The Black Excellence Cabaret

Hello, for those of you who do not know me, my name is Manly Mannington. I am a Drag King based in the South West. This year, Brizzle Boyz have allowed me to take over one of their events to produce the Black Excellence Cabaret, celebrating Black and POC queer performers in the UK. The aims of the event were to showcase that Black and POC performers should not be underestimated and to highlight the importance of diversifying cabaret lineups and the sheer talent in the Black and POC Queer community. Additionally, the platform was to allow new and up and coming acts to perform without the hindrance of financial barriers. Coinciding with this, I wanted the event to create additional opportunities and community links, such as: including professional videography to help artists with casting calls and utilising local Black and POC businesses, and to create a space where an audience can enjoy a plethora of acts which they may otherwise not be able to witness. The reason why this event is important is that there are no other events like this in Bristol. Unfortunately, despite the popularity of the event, there are barriers that prevent more events from coming in to fruition. This includes financial barriers, as there are not enough Black and POC Queer performers in Bristol and surrounding areas, I have to book many from elsewhere meaning the additional costs of transport, payment for hotels and out of town performer fees means higher expenses. I have attempted to apply for funding however there are socio-historical barriers, which means that the funding is not for projects like this or people like me. I am unfortunately working on this project, producing planning and running these events on my own and cannot afford to pay the upfront costs of setting up this project, but in the future hope, these cabarets and afterparties become self-sustaining.

The funds collected will be used to pay for venue hire and backup funds to cover artist fees in case the events do not sell enough tickets.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you for supporting the go fund me.