Big night out at Bingay

I slept in until about ten o’clock this morning, partly because of the daylight saving change, which always takes my body a few days to adjust to, and partly because I had a late night. Well, not that late—I was in bed by about 12:30 and asleep half an hour later—after I enjoyed a night of Bingay with some of my ABBA fan friends from Sydney.

Bingay, like bingo, involves crossing off numbers on a sheet of paper, but with a twist: the music was all ABBA, and the host was a drag queen. Supported by the AIDS Council of NSW (ACON), there were lots of members of the LGBTQIA+ community attending, including five out of the seven in our group.

The event was part of Sydney Fringe, and was held in a pop-up venue at Darling Harbour. Although I’d contacted the festival and they said they would make the event staff aware of my needs as a wheelchair user, the staff last night said they weren’t aware. Nonetheless, they acted quickly to make a space for me and my friends in the front row.

Being in the front row meant lots of audience participation, and we even won a few prizes. The prize I won was for a movie preview of the new documentary film, “Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed.” “This is for you, because you’ve been gorgeous all night,” the drag queen, Charisma told me. Along with partner, Naomi, they put on a terrific show, full of humour and lots of humanity.

“I felt a little teary”, I told my friend who came to my house, and escorted me throughout the night. “It means I CAN get out and about again.