Aura Mayari Wants You to Find the Power Already Inside You

At Northalsted Market Days, Aura Mayari did not have to explain the difference between watching drag on a screen and standing in front of it. The crowd gathered around the stage was already living it. Thousands can watch drag on television. Standing in front of a performer, reacting with everyone around you, turns the show into something shared.

Mayari knows both sides of that line. The Filipina performer first competed on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15 and returned in 2026 for RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 11. Born in the Philippines, raised and now living in Chicago, she has built her drag around high-energy performance, fashion, makeup, and Filipino identity. Her view of television versus the stage is simple: “TV sells personalities, drag shows sell an experience.”

That idea followed Mayari through her Market Days performance and into the release of her new single, Feel The Aura. In an exclusive interview with HomoCulture, she spoke about why live drag carries something television cannot copy, why LGBTQ gatherings feel more intentional right now, and why being seen comes with responsibility.

Aura Mayari Knows Drag Is Better When You’re Part of It

Northalsted Market Days is a street festival built around live music, food and drink, vendors, dancing, and drag across a half-mile stretch of Chicago’s Northalsted neighborhood. The 2026 festival ran August 7 through 9, with Mayari among its lineup of performers.

For Mayari, live drag works because the performer can break the invisible wall between stage and crowd.

“TV sells personalities, drag shows sell an experience. When you see drag in person, as I said earlier, you become part of that experience. You get to see the full artistry that a TV show can diminish.”

Drag Race has given performers access to much larger audiences. HomoCulture recently looked at how drag has moved beyond reality television, but Mayari’s point brings the art back to where it began for generations of performers: in front of a live audience.

Drag Adds Something a DJ Set Can’t

Mayari does not place drag above live music or a DJ set. She sees it as another layer, with visual storytelling and audience participation built into the performance.

“Market Days is obviously a street festival first, so people are flocking from all over for the full experience of music, food, local vendors, dancing, and the sense of community. Drag comes in to add a different layer of visual storytelling and creating an environment where the festival goers become a part of the show!”

That same skill matters in smaller rooms. HomoCulture’s look at drag bingo shows how much a successful drag host depends on reading an audience and pulling strangers into a shared experience.

“I think that drag has created this magic of pulling people in, and having them become part of the drag experience. We are seen as entertainers that bring queer joy, humor, fashion, and self expression.”

Market Days gives that relationship between performer and crowd a very public stage. The festival featured four stages and more than 250 vendors in 2026. Travelers spending more time in the neighborhood can also explore more of LGBTQ Chicago, including Northalsted’s nightlife, LGBTQ-owned businesses, restaurants, and community landmarks.

For more drag, culture, and event coverage, subscribe to HomoCulture.

Pride Feels Different Right Now

Mayari has performed at Pride festivals and LGBTQ events in many places, and she believes the reason people gather has grown more serious.

“Pride festivals are such important aspects of creating community, and to be completely honest, I think that pride today is more intentional than it was just a few years ago.”

She connects that feeling to the political climate and to a stronger longing for LGBTQ people to be surrounded by community. Pride still brings parties, friends, music, and celebration. Mayari also sees these gatherings as places where people can physically see the size and strength of the community around them.

Mayari also sees the microphone in her hand as a chance to say something.

“These events have always been very political, but what I’ve noticed is that we, as entertainers, have become more vocal about our demands in our society today. I don’t speak for everyone, but I make it a point for myself to always speak up when I have a microphone in my hand.”

That statement says plenty on its own. Mayari is not trying to speak for every performer or every person in the crowd. She has decided what she will do when the platform is hers.

For Aura Mayari Being Seen Is Part of the Performance

The emotional center of Mayari’s approach to drag comes from remembering what it felt like to have nobody to look up to.

“Growing up 20 years ago with no one to look up to, I felt lost and had little hope.”

Her biography identifies her as the “Filipina Moon Goddess” and traces her story from the Philippines to Chicago, then Nashville, and now back living in Chicago. Paramount also foregrounded her Filipina identity when announcing her return for All Stars 11.

“My presence on stage is a way for me to show people that being who they are deserves to be seen and celebrated. As a drag performer, I take with me the unseen and the unheard and amplify that through my performances.”

There is pressure in that responsibility. Mayari knows sharing art means making some part of yourself vulnerable, especially when people in the audience may be searching for the representation she once lacked.

“What I wanted people to take away from seeing my show is that there is hope for everyone and everyone has POWER in their own ways! They just got to pull it from somewhere within them.”

Then she points to the crowd itself.

“I’m sure they all looked around and saw a huge gathering of people in front of, and around the stage. That is power, and cannot be easily taken away especially with a community that supports all of us.”

For more stories about drag, gay culture, and the people shaping LGBTQ life, join the HomoCulture newsletter.

Feel The Aura Turns That Message Into Music

The same idea Mayari wants people to take from her performances now has its own soundtrack.

“Feel The Aura is really a celebration of confidence and identity.”

The single is available through Mayari’s official streaming page. Its message sits close to what she wants people to feel after seeing her perform.

“I wanted to create something that makes people feel powerful when they hear it.”

Onstage, Mayari asks people to find that power inside themselves. Feel The Aura gives them something they can carry away from the show.

Feel The Aura Is Also Proudly Filipina

Confidence is only part of the song’s story. Mayari also built her Filipino heritage into it.

“There are elements of the song that celebrate being a Filipina and that magic that comes from embracing where you come from.”

That choice fits the identity she has carried throughout her drag career. Mayari was born in the Philippines, grew up in Chicago, and describes herself as the “Filipina Moon Goddess.”

It gives the song a more personal center. The power Mayari is talking about comes with culture, memory, and a clear sense of where she comes from.

The Drag Race Talent Number That Refused to Die

Mayari originally created Feel The Aura intending to perform it during the talent portion of All Stars. She did not advance far enough in the competition to use it there, but she decided the track did not have to disappear with that plan.

“I didn’t want the song to end there.”

That decision also opened another door.

“I realized I have so much more I want to say as an artist.”

There is something fitting about a song created for reality television finding its life outside the show. Television introduced Mayari to a much larger audience. A live stage lets her control the experience. Music gives her another way to keep talking after both are over.

Feel The Aura for Yourself

Aura Mayari wants people to leave her performances with a stronger sense that they deserve to be seen and that their own power is already there to be found. Feel The Aura puts that message into music while bringing together her Filipino identity, her life as a performer, and what she wants to say after Drag Race. Stream Feel The Aura, then leave a comment with your thoughts on Aura Mayari, the song, or what live drag gives you that television never can.