The exciting and colourful first artistic outcome of Brass Bands England's 'Elevate' programme will take place in Blackpool next year.

Director Jamie Sophia Fletcher has been working with the Freckleton Band to produce a celebration of brass bands, drag cabaret and queer culture, with the world premiere set for Thursday 14th March at The Fifth Floor event space, located within the iconic Blackpool Tower.

Diverse start

Speaking about the initiative, BBE's Chief Operating Officer Sarah Baumann said: "We're so excited that the very first Elevate partnership has kicked off to such an exciting, diverse start.

Witnessing the creative collaboration between Jamie and Freckleton has been fantastic, and seeing their ideas come to life will make for a terrific night of entertainment."

Commitment

Sarah continued: "This collaboration also demonstrates BBE's commitment to diversity, challenging ourselves and the sector to broaden the artists and genres we work with.

Elevate is much more than just the final performance, and along with this rounds' theme BBE will be programming members resources and webinars on LGBTQ+ themes including trans awareness, to support the banding sector to be as inclusive and welcoming as possible."

Leading artists

Fronting the event will be two leading UK drag artists, Len Blanco and Donna Trump.

Len is a drag king, musician, comedian and performance-maker from Cardiff, best known for their satirical ex-boyband character and his original pop songs. Len is also a lover of the unruly and improvised at the cabaret shows and immersive events they perform in.

Len's work is about querying and challenging the gender binary through singing, pointing, laughing and winking.

Donna is a singer, lip-syncer, and comedian who describes herself as 'a child who has been let loose in the toy box — imagination has no bounds and the way you connect things is so bonkers that it makes sense only to the few sometimes!'.

She is influenced by theatre practitioners such as Bertolt Brecht and Antonin Artaud — causing a reaction, emotion or retaliation is something that is important in her drag.

I'm delighted to be working with Len Blanco and Donna Trump — a fabulous drag king and drag queen who will bring hilarity, charm, swagger, glitz and glamour to what is going to be an unforgettable, entertaining eveningJamie Fletcher

Delighted

Speaking about the collaboration, Jamie Sophia Fletcher added: "I'm delighted to be working with Len Blanco and Donna Trump — a fabulous drag king and drag queen who will bring hilarity, charm, swagger, glitz and glamour to what is going to be an unforgettable, entertaining evening.

We can't wait to celebrate all things brass band, drag cabaret and queer culture."

Tickets:

Tickets will go on sale on Friday 15th December at a cost of £18. These will be available via the BBE website's events section.