DRAG queens will be performing as part of an East Lancashire showcase next month.

Accrington’s Lucie Bates has spent five months organising the event, Anti-Valentine’s Day Massacre, to be held at the Electric Church Club, Northgate, Blackburn, next month.

Four UK professional drag acts will take to the stage for the two-hour set, which will include ‘anti-love song’ performances and a catwalk competition.

Ms Bates, who works as a customer service advisor at Express Gifts, Clayton-le-Moors, said: “I wanted to put on an event that is accessible and inclusive for LGBT people in East Lancashire.”

The 26-year-old said drag has helped boost her self-confidence and comes five years after she first took an interest in the industry when watching TV shows and documentaries.

The former pupil at Darwen Vale High School, who sometimes dresses in drag, said: “I feel like a different person compared to working in my normal day job sitting at a desk. You get to wear ridiculous outfits that you would never wear in public.

“I love the environment that everyone is equal.”

Headlining the town centre event will be Charity Kase, Ms Bates’ best friend, who has featured in Vogue magazine and hit the spotlight in 2017 when she completed 365 days of a drag Instagram challenge.

The other three acts, Jay Andre, Miss Zodi and Iris Pompeii, will travel to the venue, which has a capacity of 200, from Cornwall, Yorkshire and Birmingham.

Ms Bates, a former Blackburn College student, described drag as an untapped market and said: “Drag and drag performers are very popular in mainstream at the moment.

“The shows are expensive

in Manchester and London

and it’s not accessible for

people, which is why I want to put a show on in Blackburn and save people travelling all that way.”

The showcase commences at 8pm on February 16. Tickets can be bought online for £4 from skiddle.com or £5 on the door.