Earnslaw Park at 12:00 noon

FREE

This is the one that puts the 'Queens' in Queenstown, has the crowds in gales of laughter and separates the men from... well from their usual clothing really.

All inhibitions are cast to the four winds as pillars of the community, corporate bosses and usually reserved gentlemen appear in totally inappropriate women's clothing for the Festival Drag Race.

It's a high-speed dash around an obstacle course, normally not too demanding for the boys of the Wakatipu, but set a troupe of muscle-bound he-men to race in high heels and stockings, and words are the only things they don't mince.

Though not yet an Olympic demonstration sport, this is as fiercely competitive as any international event, and with just as much athletic support.

Pride is at stake as broken heels fly, bra-straps ping, wigs are pulled off and suspender belts are ripped asunder in a no-holds-barred battle for cross-dressing honours.

Camp? The excitement is in tents.

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