Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 11 February, 2020. — The Drag Queen contest was incorporated into the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Carnival two decades ago: it was a daring and novel initiative by the organisers, but it immediately met with an enthusiastic response from the public. The Drag Queen Gala soon become a major event on the programme in its own right. And the number of entries began to exceed the possibilities of a contest that now had to be televised, adapting its structure to a show to be broadcast on screens and establishing specific times for the candidates to make their appearances.

So a preselection of contestants had to be organised to decide who would compete in the grand final gala. At first the event was held in closed venues of limited size, and cameras and broadcasting of images were never allowed, so that the candidates who got through this round could keep the surprise factor for the big night in Santa Catalina Park, in front of thousands of people.

...But in the end this phase had to move to the Park itself, for reasons of capacity, and because the Drag community wanted all the participants to be able to enjoy being on the big stage for the festivities, whether or not they reached the final. Nowadays, the Pre-Drag is one of the major events in the Carnival programme: as with the Drag Queen Gala, the tickets sell out soon after going on sale, and a huge crowd fills Santa Catalina on a night when cameras are still not allowed. It is perhaps an even more daringly risqué night, on which the drag artists don’t have to adapt to television or the media: it’s never disappointing.

Tickets for the preselection will go on sale on Wednesday 12 February at 9am, both on entradas.laprovincia.es and at the box office in Santa Catalina Park. They are usually snapped up within barely an hour, and those who manage to get hold of them will be the lucky ones who will be able to enjoy an unbeatable night.