This summer, Eat North will present its inaugural Drags Benny - a grand drag brunch event organized in support of Calgary Pride. The brunch will be held on Sunday, June 24, 2018, in the magnificent Crystal Ballroom in Calgary’s Fairmont Palliser hotel.
The event will kick off at 11:30 a.m. with a morning cocktail and brunch canape hour, sponsored by Eau Claire Distillery, followed by a three-course brunch, created by the Fairmont Palliser executive chef, Eraj Jayawickreme and chef Andrea Harling of Made Foods. Award-winning mixologists, Madeleine MacDonald (Calcutta Cricket Club) and Stephen Phipps (Tea House) have also created an imaginative brunch cocktail menu inspired by each drag performer.
Headlining the drag performances for the afternoon will be Chicago's Laila McQueen. The performer rose to international fame after appearing on season eight of the Emmy Award-winning reality competition series, RuPaul's Drag Race in 2016.
"As an invested member of my community, I am very happy to partner with Calgary Pride on this new fundraising endeavour," says Eat North co-founder Dan Clapson. "This Drags Benny event is the first of several LGBTQ2 give-back initiatives we have in the works for the next twelve months."
Local talents set to perform alongside Laila McQueen are drag queens Argentina Hailey and Perla Coddington, as well as drag king Duke Carson who recently won the Alberta’s Next Drag Superstar competition earlier this month.
"We are very excited to be hosting Drags Benny next month at Fairmont Palliser. This event fits well with our brand dimensions, as diversity and inclusion are at the heart of AccorHotels core values. And besides that, it's going to be a lot of fun," says David Woodward, Fairmont Palliser’s Director of Sales and Marketing.
The brunch will also feature a silent auction of one-of-a-kind packages, such as exclusive overnight stay in a Fairmont Palliser luxury suite with a dinner for four prepared by chef Eraj Jayawickreme. All the proceeds from this auction will go towards Calgary Pride.
General tickets are available for $60 (includes welcome cocktail, canapes, brunch and performances)
VIP tickets are available for $80 (also includes premium seating, limited edition Laila McQueen illustrated print and a VIP meet-and-greet experience with McQueen and local performers).
For more information about Drags Benny and to purchase tickets visit eatnorth.com or Eventbrite.ca
