magic gay witch aka Stevie Nicks stan

Overall, I thought it was amazing. My expectations of it were kind of average, because I've never done any kind of event like this before, but I was super excited. I expected that I'd not be able to meet many queens, because I only had two Meet and Greets, with BibleGirl 666 and Biqtch Puddin, and I also was only there on the Sunday. To give you a lil clue, I went with my mum because she loves drag, and I brought with me a folder with some of my drawings in. I had one of every Ru queen there except Fame and Farrah.

My mum and I arrived at half nine, just before what seemed like a massive swarm joined the queue. They opened the doors as promised at exactly ten am, and got everyone inside pretty efficiently. When we got inside, we discovered two massive queues that we didn't have a clue what they were for. One, it turned out was autograph alley, and the other was for Katya. I figured that if she was doing that for an hour, and got in the queue whilst my mum checked the meet and greet stalls, that I might be able to meet her, but twenty minutes later when she came back, the queue had literally tripled in size. People pushed into the queue and I realised pretty damn soon that I wasn't going to able to meet her.

My Biqtch Puddin meet and greet was quite early on, about half ten, so I went off and queued for that with the fifteen or so other people. I waited about twenty minutes to meet her, and one of the security guards took a load of photos. She was lovely, and I'll do a proper review of my meet and greets here.

After that my mum and I had a little wander around and looked a load of the booths. Most of the queens' booths were either really well decorated or really not, and a few of them didn't have any merch. Fame and Farrah both had some dummies with some of their dresses on as their backdrop, Jujubee had a throne, Violet had a really nice plush seat and both Blair and Alaska's whole booths were amazing, even if we didn't see Blair. Fame's was the only one that didn't have any merch or any one managing it, though we weren't sure why. A few queens were at their booths for absolutely hours in between panels and meet and greets, and they impressed me a lot; Manila in the morning was there for two hours, Violet must've been there three-maybe-four, Katya was at hers at least three.

At Alaska's booth we discovered that if you bought some merch, you could meet her later on, by a ticket given with your purchase. Not wanting to miss out on a chance to meet Alaska, I bought a Lil Poundcake print and got my ticket to see her later. A similar thing happened at Violet's, meaning that many people who'd hoped but didn't think they would got to meet two of the biggest queens there. It was a really nice idea, and I think it worked really well, as I hadn't expected to meet either Violet or Alaska.

Some queens were charging for a photo or signing at their booth, and some weren't. Katya's photos were steadily twenty pounds per person, and the people at her booth were determined to get as many people through in as little time. Violet's booth meeting required a purchase and a number, given before, though I luckily managed to get to the front of the line by showing the woman managing her booth that I had a drawing to give her. Alaska's required a purchase and the ticket, of which they sold two hundred, one hundred for each hour slot they had ready for her, and after that she met anyone who had a purchase for a little while. I was told that Darienne required a minimum price for a photo though I'm not sure what it was, and I know that it wasn't a lot. Farrah's was apparently forty on the Saturday but I'm not sure, because on the Sunday they'd completely dropped it down to a still expensive twenty five pounds worth of merch, so a lot more people met her. Manila's were a similar twenty pounds of merch I think. Fame didn't do any free/impromptu meets, and I'm not sure Tati did either. Both Bible and Biqtch were doing free photos signings, Biqtch toward the end of the day and Bible throughout, and Phi Phi and Jinkx, two absolute angels, didn't charge for photos or autographs at all.

The queues were kinda crazy. Some queens' queues were massive like Violet and Courtney's, but they were also manageable, and people sat and waited really politely to meet them. Others, like Katya's, were a little harder to either wait in or manage. The women at her booth were determined to get as many people through in as little time, so it was meant to go fast, but instead people just pushed to the front, like I mentioned before. I personally probably waited for about five hours in total, for my two meet and greets it was perhaps forty minutes, to meet Alaska I waited half an hour, Violet about an hour and a half, Phi Phi two hours and Katya about five minutes, which I will explain in a minute. I wasn't too bothered about queuing for queens, because I was determined to meet a few of them. Violet and Phi Phi were my number one priorities because I knew I wasn't going to be able to meet Katya or Alaska, so I was willing to queue hours for those two.

Phi Phi's big queue started during one her quick signing stints, and then continued when she started her second meet and greet. It was there all the way through and I joined about ten minutes into the meet and greet. I waited an hour whilst she wasn't there, and then when she got back she took her time with every person so I waited another half an hour and eventually met her. Luckily when I waited for Violet, I'd been given a slot right at the front of the queue, so most of my waiting was done before she arrived. I know that some people were still in her queue about two hours later, and some even three hours after I'd met her. Some queens had three hour queues all the time, and people were being kicked to the back of Alaska's queue if they hadn't bought merch.

I also didn't do autograph alley. I saw it a fair few times and saw the length of the queue, and realised I wasn't going to meet anyone that way. I think some people might've just stayed in that queue all day!

On Katya: I was fuckin lucky. I didn't think I was gonna meet her, in fact the day before, I knew I wasn't. It was the end of the day, and I'd just met Bible. I was hoping to give my painting to the women at Katya's booth in hopes that they'd give it to her. Instead, I got there and she was still there, signing and taking photos. The queue was maybe ten people long and they'd shut it off hours ago, but the security guard let me slip in on the back so I could give her my painting. Like I said earlier, the women at her booth were rushing people through, taking photos and getting autographs, and so I didn't have to wait long at all. I have to admit she looked shattered, but her face lit up when I gave her my painting, so I was just happy to make her smile. I did not think at all that I'd meet her, so it really made my day.

Overall, I think it truly was amazing. Every queen seemed to be there forever, doing massive long meet and greets and waiting for hours meeting people, and I've gained a whole new respect for Violet, she was sat in her corset for quite literally four hours! Some queens really did go the extra mile, Jinkx and Phi Phi who were there till closing, Phi Phi trying to get photos with everyone she could, Violet's mini greet that lasted hours, so on and so on. I think some of the crowds could've been controlled better, E.g. the people pushing in during Katya's booth stints, and autograph alley waiting times. The stalls were good, and I got some good merch too, including Farrah Moan cologne scented car freshener, and a super beautiful Vuolet top. IT WAS GOOD!!! REALLY GOOD!!!