June 18 – 24: Crave Weekly Programming Overview
Crave and Pride Toronto Bring the Cast of CANADA’S DRAG RACE Together for Drag Ball Presented by Crave, June 27
– Featuring performances by all 12 CANADA’S DRAG RACE competitors, plus appearances from special guests, the one-night-only extravaganza is hosted by ETALK Senior Correspondent and Canada’s Squirrel Friend Traci Melchor –
Tags: #CraveDrag Ball, @CanadasDragRace, #CanadasDragRace, @CraveCanada, @Crave_PR, @PrideToronto, #PrideToronto
TORONTO (June 18, 2020) – Crave and Pride Toronto are thrilled to announce today that, in celebration of Pride Month and the upcoming premiere of CANADA’S DRAG RACE, they are teaming up for Drag Ball Presented by Crave. The sickening virtual edition of Pride’s beloved yearly Drag Ball event features performances by the 12 queens competing to become Canada’s first drag superstar. Drag Ball Presented by Crave serves realness on Saturday, June 27 beginning at 8 p.m. ET only on the Pride Toronto Twitch channel (worldwide) and the Drag Race on Crave YouTube channel (in Canada).
Streaming in celebration of Pride month, Pride Toronto, and the launch of CANADA’S DRAG RACE on July 2 on Crave, viewers can watch gag-worthy exclusive performances by the fierce and fabulous cast of the new series including Anastarzia Anaquway, BOA, Ilona Verley, Jimbo, Juice Boxx, Kiara, Kyne, Lemon, Priyanka, Rita Baga, Scarlett Bobo, and Tynomi Banks.
Following the initial presentation, Drag Ball Presented by Crave will be available on Pride Toronto’s Twitch channel for 24 hours and on the Drag Race on Crave YouTube channel for one week.
Drag Ball Presented by Crave is hosted by ETALK Senior Correspondent Traci Melchor, who is also Canada’s very first Squirrel Friend. The drag-tastic event is also set to feature special Pride messages from CANADA’S DRAG RACE judges Brooke Lynn Hytes, Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, and Stacey McKenzie, plus some secret celebrity guests.
As was announced last month, Pride Toronto celebrations for 2020 are happening in a new, creative, and unique way. Pride Toronto is moving online to celebrate this yearly event which brings everyone together to honour the history, courage, and diversity of Toronto’s LGBT2Q+ communities. Virtual Pride includes a number of innovative, online initiatives throughout the month of June that celebrate local queer and trans trailblazers, featuring a lineup of DJs, performers, drag artists, singers, and dancers, shining a concentrated spotlight on women in music and BIPOC artists.
Premiering on Thursday, July 2 at 9 p.m. ET, the Crave Original Series CANADA’S DRAG RACE serves up fan-favourites from RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE – like Snatch Game, Rumail, the reading challenge, puppets, makeovers, and gag-worthy untucked sessions – but with a dash of maple-flavoured Canadian realness. Each episode tests the queens’ talents, and challenges them to master singing, dancing, acting, impersonation, costume making, and improvisation. One competitor sashays away at the end of each episode, until the last queen standing is announced the inaugural winner. Throughout this journey, the queens share their personal struggles and successes, highlighting their individuality. Official brand partners for CANADA’S DRAG RACE include Hilton, Neutrogena®, and Roots Canada.
About Crave
Delivering more Oscar®-nominated and Emmy® Award-winning programming than any other service, Crave is Canada’s prestige entertainment offering, with HBO, SHOWTIME®, Starz, Hollywood-hit movies, a superior collection of kid’s movies and programs, and thousands of hours of acclaimed television series, specials, factual programming, and originals that can’t be found anywhere else.
Crave is the exclusive home of HBO in Canada, delivering HBO’s current slate of signature dramatic and comedic programs, documentaries, films, and live specials, as well as titles from HBO’s extensive off-air library. Crave is also home to current SHOWTIME series and specials, and past SHOWTIME hits. Crave Original hit series include comedies LETTERKENNY and NEW EDEN; CRAVINGS: THE AFTERSHOW with Lainey Lui; HEALTHY IS HOT with Chloe Wilde; candid interview series MUCH STUDIOS PRESENTS: MIKE ON MUCH IN CONVERSATION WITH…; a series of original stand-up specials; the upcoming competition series CANADA’S DRAG RACE; and the upcoming apocalyptic original comedic documentary series WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE.
Crave is a major supporter of Canada’s production industry, helping to fund and develop numerous film and documentary projects including feature films THE SONG OF NAMES, WHITE LIE, and THE GRIZZLIES among others, as well as Crave Original Documentaries ONCE WERE BROTHERS: ROBBIE ROBERTSON AND THE BAND, SHARKWATER: EXTINCTION, YOU ARE HERE: A COME FROM AWAY STORY, and ANTHROPOCENE: THE HUMAN EPOCH. Crave also includes acclaimed selections from the Toronto International Film Festival which are featured in two exclusive collections: Best of TIFF and TIFF Selects.
Crave is a bilingual TV and streaming service with more than 6,000 hours of exclusive French-language content included with the Super Écran add-on. Crave is available directly to all Canadians with access to the Internet at Crave.ca, via iOS and Android, and other platforms. It’s also available in English through participating television providers across six 24-hour High Definition linear and on demand channels. Crave is from Bell Media, Canada’s leading content company, providing Canada’s most-watched and most-acclaimed television programming on network, specialty, pay and digital platforms. Visit our website at Crave.ca.
About Pride Toronto
Pride Toronto is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to bring people together to celebrate the history, courage, and diversity of the LGBT2Q+ community. Uniting and empowering people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions, the annual Pride Toronto Festival has become a major Canadian Arts and Cultural Event and the largest Pride celebration in North America. Pride showcases Toronto on the world stage with diversity, inclusion and vibrant creativity.
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