Have you heard the news? Pride took home two MEDEAs in one night.
At the 2026 Melbourne Excellence in Drag and Entertainment Awards on 16 June, Pride of our Footscray was voted Melbourne's Favourite Queer Venue — and Melbourne's Favourite Burlesque Venue, the first venue to take both in the same year. Not bad for a community-owned bar on Hopkins Street. To everyone who voted, packed the dancefloor and kept turning up for queer nights in the west: this one is yours. Thank you.
The night kept giving. Congratulations to regular Pride host Max Drag Queen, voted Melbourne's Favourite Drag Queen; to our beautiful Drag Bingo hostess Rubi Taboo, who took home MX Congeniality; and to Soft Bodies, voted Melbourne's Favourite Burlesque Event — held right here on our stage.
As Pride's own Mat O'Keefe put it to Star Weekly, it's "simultaneously the golden age of drag and yet the hardest time for venues." Which makes every single person who shows up part of this win. The nights that earned these awards are on the calendar right now — drag, burlesque, bingo and everything in between. See what's on. 🌈