explained. It’s basically my job to liaise between BGF and the performers.

Mitzi also came up with an exciting new format for the annual Miss BGF competition. This year contestants will have to do a lot more than just look good in a frock. They will have a series of tasks to complete, including spruiking outside shops, window dressing, and coming up with fundraising ideas for BGF.

Contestants must also learn the complicated choreography for the big show at the end of the day, and will be rehearsing in full view of the public.

As well as roaming drag queen and drag king performers, there will be four stages located along the strip: at the Stonewall Hotel, the Midnight Shift, outside House Of Priscilla, and the main one on Taylor Square.

I’m very excited about this,

Mitzi said of the event. It’s shaping up to be a great day.

Unlike previous years, Shop Yourself Stupid will not extend to King Street in Newtown in 2004 due to logistical problems, BGF’s fundraising manager Darcie Funk said. However, she is hopeful of holding a separate event in Newtown later in the year.

Shop Yourself Stupid is on this Saturday 28 February along Oxford Street in Darlinghurst and Paddington between noon and 6pm.

SHOW TIMES

House Of Priscilla
12:30pm, 2:30pm, 4:30pm
Midnight Shift
1pm, 3pm, 5pm
Stonewall Hotel
1:30pm, 2pm, 2:30pm, 3pm, 3:30pm, 4pm, 5pm
Taylor Square
12noon, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, and the Miss BGF final at 6pm.

Find out more about the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation.