Minutes from Pismo Beach, Santa Maria is a town in Northern California best known for the nation's largest, and sweetest strawberries and for its Santa Maria style, tri-tip bar-b-ques (tri-tip being a cut of meat which was created by a Santa Maria butcher.) But since August 1995, it has had the distinction of hosting the only drag competition for the Central Coast: the Gran Diva festival. Though Gran Diva is not nearly as large as Wigstock or its West coast sister act, the atmosphere was just as fully charged and perhaps, that much more intimate because of its size.
The Gran Diva festival took place this year on August 3. It is the brainchild of a gentleman named Merced Gonzales. Merced founded an organization called outPRIDE in 1995. Initially a club with only three members, outPRIDE,in Merced�s words, �quickly grew into an organization with values, a mission statement, a vision, and structured agendas to assist its members in accomplishing its goals.� Its main agenda was to meet the social and entertainment needs of the gay and lesbian community on the Central Coast in order to promote awareness and unity in the community of Santa Maria. And what better way to accomplish that agenda than to hold a drag festival within that community?
The Gran Diva festival was conceived in order to introduce formal drag to the Central Coast. According to Merced, �There was no royal court around here so having Gran Diva was a big step forward.� Earlier in 1995, outPRIDE organized �Euphoria,� the first gay and lesbian dance party in Santa Maria�s history. Euphoria�s success set the stage (pardon the pun) for the Gran Diva festival. The first festival was held in August of 1995 at the Veteran's of Foreign War Hall in Santa Maria. �Members of the facility were surprisingly comfortable and supportive of the event,� Merced said. �As a matter of fact they were honored to (have) been a part of Santa Maria history by hosting the city's first drag show competition.� One-hundred-and-eighty people packed the Veteran�s hall for the first drag show in Central Coast history. This year�s show, held at the South County Regional Event Center in neighboring Arroyo Grande, was bigger and better than last year�s as attendance increased to two-hundred and fifty people. Indeed, outPRIDE had to move the show to the larger center because of the expected increase in attendees as well as double the number of competitors over last year�s show. And how fortunate those competitors were! This year they were able to compete on a beautiful stage complete with a dressing area and private restrooms. Last year they had to dress in
the kitchen and perform on a 10' x 10' stage.
The competitors were not the only ones to benefit from the increased patronage. This year outPRIDE spent $1000 more to treat the audience to a complimentary buffet (organized by new member Carl Hopkins) as well as a lighting and sound show by DJ Slick Rick, who kept the party jammin�. Door prizes were awarded to twelve lucky guests. The festivities started at 7:30 PM with the all-night buffet. outPRIDE was honored to have Ms. Monterey 1995 in attendance. She volunteered to act as the �50/50 girl,� selling tickets for a raffle to be awarded later that night. The show started at 9:30 with Ms. Pauline Tricks as MC. Ms. Tricks, �the eighth wonder of the world,� began the show with a compilation of music which included three wardrobe changes. She dazzled the audience at the end of her number with a ten-foot frame which stood behind her on the stage. During one part of her act, when she sang the words "Believe in freedom...we all need love," Pauline clicked her heels ever-so-slightly to set off a 10-foot rainbow, pride flag which was rigged to the frame. She also told jokes and really worked the audience.
Ms. Tricks treated the audience to a visual feast that evening, changing her costumes a whopping sixteen times! In fact, she never wore the same thing twice when introducing each competitor. The contest started off with the evening gown competition, followed by the talent portion where the competitors lip synched and danced. There were four judges, each one representing a different gay and lesbian organization in the community.
The Gran Diva festival was an evening full of glamour and excitement. The festivities were over by 1AM, and a great time was had by all. The Gran Diva festival, still in its infancy, could one day soon become as established a part of the gay community as Wigstock.
There was dancing throughout the evening as the competition ended at 11:00. The competition was fierce, but ultimately the judges picked a winner. Ms. Amy was crowned The Empress Gran Diva �96 at midnight, with Ms. Understood as first runner-up. Understandably, it was an emotional event for Ms. Amy, who teared up as she waved to the audience in true Royal style a la Queen Elizabeth.
