SOLANA BEACH — The annual Disney Drag Takeover Benefit Show at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach has been rescheduled to May 23, with organizers eager to move forward following a veiled online threat that canceled the originally scheduled fundraiser event.
The event serves as the North County LGBTQ Resource Center’s single largest fundraiser for Pride by the Beach, their annual pride celebration in Oceanside. Ticket sales to the popular show are expected to bring in around $10,000, which goes toward making the June pride event free to all attendees.
Organizers decided to cancel the original show in late March after a video surfaced online containing unspecified threats of violence, mentioning the Belly Up and the date and time corresponding with the drag show.
Roxanne Deatherage, Pride director at the resource center, said the organization is grateful for the community’s support and the performers and is focused on putting on a great show next month.
“We are very grateful, and Pride by the Beach is very grateful, to our drag queens supporting us and sharing their art with us, because they do this completely for free,” said Deatherage.
Those who bought tickets for the March show can use them for the rescheduled performance or receive a refund if they are unable to make it to the newly-scheduled event.
Among the queens slated to take the stage are Mariam T, Penny Dreadfuls, Kickxy Vixen, Big Dee, Paris Sukomi Max, Dolly Levi, Naomi Daniels and Chad Michaels, the winner of season one of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.
“This event is usually one of the funnest nights of the year, and supports a great cause, so we’re really looking forward to having it back in the club again,” said Belly Up president Chris Goldsmith.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department initially responded to the threat, which surfaced just hours before the show’s scheduled start on March 28. However, a search that day by the department’s Bomb/Arson Unit did not find anything of concern, and the case was quickly passed onto the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A spokesperson for the FBI’s San Diego Office said they continue to investigate the threat but that there are “no current or pending threats to public safety.”
“The FBI has opened an investigation into the recent incident at Belly Up in Solana Beach and is working with our interagency partners to determine the nature and scope of this matter,” said Jolanda Wesley. “We take these threats of violence very seriously. However, out of respect for that ongoing investigation, we will continue to refrain from commenting on its substance.”
