Surviving the pandemic IX: drive-ins get a makeover  

12 Sep 2020

Drive-ins, only recently derided as out-of-date and trashy, are experiencing a renaissance. They are now the only safe place for film screenings and live entertainment. It's a shame we let so many of them disappear or fall into disrepair, but the vintage passion pits are being supplemented by spanking new versions hastily erected wherever there is a parking lot large enough to accommodate a big screen. Drag queens have never gone out of style but have, thank goddess, always been trashy. A perfect fit for the revitalized drive-in experience and, as always, the bigger the better. The stage and screen that is.

Miss Conception's Drive-in Drag Show Canada is still crisscrossing the country (driveindragshowcanada.ca), the US had one thing go right in 2020 with the hit tour Drive 'N Drag, and the gay high holidays will be saved in some cities when the Drive 'N Drag Halloween Edition announces its terror tour. But the coming attraction of the moment is Canada's Drag Race: Live at the Drive-In! hosted by Brooke Lynn Hytes and featuring the queens who made Canada's Drag Race the event of the summer. Winner Piryanka and finalists Rita Baga and Scarlett BoBo will headline every stop on the tour, but fan favourites and runners-up Lemon, Ilona Verley, BOA, Kiara, Tynomi Banks, Anastarzia Anaquway and Juice Boxx, will make appearances in various cities.

The tour is produced by Voss Events who swear they are going to adapt and enhance their usual elaborate theatre and arena lighting and sound systems for the great outdoors. And yes, though you won't be able to leave your car or your bubble, there will be popcorn and swag available. Venues have had to learn quickly, events as glamorous as TIFF, as down home as the Canadian Country Music Awards, and as rowdy as basketball and hockey games, are all happening at drive-ins. They're not just for second run or B movies anymore. They're fit for queens.

The Canada's Drag Race: Live at the Drive-In! tour begins in Calgary on Sept 18 for multiple shows until the 20th, followed by Montreal fro Sept 30 to Oct 1, and winds up in Ottawa, Oct 6 and 7. The Toronto stop is from Fri, Oct 2 to Sun, Oct 4 at the City View Drive-in, 20 Polson St. Tickets for all shows are available at vossevents.com and for Toronto at cityviewdrivein.com.