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About the Festival
The Charm City Burlesque and Variety Festival (CCBVF) runs Friday September 29 through Sunday October 1 at Baltimore’s Creative Alliance, home to some of Baltimore’s first burlesque and variety shows.
Burlesque is many things. It is sexy. It is sly. It is seductive. It shines a light on the morals and foibles of modern life and mocks them openly. In Baltimore, Burlesque is all of those things, and it is also unabashedly weird, strange, dark, funny, and a little bit twisted. Baltimore’s burlesque and variety stages have always welcomed the different and the avant-garde. Baltimore marvels in the filthy, the strange, the strangely beautiful, and the sometimes questionable and it makes it its own. The CCBVF celebrates all.
Friday September 29: Filthy Gorgeous
The festival kicks off with a celebration of the weird and twisted side of Baltimore area’s burlesque and variety scene. Expect to be both titillated and uncomfortable at the same time, in the most delicious way possible.
Hosted by: Maki Roll & Kittie Glitter
Featured performances by: Essential Tease instructor: Ruby Rockafella, Twisted Knickers Burlesque producer: Tapitha Kix, Mab Just Mab, Paolo Garbanzo, Onca O’Leary, Les S. Moore
Performances by: Foxy Minx, Ruby Spruce, Vivienne Nuit, Poppy la Fae, Bearcat Betty, Curly Bright, Mary Muse, Madonna Black, Fox Martin, Hot Todd Lincoln
Stage kittens: Fiona Foxglove & Mourna Handful
Saturday, September 30: The Tell-Tale Masquerade
Masquerade with us through the eerie ambiance on Saturday night. Don your finest attire and join the sinister mischief makers and the dreamers as we take you on a journey into all that is dark and whimsy. Let us entice you and titillate your senses with bewitching acts of burlesque, belly dance, sideshow, circus, and drag!
Hosted by: Eden
Featured performances by: Producer of Art of the Belly: Naimah, Producer of Baltmore’s Best Burlesque Troupe-Gilded Lily Burlesque: Maria Bella, Miss-Disa-Burly-Tease: Jacqueline Boxx, Baltimore’s Award-Winning pole performer: Crystal Black
Performances by: Eva Mystique, Misty Wilde, Tempete La Coeur, Blasphemous Jane, Belladonna & Ken Vegas, Sally Stardust, London St. Juniper, Phaedra Phox, Scarlet Starlet, Sally Sinch, Caza Blanca, Valentina, Belladonna & The Nightshades
Stage kittens: Valeria Voxx & Madonna Black
Saturday, September 30: The Tell-Tale Masquerade After Show Dark Dance Party
Stick around after the show for a dance party with DJ Villainess as she spins dark beats and hypnotic rhythms.
Sunday, October 1: Drag Story Hour (Free show for all ages)
Sunday starts out with a Drag Story Hour. Baltimore drag performers will read a children’s story while also capturing the imagination of childhood while also providing a glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role model, giving children the opportunity to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where people can present as they wish and where playing dress-up is real. Come dressed up and come as you are! All ages are welcome.
Stories read by Hazel Dereon
Sunday, October 1: Drag me to the Stage (with mimosas!)
From an underground scene to a pop culture phenomenon, drag shows have had many faces, with drag brunches being their most recent reincarnation. Featuring performances from the drag glitterati from across the DMV area, it’ll be an occasion to remember filled with music and dance that’ll leave feeling entertained and delighted.
Hosted by: Eden
Featured performances by: Gabrielle Remsen, Ruby-Villaverde, Onyx D. Pearl, CandiFuentes, Lula Lioness, Hazel Dereon, Finn Gerhardt, Kit Valentine, Justin Thunderbum
Stage kittens: Valeria Voxx & Mira Sweet.
This festival will be inclusive and both respectful and cognizant of the people and places who have helped make Baltimore burlesque and variety what it is today – this especially includes the voices of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ performers, vendors, and partners who will be an important part in both the planning and execution of all events associated with the festival.