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Music

Check Out the Most Eye-Popping Looks From the 2016 Brooklyn Nightlife Awards—and Find Out Who Won

Club kids, drag queens, and other outsized personalities came out to the annual celebration of Brooklyn nightlife.
Photos by Oscar Ouk

The fourth annual Brooklyn Nightlife Awards took place this weekend at Bushwick's Lot 45 on Saturday, May 21, hosted by last year's Best Vocal Artist winner, Will Sheridan, and Drag Queen of the year nominee Crimson Kitty. Not only are we excited to be able to share the full list of winners from the night—which skews towards the LGBTQ end of the nightlife spectrum, and had a very amicable, positive vibe—but we've also got a sumptuous set of pics taken by New York-based photographer Oscar Ouk, who captured the most incredible club kids, drag queens, and other outsized personalities as they walked up to the doors "feeling their fantasy," as Ouk put it.

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Brooklyn­-based drag queen Merrie Cherry founded the BNAs in 2013—although Michael Alig claimed in an interview with THUMP that he actually started it back in the 90s—and this weekend saw performances ranging from live music and drag, to spoken word, dance, circus performance, and burlesque. Sticking to tradition, the award distributed to the winners was a literal brick embellished with a gold-colored plaque.

BNA winners 2016:

Drag Queen of the Year: Aja
Best Event Producer: The Culture Whore
Best DJ: Horrorchata
Best Fashion Designer: Bcalla
Hall of Fame: Thorgy Thor (She is on Season 8 of RuPaul Drag Race)
Best Fashionz: Sussi
Drag King of the Year: Goldie Peacock
Drag King of the Year: K. James (there was a tie and they had to lip sync for their life, but both ended up with an award)
Best Visual Artist: Diego Montoya
Best Bartender: John Lowther
Best Writer/Blogger: JamesMichael Nichols
Best Circus Performer: Madame Vivien V
Best Drag Performance Show: Mondays on Mondays
Best Vocal Artist/Group: Macy Rodman
Best Burlesque/Boylesque Performer: Vic Sin
Best Event Photographer: Cameron Cole
Best Reason to Leave Brooklyn: Frankie's at The Jane
Scene Kid: Kelsey Dagger
Best Party: Be Cute
Best Bar/Club: Metropolitan Bar
Best Event Publisher: Next Magazine
Best Late Night Food Spot: Bagelsmith
Best Burlesque/Boylesque Show: Straight Acting
Best Social Media: Hamm Samwich

Dreem

Charlene

Patti Spliff

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Thorgy Thor

Tyler Ashley

Horrorchata

Maya Mones

Beverly Sage

Suzie Hart

Rify Royalty

Gary Carmichael

Lady Simon

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