Ballroom Blitz

This Week, Cape Town South Africa: Now entering its fourth year with over 25 productions to its name, LEGACY has established itself not merely as an event, but as the architectural backbone of Cape Town’s queer Ballroom community - a space where the hierarchy is respected, the competition is strictly adjudicated, and the culture is preserved. To understand LEGACY, one must understand the global history it references. Ballroom culture emerged in New York City in the late 1960s and 70s, created by Black and Latino trans and queer communities who were systematically excluded from established drag pageants. In response, they formed "Houses" - alternative kinship structures led by "Mothers" and "Fathers" - and created "Balls," where members could compete for status and affirmation. PLUS It's also LGBT+ history month so we went back through our archives and found a lovely interview former ShoutOut team member Ben Bird recorded way back in 2012. He caught up with the lovely Peggy who ran the The Radnor Hotel - the best place to be in Bristol after the war, up until it's closure around 1976 (though it did open its doors again as many different things after that). Peggy passed away in 2021 but we were lucky enough to get her take on the importance of the Radnor, and a glimpse into gay life many decades ago.

You can listen to Ballroom Blitz online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Ballroom Blitz is an episode from ShoutOut Radio by ShoutOut LGBT+ Radio.

This episode is 00:49:40 long.

This episode was published on Feb 19, 2026.

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