, and not just in Atlanta. Our neighbors to the east and west offer a pair of opportunities to get out of town for a weekend and party with a new crowd. Birmingham’s Rites of Spring and Athens’ Boybutante Ball are both set to throw down the weekend of April 18 in an effort to raise funds for their respective local HIV/AIDS organizations.
Rites of Spring welcomes DJ Tony Moran, fresh off his Easter stint here in Atlanta. Payton Hilyer, an organizer of the event, says that Moran’s reputation has helped build buzz for the party in surrounding areas.
“We’re expecting a huge crowd this year,” he says. “We’ve gotten a lot of talk about it from the Atlanta crowd, the Chattanooga crowd, and the Florida crowd.” Moran continues his dance floor reign at the after party, accompanied by Boston’s DJ Ranny. Hilyer says he and the rest of the planning committee are trying to bring the party into the future with a fresh take.
“We’ve sort of revamped a lot of it from the past couple of years and looked at what’s working and what doesn’t work," he says. "[We're] looking at the generation that’s here and not what it used to be five or 10 years ago.” Rites of Spring benefits Birmingham AIDS Outreach.
take on an old favorite is the board of directors of Boybutante, which enters its 19th year with the theme “Jailhouse Frock.” Don Reagin, a member of the board and holder of 2003’s Miss Bogart title — which goes to the director who contributes the most to organizing the ball in a given year — says that choosing this year’s theme was a no-brainer.
“We have a board of directors retreat every November, and this past November one of our board members actually came with a Power Point presentation in favor of this theme, and he did a very animated presentation that involved him acting out different roles,” he says. “We brainstormed a couple other ideas after that, but they all paled in comparison after him.”
Reagin reports that this year's Boybutante Ball, which benefits AIDS Athens, will feature four emcees. Athens-based performers Lacie, Sophia LoRent and Ella Gaunt join Amorettes and Boybutante alum Wild Cherry Sucret as the evening’s main queens. In addition to the requisite drag numbers, burlesque troupe Effie’s Follies is also on tap.
“That’s nice for a little bit of variety,” Reagin says.
Look for the boys to switch the costume contest up a little this year. Reagin says the event had grown so much in recent years that it took nearly an hour just to parade all the contestants across the stage. Instead, a roaming emcee will check the crowd for four or five potential winners who will be given buckets to collect tips. The winner will be asked to perform a drag number to a song not of his choosing.
“It’s kind of a suicide drag sort of thing,” Reagin laughs. “We thought that would be more fun.”
