A New Podcast Goes Behind the Scenes of Portland’s Record-Setting Drag-a-Thon

The five-part audio series, produced by Eden Dawn and Fiona McCann, debuts next month.

Performers and organizers gather around producer Eden Dawn holding the Run of Show spreadsheet with 783 stage changes while Guinness adjudicator Michael Empric looks on. (Holly Andres; courtesy of Eden Dawn)
By Bennett Campbell Ferguson

Last July, Drag-a-Thon at Darcelle XV Showplace set a world record for longest drag artist stage show. Featuring more than 60 drag artists performing for 48 hours, the event ultimately raised $285,000 for the Trevor Project, a nonprofit that works to prevent suicide among LGBTQ+ youth.

Now, the epic saga of Drag-a-Thon is being chronicled in Slaying a Drag-a-Thon, a new podcast miniseries co-written and co-produced by Portland journalism icons Eden Dawn and Fiona McCann.

“After a lifetime of watching drag and a career of journalism deadlines, I thought I was entirely prepared to produce this event,” Dawn said. “I was wrong. This was the most stressful 48 hours of my entire life. But I’ve also never been prouder of anything I’ve done and getting a world record with your friends and a gaggle of drag queens and celebrities was worth all the ulcers.”

The series, which kicks off with a launch party on Tuesday, Oct. 3, features interviews with RuPaul’s Drag Race queens Peppermint, Eureka O’Hara and LaLa Ri (plus emcee Fred Armisen and Guinness adjudicator Michael Empric). And Slaying a Drag-a-Thon will also look at anti-LGBTQ+ legislation around the U.S., the history of drag in Portland, and plenty of “backstage shenanigans.”

Ultimately, Dawn describes the podcast to WW as “a mix of on-site sleep-deprived interviews with queens/kings, celebs, audience members and so many more. And as much Poison Waters as we could fit in because she is my guiding light.”

Free tickets to the launch party are available here.

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