"The Drag Effect" LGBTQ+ Pridespiel '25

The Drag Effect: Rain on Me
We are back on cold, hard ice and ready to welcome 16 teams to all of the Pride-filled fun this "family"-friendly bonspiel can offer!

WHEN: February 14-16, 2025 - First draws are Friday morning, w/ Finals set for early afternoon on Sunday.) 

COST: $400/Team, $100/Player (USD) 

FORMAT: Open (Teams can be any mix/order of genders) 

WHAT'S INCLUDED: A 3-game guarantee, Saturday night Drag Bingo, Friday night Trivia, a raffle table full of loot to raise money for charity - and, as always, Food and Drinks are included!

REGISTRATION IS OPEN: We are now taking sign-ups for LGBTQ+ individuals, and groups & teams with at least one member of the LGBTQ+ community. (Yes, you can have a straight ally or two in your squad, as long as at least one person registering at this time is from within the LGBTQ+ community.)

Please understand: Windy City Curling loves and welcomes all allies of the LGBTQ+ community, but right now there are only a half-dozen-ish Pridespeils in the United States. In order to make sure everyone in our Rainbow Family has a chance to play, we kindly ask individuals, groups, and teams of all-straight allies to wait until Friday, November 15th before registering.

REGISTRATION INFO: We have room for 64 players (16 Teams), but we may expand this number if there's enough demand

You can sign-up as an individual, duo, trio, or full team. When registering a group/team, click on the "Group" option, and then enter '2', '3', or '4' in the sign-up process. This way we know who to keep together on the ice. (As for getting together off the ice? That's on you, Boo.)

Don't have a full team? Register anyway. We mean that. We strive to make this event as accessible to all LGBTQ+ curlers as possible. We understand not everyone has a team of clubmates to travel with and we're more than happy to help form rinks. We have a lot of fun playing "teammate matchmaker," so join us and make some new friends!

FIRST DRAWS: Friday morning, February 14th (Exact time TBD)

For our returning players: Yes, we're going to throw a Thursday night mixer at the club the night before. This is our way of welcoming everyone to Windy City Curling for then weekend. We've done this for the last two 'Drag Effect' bonspiels, and they were a lot of fun!

HOTEL INFORMATION: We have once again reserved a block of rooms at the Courtyard by Marriott - Oakbrook Terrace from February 13th-16th. This hotel is located seven minutes from the club, and near a number of dining and entertainment options to fill your time away from the bonspiel.

Room rates:
Standard single king-size bed - $94/night USD
Two queen-size beds - $114/night USD

Please note: Yes, this room block does include Thursday night, so people can come in early for a potential Friday morning draw, if need be. If you don’t want a room Thursday night, simply note that when you make your reservation.

To reserve a room online: Book directly by clicking THIS LINK.
To reserve a room with a live agent: Call (630) 691-1500, Ext. 1 and reference the “Windy City Curling Room Block” at the Courtyard by Marriott Oakbrook Terrace for the discounted rate.

(NOTE: Hotel breakfast is not included in this rate, and the deadline to book a room is Thursday, January 23rd, 2025.)

BONSPIEL ENTERTAINMENT
There's plenty of fun to be had off the ice, too!

DRAG BINGO w/ AURORA DIVINE: Our favorite Bingo Queen returns Saturday night at 8:00pm to host a fun-filled evening of games, performance, laughs, and prizes!  Aurora is a staple of the Chicago drag & bingo community and we're honored she's returning to us for a third year in a row! So come see how she puts a fun twist on the "Drag Effect" in curling!

Find Aurora on Instagram HERE: https://www.instagram.com/theauroradivine/

PUB/CLUB/CUB TRIVIA w/ JOEL PETTIGREW: Everyone's favorite Polar Bear is back to put your off-ice knowledge to the test with another awesome round of team trivia on Friday night! (Exact time TBD, based on how Joel does in the bonspiel, lol.)

NEW THIS YEAR: We have a theme! For those that don't know, we lost our club this past March when a fire broke out in the business above us. The water used to put it out rained down into our club, flooding our entire space. This cut our last season short and delayed the start of our current season by two months.

But out of those floodwaters we've been inspired!

Since we'd rather be dry, but at least we're alive: we want to you to serve up your best Lady Gaga looks all weekend long. 
Just please don't wear anything out on the ice that could potentially damage the surface (i.e. - glitter, sequins that could fall off, feathers from a boa, etc.).

ANY QUESTIONS?
Email us! We'll respond as soon as we can. --> This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.