With an impressive turnout, the Warrior Entertainment Network pleased many with a great event for this month’s Kryzsko After Dark (KAD), on March 31. KAD featured a drag show in the Kryzsko Ballroom as the main event and it would be an understatement to say the Winona State University students loved it.

“It was really high energy which was really cool. It was a big turnout,” Molly LaVigne, a first-year elementary education major, said.

International Transgender Day of Visibility is an annual celebration to appreciate and recognize transgender people and raise awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide. To see Winona State host an event that definitely tied into the celebration was reassuring for members of the LGBTQ+ community at Winona State to know they have the school’s support.

“It was super empowering to see a bunch of students at our school care and they wanted to be there to see it,” LaVigne said. “I’ve never seen it done at a college before and I just think that that’s super important to see, especially with everything that is going on with like the banning of drag queens and everything like that is just so cool to see our school be in support of that freedom, especially on Transgender Day of Visibility.”

There were a variety of drag performances throughout the night. With the majority of the performers being Minnesota-based, some were students and there was a Winona State alum on the stage as well. Allota Shots graduated from Winona State in 2014; she also was featured as one of the entertaining MCs for the night.

“I noticed that there were some Winona State students that participated in the drag show…so all the Minnesota-based drag queens and the alumni, that was cool,” LaVigne said.

The night truly consisted of smiles, laughs and cheers all throughout the ballroom. The crowd’s faces were lit up with joy as they enjoyed the show. Some members of the crowd were generous enough to tip the drag queens but the support from everyone was remarkable.

“One of the drag queens that were there I’ve actually seen before, so it was actually really cool to just see people experience the same thing that I’ve experienced and experience that empowerment,” LaVigne said.

The Warrior Entertainment Network definitely impressed with the event chosen for this KAD and it would not be a shock if they were to host an event similar in the future.

“I thought it was really cool that it was done at the school. If it was done at the school again I would definitely go,” LaVigne said while explaining that she would recommend others to attend a drag show again as well.