Participants parade in high heels at Washington’s legendary queer event

The 35-year-old 17th Street High Heel Race takes place in the US capital on the Tuesday before Halloween every year.

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This Tuesday, scores of people strapped on their high heels to take part in the annual 17th Street High Heel Race in Washington DC.

The 35-year-old event sees participants, most of whom are drag queens and drag kings, race a quarter of a mile (almost 450m) to celebrate their city’s queer history. Hundreds of spectators attend the race to cheer the participants at the US capital’s 17th Street.

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As per the Rainbow History Project, the race started on Halloween in 1986 as a wager between 25 drag queens who had to race from JR’s Bar on 17th Street to Annie’s Paramount Steak House and then back to JR’s Bar to win a bottle of champagne. Till 2018, the race was organised by the JR’s Bar but in 2018 it was adopted as an official mayoral event. It has since been hosted by the mayor’s office of LGBTQ affairs.

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Videos and pictures of the latest high-heel race are being widely circulated online.

Thank you to everyone who helped make the 35th Annual 17th Street High Heel Race a success! Whether you raced 👠, cheered 🎉, or just came out to support our LGBTQ+ community 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️, you made it a night to remember! pic.twitter.com/NiviV8mUxj

— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) October 26, 2022

We celebrate our @DCLGBTQ community 365 24/7 but WHAT A NIGHT! The 35th Annual 17th Street High Heel Race was a success‼️ All the spectators and participants showed up and showed out! #DCValues #DCisOpen pic.twitter.com/bXJgSaexlR

— Mayor’s Office of Nightlife & Culture (@dcmonc) October 26, 2022

These heels were made for runnin’, apparently 👠 Watch as runners participate in Washington D.C.’s 35th Annual 17th Street High Heel Race to kick off the city’s Halloween celebrations pic.twitter.com/SkrCCS6cda

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) October 26, 2022

35th Annual 17th Street High Heel Race is Tuesday (Oct. 25th)!! https://t.co/3VVWBNFwXA pic.twitter.com/eeZ9X3HFts

— PoPville (@PoPville) October 19, 2022

Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted pictures from the race and wrote, “Thank you to everyone who helped make the 35th Annual 17th Street High Heel Race a success! Whether you raced 👠, cheered 🎉, or just came out to support our LGBTQ+ community 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️, you made it a night to remember!”

Talking to WTOP News about the race, Bowser said, “This is a city-wide event, people look forward to it. There are a lot of beautiful people out here who are interested in having a good time and celebrating our city.”

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