The best places to see drag shows in Sydney

Go for: Sydney’s spiritual home of drag

This Erskineville pub has been a sanctuary for LGBTQIA Sydney since it was bought in the ’80s by Dawn O’Donnell. It’s lived many lives (it had a starring role in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) and reopened in March 2018. You’ll find drag queens at the Impy practically every night, whether they’re dining hostesses (Drag N Dine is seven nights a week) or performing pop classics late on a Friday or Saturday night atop the main bar. In the basement downstairs, you’ll find a slightly more envelope-pushing style of drag, particularly at Saturday night parties like the monthly Heaps Gay and Honcho Disko nights. (The last Honcho Disko we attended featured a trio of queens serving business woman glamour and preparing a presentation – and a blood sacrifice.) Starting in October 2018, the Impy will play host to the finals of Miss First Nation, the premier competition for Indigenous drag entertainers.

Go for: The most inclusive queer night in town

This Wednesday night celebration has been running for three years now and features performers from the non-traditional drag community, who blur lines between masculine and feminine, and drag kings and queens. It’s featured Jayvante Swing, Sarah Moany, Joe Pol and Betty Grumble.

Go for: Oxford Street royalty in the Inner West

It’s got a long history as a queer venue, but the Newtown Hotel has gone pretty mainstream in recent years. Drag has recently returned, with two shows every Friday night from Minnie Cooper, Hannah Conda and Tora Hymen. Expect something slick and glamorous with a decent dose of humour.

Go for: Something on the more intimate, scrappy side

This weekly night in Enmore (Wednesdays from 7pm) has a great community vibe and some hugely exciting young queens and queer artists of all kinds – they even have a semi-regular drag king night called New King on the Block. Whether they’re doing a tribute to Madonna, Mamma Mia! or Chicago, the performances pop up in a tiny corner of this small bar. If you want to see a queen flawlessly execute a split jump atop a pile of milk crates, this is the night for you.

Go for: Daring, boundary-smashing queer performance

This performance-slash-party is the creation of Marlena Dalí and Julia Rose, taking place on the second Thursday of every month. The “Glamdrogynous Freakshow” is intimate and wild, featuring drag performance that falls under the broadest possible definition across the full gender spectrum. Keep your eye on their Facebook page for line-up details, and make sure you book ahead as it sells out every month.