A galaxy of drag kings and beings will light up the stage for three nights at the Emerald City Kings Ball, Sept. 19, 20, and 21 at West Seattle's Skylark Café & Club (3803 Delridge Way SW).
Nights one and two will showcase performers sharing their unique artistry, and night three will feature a competition among a whole new set of hopefuls vying for the titles of High King Supreme, Imperial Duke, and Grand Marquis.
Headliners this year are Krēme Inakuchi (Toronto) for the first night, Riley Poppyseed (Columbus, Ohio) for the second, and Papi Churro (Oakland, CA) for the night three competition, who, as the reigning High King Supreme, will do a step-down performance as the new monarch is crowned.
Tickets are going fast, and some ticketing options having already sold out, which shows how hungry people are to experience kings from near and far onstage in an event just for them.
"As of right now, there are other kings showcases happening throughout the country and the world, but from our understanding and our research, we are the only drag king festival in the world," said co-founder Sherwood Ryder (a stage name).
"At the Kings Ball, you have people leaving questioning their sexuality, crying and feeling connected for the first time, [or] laughing their ass off because somebody has done something mind-blowingly hilarious. There are just so many different facets of kings, and at the Kings Ball, it's our goal to showcase and highlight all of it."

A dressing-room dream
Ryder and fellow performer Jabriel Gaymess developed the concept for the Kings Ball while chatting in a dressing room. With media manager and associate producer Harley Sayne also on board, the three "have tackled this monster, and we're feeding it well, hoping it will grow into something beautiful," as Ryder stated.
This trio knows all too well the lack of spaces for drag kings and beings, something they are out to change for current and future Queer generations.
"Everything is very heavily queen dominated, and even recent drag festivals that have popped up are still... There isn't a whole lot of space for drag kings," Sherwood said. "They're not showcased or highlighted as much, and if they are, let's be real - they're like the token king in a cast full of queens. Normally it's the same sort of rotation and the same three to four kings that are put on bigger stages, at bigger events, and at bigger bars. We need something more."
With the ball happening each September, an application period for performers normally opens around February or April. After a little over a month, it closes, then a team goes through the applications, sends out acceptances, and creates an alternatives list and a wait list.
"Everybody can apply," Sherwood said. "We have kings from all over North America coming, from Canada and the US, and our goal is to reach beyond those borders and bring in kings from other countries as well."

Tapping into masculinity, empowering youth
Ryder will be taking the stage on the ball's second night. A seasoned performer, he started out as a go-go dancer and entered the burlesque scene around 2012.
"Six years after doing burlesque, I wanted to develop a masculine persona character, and that's how Sherwood Ryder came to be," he said. "The name came to me in high school, so [I'd] been holding onto that name for many years when Sherwood Ryder was actually born."
Ryder debuted at the popular Lesbian bar My Sister's Room in Atlanta and the rest, as they say, is history.
"I loved being able to tap into my masculinity. Growing up in a Latin Hispanic household, there is so much machismo involved and [a] need to be this high-femme persona all the time. Being able to tap into this masculinity helps me to develop my own gender identity, so now I'm Nonbinary genderfluid. That's what makes me happy, being able to showcase that other side of me and now embracing it for everyday life, which is really nice."
Being a role model for youth comes with the territory, and Sherwood is touched and humbled by it, relating how a young person said to him at an all-ages show, "I didn't know I could do that, and I want to do that one day."
"I immediately started crying because that's why we do it," Sherwood said. "Artistic expression and freedom are great, but empowerment is a whole other thing, and showcasing that is what makes my heart happy."

Getting bigger
The Emerald City Kings Ball began in Seattle as a two-night showcase in the style of an old-school Atlanta Players Ball but for drag kings.
As Sherwood explained, "People showed up and wanted more. We had feedback that this needs to happen more often, [and that] other kings wanted to be involved, and that's when we realized that it needed to be bigger."
The Emerald City Kings Ball is indeed getting bigger - so big that it's fast outgrowing its venue. This is why nights sell out quickly.
Sherwood said the Skylark has been a true family for everyone involved in the ball and that it's rather bittersweet to one day have to move on, so that more performers and ticketholders can be accommodated.
"The Skylark is incredible. We love them. They have done everything for us since we started with them last year." Sherwood said. "They have been a staple in the community, not just for everybody in West Seattle but for the Queer community... Cookie Couture hosts and all-ages event there, West End Girls, drag bingo... They host open mic nights for anybody, and a lot of kids go there to perform for the first time."
Unfortunately, the Skylark is being forced to relocate due to Sound Transit's light rail plans for the area. A public fundraiser is underway at https://givebutter.com/LetsMoveTheSkylark , where donations are gratefully accepted.
Looking to the future, Sherwood named several goals he wants to achieve personally and professionally. For the ball, continuing to grow and influencing others like it to sprout are two big aims.
"Our goal is to become an international destination sensation for kings and queens alike. I want this to be the catalyst for the start of something new," he said. "I don't want us to be the only one. I want to start putting kings on the map more. I want us to inspire people, to showcase all the new kings who are up-and-coming, to [help them] see themselves on a stage - kings thriving and doing their thing all over and not just [in] the one space that we built."

Learn more about the Emerald City Kings Ball on Facebook or Instagram and at https://linktr.ee/emeraldcitykingsball