Drags Benny – A lively brunch supporting Calgary Pride

This summer, Eat North will present its inaugural Drags Benny event – a grand drag brunch 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 canape hour, sponsored by Eau Claire Distillery, followed by a three-course-plated brunch, created by the Fairmont Palliser executive chef, Eraj Jayawickreme and chef Andrea Harling of Made Foods. Award-winning mixologists, Madeleine MacDonald and Stephen Phipps have created custom cocktails inspired by each drag performer, all of which will be available for purchase during the brunch. Headlining the drag performances for the afternoon will be Chicago’s Laila McQueen. The talented performer rose to international fame after appearing on season eight of the Emmy Award winning reality competition series, RuPaul’s Drag Race. Local talent 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. 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, non-alcoholic beverages and performances). VIP tickets are available for $80 (includes premium seating, limited edition Laila McQueen illustration and a VIP meet-and-greet experience with McQueen and local performers). Join the conversation on social by using the #DragsBenny or #eatnorth hashtags. See you there or, as RuPaul might say, sashay away!