Sparkling in the Darkness at the Texas Burlesque Festival

In dark times, there’s nothing brighter than a spotlight on sequins. That’s why Terri Lynn Raridon, founder of the Texas Burlesque Festival, is sure that this year’s gathering in the name of dropping every stitch to the floor is more important than ever. 

“We will prevail,” she said.

Running May 14-16 at Elysium and the Rollins Center, this year’s festival is Austin’s 19th celebration of the tease – making it one of the longest-running festivals of its kind in the world. That history means it’s become a destination for some of the most famous burlesque talents, with over 80% of the performers traveling in from out of state. ”We’ve got performers everywhere from Madison, Wisconsin, and Minneapolis down to Atlanta and Gainesville, Florida,” said Raridon, “and all points in between.” Don’t worry, she added: There’s still space for the “crème de la crème” of Texas talent, including Austin’s own Bat City Bombshells.

Flying in from California will be Jessabelle Thunder, who Raridon called “the No. 1 performer.” An international touring sensation, last year Thunder topped 21st Century Burlesque Magazine’s most influential performer poll and was named 2025 Queen of Burlesque at the Burlesque Hall of Fame. “And we got her,” Raridon said. Thunder will be performing her prize-winning routine, “and I think it will resonate with Austin incredibly well because it’s really blues-tinged, it’s really soulful, it’s emotive.” What makes Thunder so lauded and revered? For Raridon, it’s because she really understands the tease bit of striptease: “She really knows how to stretch the moment out. She really knows how to work the crowd, work the music, work that costume.”

Thunder may be a seasoned veteran of the burlesque stage, but she’s still an ingénue compared to this year’s Legend of Burlesque. Madame E started dancing in the 1970s and is still shaking what she’s got five decades later. Raridon called her “an activist performer, and we really appreciate that about her.”

While it’s important for Raridon that older icons like Madame E get their flowers, the festival also highlights burlesque as a vibrant art form. “We want to give Austin audiences a sense of everything that’s out there,” she said. Across those 19 years, Raridon has seen the art form evolve and grow, with the sprouting of boylesque (men’s burlesque), the recent rise of nerdlesque with its cosplay routines, and more BIPOC and openly queer performers.

The submissions from artists are an indicator of where the state of the art lies: This year, there were almost 300 entrants for 34 slots, many from first-time applicants and new faces. “There’s still people tossing their pasties into the ring,” Raridon laughed. This year’s submissions included “a lot of boa work, a lot of people doing floor acrobatics, [and] we’ve got a lot of comedic pieces this year.” The biggest evolution this year is actually a crossover with striptease’s saucy sibling drag, “with performers lip-synching their number while they’re doing their routine.” That created a challenge for Raridon and her team as they started assessing applications for that whole new skill set. “If you’re gonna include that element of drag, you better honor it,” she said. “You better nail it.”

Just as the talent roster features festival veterans and newcomers, Raridon is also hoping for first-time audience members to join the crowd. For anyone worried about the etiquette of the burly-q, her advice is simple: “It’s like a concert where you can yell and cheer, but the more you yell and cheer during the number, that’s what it’s really about. You’re giving the performer what they need so they’ll take it off.”

This article appears in May 15 • 2026.