Wigstock, whose name references the 1969 Woodstock Festival, was an annual outdoor drag festival that took place between 1985 and 2001, in various locations throughout Manhattan. Held on Labor Day weekend, the festival would act as the unofficial end to the summer for the LGBTQ community of New York City.
For four consecutive years (1992-1995), I documented Wigstock, capturing the fabulousness of drag and disguise, in all its glorious forms. The period I photographed coincides with the height of Wigstock’s popularity. Wigstock included drag performances on stage, as well as musical acts, but the most exciting spectacle was the audience itself. Thousands of people converged upon the site in all manner of cross-dressing and gender-bending outfits, Halloween and carnivalesque costumes, as well as fetish wear.
”The years that I documented this event corresponded with a time when gender boundaries and trans politics were on the verge of a revolution; not just in the LGBTQ community, but in North American pop culture and beyond. This collection of images is a unique time capsule that shines a light on an important time in LGBTQ history.”
Wigstick was reshown as part of Queertography – a Head On exhibition during Sydney Mardi Gras 2023 for World Pride.
Read the interview with Pierre Dalpé here
