Seatavern

Join us for a night where Capitol excess meets tribute determination. Will you serve like a Capitol elite or fight like a reaped tribute? Bring your finest looks, sharpen your arrows, and prepare to make history on our runway.

The categories are:

1. Best Dressed OTA
2. Tag-team Runway
3. Face (Male Figure & Female Figure)
4. Realness (Trans Man & Femme Queen)
5. Sex Siren (Male Figure, Female Figure & Chaos Kitten)
6. Vogue Femme OTA

May the odds be ever in your favour!
Ballroom Culture Overview

Ballroom culture was born in New York City’s Black and Latinx queer communities in the 20th century. Facing racism and exclusion in mainstream drag pageants, Black and Latina drag queens and trans women created their own underground balls where they could celebrate their authentic selves. At these events, known as balls, participants “walk” or compete in categories from vogue to runway fashion to “realness” (embodying specific genders or social archetypes). They organise into houses, essentially chosen families of friends led by “mothers” or “fathers”, that provide support, mentorship and a sense of belonging outside traditional family structures. Over the decades, ballroom became a vital safe space of resistance, expression, and community for LGBTQIA+ people of colour, especially for trans and gender-nonconforming individuals. It offered a world of glamour, family and freedom where they could be themselves without fear. This influence has spilt into mainstream culture (from dance and slang to fashion), but balls remain a proudly underground tradition forged in resilience and creativity.

In South Africa, ballroom culture is blossoming in its own vibrant way. Cape Town’s scene began taking root in the late 2010s, sparked by trailblazers like the late Kirvan Fortuin – a dancer-activist who founded the House of Le Cap (the country’s first ballroom house) in 2017 and hosted South Africa’s first vogue balls. Since then, the local ballroom community has grown into a tight- knit, dynamic family. Regular functions, such as the Legacy Ball and annual Kewpie balls, bring Cape Town’s houses and performers together to showcase incredible style, music, and dance with a uniquely South African twist. Today, Cape Town’s ballroom scene is thriving and ever-evolving, driven by a spirit of inclusivity, defiance, and joy. It offers queer and trans Capetonians a joyful, empowering space to express themselves freely, a celebratory arena of fashion, fierceness and solidarity that continues to grow and reinvent the city’s nightlife.