On stage at Margate Pride: ‘It was a moment of queer mayhem and magic’

“Last year we all got to dance with Peaches,” drag act Pretzel Cage recalls, thinking about some of their Margate Pride highlights over the years. “Five minutes before going on, she showed us this choreography backstage - it wasn’t planned. 

“It was really special because it was all the Margate performers. We had all worked really hard that year, putting in a lot of graft as the creators and the producers. 

“To then have a moment to be on stage together with Peaches on Pride day with everyone cheering and screaming at a hundred, standing in power - it was beyond anything you could ever imagine.” 

“I was dancing with fucking Peaches,” they exclaim as if they still couldn’t quite believe it. “With all my mates in this crazy seaside town where unexpected things happen. It was a moment of queer mayhem and magic.”

Returning for its ninth year in its current iteration next week, August 10, Margate Pride has grown from 300 people walking from the clock tower to the Turner to a town-wide takeover, with queer performance, creativity and community as a few of the festival’s key ingredients. 

It must be a buzz for local performers to do their thing as most of the town and all the blow-ins cheer on, right? 

Multidisciplinary artist Lo Lo No's history with Margate Pride pre-dates the creation of Pretzel Cage as Nicholas Cage’s orphaned baby daughter from Raising Arizona, beginning when they had just moved to Margate, eight years ago.

“I got involved as soon as I got here because it was the only queer thing going on aside from Sundowners,” they say, “which is not really my vibe.”   

Back then, Pride still had floats, and Pretzel Cage recalls creating a Blue Peter fairy liquid bottle for one year and dressing a truck up with glitter, tinfoil and fabric-coated discs. 

“What was funny about the early years of Pride was that we were always trying to get the generator to work - the music would always stop and start,” they say. 

“I remember a friend, Thirsty Kirsty, sat on the back of the truck dressed in full drag, rapping about the parade, to the parade while the music wasn’t working.” 

The first time Pretzel Cage took the Pride stage was in 2022. “It was so amazing,” they say. “I had a really, really, great time. 

“I had horrendous stage fright for 20 years of my life - I had a phobia around performing. Now I’ve worked through it, the nerves and adrenaline are so exciting. It’s such a buzz and a kick.” 

“On stage, time becomes a strange thing. You’re moving and thinking, looking back and looking forward, all while being in the present moment.

“And to look out to the crowd and see everyone have such a good time, it’s just bonkers. It’s kind of like an out-of-body experience inside your body.”

Part of Queer Cuntry, and host of drag night Is a Drag, Pretzel Cage says performing at Pride is different from either of these two gigs. 

“They’re held in small dark venues and there’s something of an underbelly to them. 

“Pride is this huge joyous carnival with whistles and ribbons. It’s bigger and brighter. Even if you’re not that kind of performer, you can’t help being swept into the circus.” 

They add that Pride feels like a place to be less throw-away with what you do on stage. 

“This day is about letting your queerness explode, whether that’s a glitter fart or a fog horn tits, everything gets bigger and louder. 

“As a performer, you think about what your message is; what am I saying here, on this day, in this world and recognising global queerness and the reasons for Pride.”

This year will be the first time Pretzel Cage takes the Margate Pride stage as a solo performer. Expect some “fab outfits” and two lip-syncs; one a comment on gender that shows off their circus skills and which subverts 1970s festival erotical in a “Woodstock way with a bit of Kenneth Anger”. 

“The other one is a political statement about deconstructing the system and tearing it down,” they add. “That kind of vibe.” 

Fellow drag act Janet District Council hadn’t decided what she’ll do for this year’s festival when we spoke. In addition to doing the opening DJ slot at the Dreamland afterparty, Janet District Council will also be “doing some numbers” with Pretzel Cage, Shelly Grotto and Chai La-They. 

“I haven’t decided on the exact routine just yet,” she admits, “but it’s likely to adhere to the CT9 drag traditions; something big, silly, fun and cardboard. Maybe roller skates, who knows.”

She’s been involved in all Margate Prides of its current iteration, helping set up the current version, and writing “down some ideas on a napkin.” However, her first time performing as Janet District Council, after Tracey Ermine drowned in the sea, was on the Dreamland Mainstage at Margate Pride in 2019. 

“I was dancing with the CT9 queens after Mel C had warmed up for us,” she recalls. “There is a tradition of the Margate drag scene getting up and go-go dancing together for Pride and I've always loved being part of that.” 

With its current team, Janet District Council says Margate Pride has become a huge platform, allowing for more creative opportunities. 

“I did a drag workshop with Shelly Grotto last month, and we're both working on a Heritage Lottery project with Margate Pride to document the first ever gay club and bars of Margate, Rumours and The New Inn.

“Chatting to the people who first made and went to LGBTQ Spaces in Margate is so important, as they are the ones that have really seen the changes, not just in the last ten years. I cannot wait to see everyone marching together on August 10 and celebrating all over town.”

Some of her favourite Pride moments have been performing as part of a group. “It’s always the group numbers I’ve loved,” she says before rattling off a list of highlights.

“Zombie flight attendant choreo to Goldfrapp, playing the electric guitar to a Peaches song in a wedding dress, stretching the limits of ill-fitting swimwear in a paddling pool to Monroe's Hot Summer. 

“There was a John Waters-themed party too, which was not for the faint-hearted,” she adds. 

The queen says while performing at Pride is similar to other performances, there’s a “comradery in the air at Pride”. 

“It’s easier for queers to be more tactile, hold eye contact longer, be more confident and less concerned about what people might think," she says. 

“When all kinds of relationships become more visible, you can feel that tingle of possibility in the air, that things don't have to stay the same and can be done differently.” 

Is a Drag holds its Pride edition on August 3, with nine local acts. Shelly Grotto and Pretzel Cage also present Drag It Through The Gift Shop, a collage and sculpture exhibition at Salon, launching on August 7. Catch Pretzel Cage's last Margate Radio show, a journey through their drag history, today, Saturday, August 3, at 12pm.

Margate Pride is on August 10. The parade kicks off at 12pm from Walpole Bay Lawns. For more timings and information visit margatepride.org.uk