“We still have about 20 seats left. The theatre is practically full. It exceeded our expectations by a lot”, Rafael Bento, one of the organisers of the festival, told Lusa.

The room, with capacity for 700 people, promises to host the biggest edition ever of the festival which was created in 2016.

In recent years, the Leiria Drag Festival has taken place in the only LGBTQIA+ bar in the municipality of Leiria, the Glitz, which operates in the parish of Boa Vista.

“This year was a big leap”, acknowledged Rafael Bento about the festival's move to the José Lúcio da Silva Theatre, where there will be a large audience who bought tickets.

“Leiria has had an LGBT night for many years. We've always had drag and bars related to it and this was our idea: to get out of our doors and out of our comfort zone. And, in Leiria, what is the best stage to do this if not the Teatro José Lúcio da Silva?”

From Leiria, the 'drag queens' Eva Brown, Debbie Bjorn, Giselle Brown and Cherry Flavor will participate, joined by other artists from the Algarve, Lisbon and Porto to, in a night that also includes singers and musicians.

“It's going to be a night full of glitz and glamour. A lot of emotion, music, dancing, everything you can expect from a good drag show will be there”, anticipated the organiser.