“Happy Bushwig!” 

Such is the greeting at the annual Brooklyn drag festival, which this year celebrated its 15th anniversary. From 5pm to early the next morning, there would be a marathon of drag artistry at 3 Dollar Bill, all with the festival’s signature Bushwig edge. Formed in the spirit of punk and DIY, many of the performers embody the same ethos, bringing an unending creativity to their own interpretations of what drag is and can be.

Bushwig was originally founded in 2011 by drag artist and DJ Horrorchata along with Babes Trust, who has since passed away. It was inspired by Lady Bunny’s Wigstock, but with its own Brooklyn twist. What started as an event at a DIY venue has since expanded nationally and internationally, with different Bushwig events everywhere from Miami to Austin to Mexico City to Berlin over the years. Horrorchata feels fondly about this year’s anniversary in particular. “The number 15 holds a special meaning for me as a Mexican, since it’s the age we celebrate a quinceañera, so that felt really iconic,” Horrorchata said. “It was such a special and surreal way to celebrate 15 years of Bushwig.” Horrorchata herself made a grand entrance in a full quinceañera dress, a gold and white confection of a ballgown, performing to Deftones’ “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away).”

What’s special about Bushwig, too, is that the focus is on artists making waves in their own cities, whether in Brooklyn, San Antonio, Atlanta, or elsewhere, though there are also appearances by artists from RuPaul’s Drag Race, King of Drag, and Dragula. Mariyea, a performer who also joined the Bushwig team as Talent Curator this year, went to her first Bushwig in 2023 and found the proliferation of hometown drag artists especially moving. “I remember being so in awe of seeing local drag celebrated at that scale. It was one thing to see drag on TV, it was so much more special to me to witness my local drag community highlighted in a huge festival format,” she said. “Now Bushwig feels like the annual family reunion…where nearly every corner of nightlife in NYC is gathered together at one place and time. It’s one of my absolute favorite times of the year.”

Bushwig is Essa Noche performing a Spanish rendition of “Rose’s Turn” from the musical Gypsy. It’s Sweaty Eddie performing “When It’s Over” by Sugar Ray with puppet arms that continually extend across the stage. It’s Groovy Bluez pirouetting in stilettos, Slagatha taking us back to the early 2000s with a full Fergie megamix, and on and on. It’s six hours of DJs curated by the goddess Charlene Incarnate in the sister venue, 9 Bob Note, next door. This year, I even witnessed someone in the crowd with the word “DRAG” tattooed on their arm, accented by a yellow flower. It feels like the kind of place people keep showing up to because they keep finding a place for themselves. This is not to mention, of course, the magic of offering drag artists of all stripes—from the fashion-forward to the avant-garde to the spooky to the silly and more—a place to express themselves.

Year after year, people fill whatever space the festival takes up, and the reaction from the crowd is always the same. They are so happy. There’s cheering, money strewn across the stage, rapt attention to each performance. And people came out this year despite the looming Nor’easter that slammed the tri-state area with rain. Though performances were originally scheduled outdoors, the show went on, as it always must, only this time inside. For Horrorchata, the experience was not unlike the first few years of the festival. “There was something about the energy, the feeling, and the overall vibe that really brought me back to those early Bushwig years,” she said. “It felt punk, spontaneous, and full of heart, the kind of Bushwig where, no matter what was happening around us, everyone just came together and made it work. And honestly, that feeling was really special to me.”

Putting on an event like this isn’t easy. It takes about 10 months to plan and put everything together, but for the Bushwig team, it’s always worth it. “I think what drives me even more is knowing that I’m doing this for the people and for the community,” Horrorchata said. “I also carry the memory of Babes Trust, who we lost about three years ago, with me. Losing her was incredibly hard, and I think a part of me wants to keep building, creating, and bringing people together in her honor. She is still very much a part of the Bushwig family and its story, and that keeps me going even when things get difficult.”

In a moment in American culture that’s distinctly challenging for LGBTQIA+ individuals, an event like Bushwig, so consistently making space for joy, becomes essential. “Bushwig reaching this milestone, especially in a time of legislative upheaval, is no small feat,” Mariyea said. “[It is] a slap in the face to a government that actively seeks to prohibit the LGBTQIA+ community from gathering in love and joy. There will never be a time where we as a community are ashamed to exist…The ability to gather as a community will always be the biggest middle finger to any person, legislation or structure, that is attempting to dismantle the rights of LGBTQIA+ people.”

Bushwig began in part because the founders wanted to create space for a kind of performance they wanted to see and be a part of. In the process, they found their people onstage and off, creating opportunities for others to do the same. “It felt incredibly special and reminded me just how much love and community this festival has built over the years,” Horrorchata said. “With so much uncertainty and sadness happening in the world, I’m grateful to be able to help create a space where people can come together, feel safe, celebrate themselves, and experience joy for a weekend.” To hold something like this together for 15 years is its own kind of magic.