Runway Drag: Event brings together drag queens for the first lipsync battle at an airport in Brazil

· The duels will take place in the check-in area of Salvador Airport

· Eight drag queens will be selected to participate in the event

June, 2025 – Salvador Bahia Airport, a member of the VINCI Airports network, is hosting, for the first time in Brazil, a lip sync battle inside an airport. Entitled Runway Drag, the event celebrates drag art and culture with lip sync performance duels on a stage set up in the passenger terminal of Salvador Bahia Airport.

The event will take place on July 4th, celebrating Pride Month, giving visibility to Drag Queen art and LGBTQIA+ culture, fostering connections among the airport community, passengers, and employees. Under the curatorship of journalist Genilson Coutinho, the 8 selected local drag queens will face off in lip sync duels, divided into three stages, until one of them is crowned the winner. All participants will receive a playlist with a series of iconic performance hits so they can rehearse in advance.

Registrations must be made through an online form, available on the official channels of Salvador Bahia Airport, on Instagram and X, from June 11 to June 18.

Daniela Franco, Communication Manager at Salvador Bahia Airport, highlights the unprecedented nature of this initiative and the airport’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. “Runway Drag marks a historic moment as the first drag lipsync battle held in a Brazilian airport. More than an event, it is a deliberate statement: drag culture has a place of prominence in public spaces such as our airport, which has proudly carried Salvador’s LGBT+ Diversity Seal for two years,” she emphasizes.

For Genilson Coutinho, journalist and curator of the event, Runway Drag is a form of validation of drag art. “This event is very important because it rescues the history of transformist art in the city and, at the same time, offers visibility to these artists who are active in the local scene and also carry Bahia’s name to the national stage. So, when the airport promotes an initiative like this, it fosters, values, and enables transformist art, showing that Bahia has the same potential as other states, such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo,” he celebrates.

About Salvador Bahia Airport

Located in the capital of the state of Bahia, Salvador Bahia Airport is the first concession of the VINCI Airports network in Brazil, which took over its operation on January 2, 2018. Since then, Salvador Airport has incorporated global operational standards, seeking to offer more efficiency, safety, and a better travel experience for its passengers. With an investment of R$ 700 million in modernization and expansion works, the terminal increased its capacity by 50%, serving up to 15 million passengers per year. In addition, it was recognized with the Ethnic-Racial Diversity Seal by Salvador’s Municipal Secretariat for Reparation due to initiatives to combat institutional racism. Salvador Bahia Airport also stands out as the “Most Sustainable Airport in Brazil,” leading environmental preservation actions.

About VINCI Airports

VINCI Airports, the world leader in the operation of private airports, manages more than 70 airports in 14 countries. Thanks to its expertise as a global integrator, VINCI Airports develops, finances, builds, and manages airports, leveraging its investment capacity and know-how in optimizing operational performance, modernizing infrastructure, managing operations, and driving environmental transition. VINCI Airports was the first airport operator to commit to an international environmental strategy in 2016, aiming to achieve net zero emissions across its entire network by 2050.

For more information: www.vinci-airports.com

@VINCIAirports https://www.linkedin.com/company/vinci-airports/