Berkley library group plans drag event minus kids and — they hope — controversy

BERKLEY — The Friends of the Berkley Public Library's latest fundraiser latches on to an entertainment trend in a very general audience-friendly way.

"Dining N Drag" will be an evening of food and entertainment featuring drag performers at the Chamberlain Farm Pavilion, 12 Friend St., Berkley, on Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are $45 and includes a buffet, cash bar and a drag queen show with comedy and singing.

"It's not for kids," Berkley Friends President Danielle Nicolet emphasized.

"We are a fund-raising organization, and this will have nothing to do with what the library does in its building. It's in the spirit of fun and fundraising."

Nicolet explained that members of the Friends recently attended such a show and saw how well-attended it was.

They realized that if such shows are so popular, the Friends could turn one into a successful money raiser.

Nicolet said that while the starting point was the popularity of drag shows, the organization didn't want to do anything that might lead to the controversy and protests that some other library-sponsored drag queen reading hours have created recently.

"We wouldn't want to do anything people would protest," she said. "We just wanted to do something different and have a good time."

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This is the latest of the Friends' annual events for the library building fund, which sets money aside for any major maintenance the 1918 Carnegie library may need now or in the future.

Last year's building fund event, despite its being during pandemic shutdowns, raised $1,300 for the fund, Nicolet noted.

That year's event also got creative, she said. If a resident gave a donation, the Friends would deliver a flock of 24 plastic flamingos on the lawn of the address of that resident's choice — usually an unsuspecting neighbor.

"We are just trying to have fun," she said.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Berkley: Friends of the Library to host drag queen fundraiser