WASHINGTON — A D.C. tradition turned 30 years old Tuesday night, and the Dupont Circle neighborhood was teeming with spectators and participants alike for the annual High Heel Race.
The race on 17th Street Northwest, held on the Tuesday before Halloween each year, was more glitz than ghouls with participating drag queens dressed in their finest.
“It’s a celebration of community,” said participant Helen Heels, wearing a white dress and standing in a giant, sparkly bucket of chicken. She’s taken part in the High Heel Race at least three times before.
“There’s a lot of gay events in the city where it attracts mostly (an) LGBT audience. You look around the crowd tonight and it’s mostly the straight community in support, and that’s very meaningful for the LGBT community,” Heels added.
Her costume? “I am the 2016 Colonel Sanders with a secret,” Heels said with a laugh.
“I’m wearing a sensible three inches; they’re comfort plus they’re sensible. But I’m here to do business,” said one racer dressed as a “naughty” Uncle Sam.
Another participant, Ryan Elza, was dressed as a sexy Cleopatra with an Egyptian-looking top and revealing bottoms. “A very short miniskirt with 3-inch hot pink heels and, you know, some other things,” he said, laughing.
Also spotted: A group documenting different eras of Britney Spears in costumes complete with their own soundtrack.
Some drag queens wore quick, thrift shop creations, but others went all out.
One drag queen — named Hellofabottom Carter — said she spent four-and-a-half months making her outfit.
“‘My Fair Lady’ meets my fair drag queen,” is how she described it.
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