Making waves at the Rainbow Wave Festival

When Caitlin from the Rainbow Wave Festival and Jade from Deep in Drag, the afterparty contacted me with a bold request to travel down to Bega, NSW during my busiest two weeks of the year, there was a reason I said yes.

I grew up in a small country town, Everton in North East Victoria, pop.374 people. My first girlfriend and I left town and moved to the big smoke as soon as possible. Later in my early 20s, I lived on 40 acres in the bush outside of Moruya, NSW on the South East coast, on Yuin country. With no running water, electricity, phones or internet, we grew our own food and after 3.5 years I thought I'd live there forever. 

Many friends were surprised when I moved back to the city and asked if I missed the bush. My answer is, no, that river is in my body, the bush is with me every day.

Knowing firsthand what it's like to be queer in a regional area both as a teenager and as an adult, I was compelled to contribute to the Rainbow Wave Festival and perform at Deep in Drag. 

Here's what one of the local participants said at the end of the Drag workshop having explored Drag and even gotten onstage for the first time...

Danica Lani 0:00
What did you discover today?

Daddy Lucas 0:00
That I'm surprised that I can actually dance and I'm surprised I was actually pretty confident in doing this.

Danica Lani 0:07
Yes

Daddy Lucas 0:09
Actually, it was mostly you that helped a lot with my confidence because without you I couldn't even dance up there. And I was just, you know, because I got so scared and I didn't know what to do. And you helped me with that. Thank you.

Danica Lani 0:24
My pleasure. And what was the binding experience like?

Daddy Lucas 0:27
It was actually really great. I feel happy. Like I've never felt as happy for a long time.

Danica Lani 0:36
Amazing. So everyone this is Daddy Lucas. Yeah! Brand new Drag King from today. Congratulations Daddy Lucas. You're awesome.

This one interaction alone made the entire trip worth it, and yet it was filled with beautiful, touching, and very human moments. I felt right at home.

To include you in the experience and capture some of the magic, I put together this 4-minute video. Enjoy.

Love,

Danica

P.S. Wanna be a Drag King? Sign up to the waiting list for Kings of Joy here