Footscray Drag Race 2023 Cancelled
Image: Footscray Drag Race. Image: Pride of Footscray
The annual Footscray Drag Race, which is held on Melbourne Cup day, has been cancelled this year. Pride of Footscray, the event organiser, took to social media to announce the cancellation of the event scheduled for November 7, 2023.
“This year has been intense for the team, with more work than ever, but with half the staff, due to the economic conditions we all face,” the Pride of Footscray team said. The venue cited other big-ticket events cancelled this year, including Melbourne music festival Falls and Hobart’s mid-winter arts festival Dark Mofo.
Footscray Drag Race was founded in 2018 and this year was the fourth edition of the event, which featured Australia’s beloved Drag Queens and Drag Kings battle it out for the Rainbow Stilleto. The drag performers took part in challenges across the city’s inner-west, with the action beamed live back to Pride of Footscray.
Back In 2024
Pride of Footscray promised to bring back the event in 2024.
“Footscray Drag Race is an iconic event with an established reputation, so we will bring it back next year in all its glory as opposed to running a compromised version this year. We just haven’t been able to pull it together in a way that does justice to all the incredible prior years.”
The venue said that those who had purchased tickets for the event would be refunded. “We apologise for this pause and look forward to the biggest Footscray Drag Race in 2024.”
Pride Needs You
In March this year, Pride of Footscray issued an appeal, saying it could close within weeks. The venue launched a ‘Pride Needs You ‘ campaign and urged patrons to support one of the only gay bars in the city’s inner west. Earlier this week, venue manager and Chief Bar Officer Mat O’Keefe provided an update to the Pride News You campaign.
“Pride of our Footscray is now out of immediate danger – but we still need people to come!” the venue posted on social media.
