Mini Escape Room Tournament at Escapist

An audience-observed coaching session with international drag artist Kween Kong.

The Royal Ascent invites you into the room for something rare, intimate, and genuinely powerful.

WQAF is extremely proud to present an audience-observed coaching session led by an incomparable, internationally renowned drag artist.

Six selected participants will be guided live through moments of creative growth, challenge, clarity, and breakthrough. You’ll witness as they refine ideas, unpack blocks, sharpen instincts, and step more fully into who they are, with the audience invited to observe, learn, and be moved by the journey.

As an audience member, you’ll witness the process, the conversations behind the confidence, the choices behind the performance, and the leadership behind the presence.

What to expect:

Real time, professional coaching

Six participants working in real time

Insight into confidence, storytelling, performance, and leadership

Honest feedback, generous mentorship, and real transformation

A respectful, supportive, and inspiring room

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The Royal Ascent offers a front-row seat to mentorship, vulnerability, and growth. The kind of learning that resonates whether you’re a performer, creative, leader, or simply someone who loves seeing people rise.

This is an observational experience, not a showcase. Audiences are asked to engage with care and respect, honouring the courage of those being coached and the integrity of the process.

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Who should attend?

Anyone who wants to witness something real, generous, and human

Drag and performance fans

Creatives and artists of all disciplines

Community leaders and educators

Anyone curious about confidence, presence, and personal growth

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Accessibility & Care

WQAF is committed to maintaining a respectful, professional, and inclusive audience experience. If you have accessibility needs or questions about the event, feel free to get in touch ahead of time.

waikatoqueerartsfestival@gmail.com

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Presented by Patty Smack

Get ready for a night of delicious debauchery as disco witch and utterly demented showgirl Patty Smack returns to Aotearoa for a late-night cabaret of weird & sexy chaos.

Joined by a crazy cast of wickedly delicious local burlesque, circus, pole, and dance artists serving acts to make your jaw drop, grind and gape for a taste. Hot, steamy, dripping in sauce, and hosted by a fabulously fierce MC (line-up to be announced).

In collaboration with WQAF and Last Place, festival-goers can also indulge in a limited-edition Patty Smack burger meal deal available throughout the festival — because no saucy show is complete without a side of something satisfying.

Content Warning: This is a strictly R18 event and may include nudity, explicit themes, and food/mess play.

Come hungry. Leave well-served.
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Accessibility & Care

LOUD Creative and Patty Smack are committed to maintaining a respectful, professional, and inclusive audience experience. If you have accessibility needs or questions about the performance, feel free to get in touch ahead of time.

the@pattysmack.com

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Patty Smack’s Super Saucy Meal Deal is proudly presented as part of the Waikato Queer Arts Festival.

Ticket information:

Restricted 18+

$55

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Shortlisted for the 2026 Adam NZ Play Award, The Terrifyingly Adorable Possibility… is a sharp, heartfelt romantic comedy asking the question: What happens when the girl who once declared her love for you on Myspace walks back into your life twenty years later?

Harriet met Winter in 2005. “Met” is a loose term. They “met” on Myspace. Don’t pretend you don’t remember the horror… The birth of carefully curated selfies, HTML-coding for profile pages, jet-black hair (and nails, and souls), Top 8 friend rankings, and everyone’s first Myspace friend, Tom. They were dramatic, idealistic, eyeliner-heavy teenagers who started something they had no idea they were never going to be able to finish.
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Set against the vibrant absurdity of the Armageddon Expo, The Terrifyingly Adorable Possibility… features seven actors, across 20-something characters, in a queer, Kiwi comedy about timing, reinvention, and the terrifyingly adorable possibility that some connections don’t fade.

This play focuses on the importance of writing our own stories even when the universe insists that someone else hold the pen. And celebrates the families we’re born into, the families we create along the way, and the weird breadcrumb trail our younger selves leave behind.
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This play contains:

Discussions of sexuality, queer relationships, and polyamory

References to online communication, nostalgia, and teenage emotional intensity

Mild sexual references and adult language

Themes of jealousy, emotional vulnerability, and relationship uncertainty

Depictions of past emotional confusion and coming-out experiences

While the tone is comedic and warm, the play explores honest emotional stakes around love, identity, and navigating relationships outside traditional norms.

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Kirikiriroa/Hamilton, are you ready for the first Rita Menu extravaganza of 2026?! This Kirikiriroa Pride week, join us for what is guaranteed to be an amazing night full of passion & pride, dedicated to celebrating the incredible takatāpui Māori talent that we have in abundance here in Aotearoa.
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This show is dedicated to acknowledging and validating the "mana" (strength, pride, and identity) of Pacific Rainbow, LGBTQIA+, and gender-diverse communities. Mana is about holding your head high, carrying the strength of ancestors, and being recognized for one's true self and talent. We are honoured to invite you to witness some of the most legendary takatāpui performers that will introduce you to what mana truly means to them through the art of drag, beauty, and expression while representing a connection to their culture, people and whenua. There are many powerhouse takatāpui drag performers in Aotearoa and we are bringing you just a taste of the immense talent that is out there.
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HOUSE OF MANA moves beyond just entertainment. We are framing & serving drag as a powerful form of expression that carries the weight, the power and responsibility to uplift others. But you will be entertained, there is no doubt about it. HOUSE OF MANA is unlike anything you have ever experienced on the drag stage and we can't wait to have another unforgettable Rita Menu drag show with you.
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Prepare yourself for a night of visibility and celebration of all who are melanated & divalicous, on and off the stage.
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Grab your tickets and come on down and find us at Biddy Mulligans back bar on Friday 17th April, you know we never disappoint!

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