- A British family with two young sons unexpectedly booked themselves on to Virgin Atlantic’s “Pride Flight.”
- The flight, from London to New York, was organized to celebrate World Pride 2019 and mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.
- It featured drag queens, celebrity performances, singing and dancing, and plenty of glitter.
- The Powell family fully embraced the party atmosphere.
- Visit INSIDER’s homepage for more stories.
A family of four accidentally ended up on Virgin Atlantic’s “Pride Flight” which featured drag queens, celebrity performances, singing and dancing, and plenty of glitter.
But the Powell family – Kelly and Sean, and their young sons Calum and Cody – fully embraced it, despite not meaning to book onto the flight.
The special plane journey, which took place on June 28, had been organized to celebrate World Pride 2019 and mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.
And this flight, travelling from London to New York, was certainly unlike any other the British family had experienced.
On board the plane, tickets for which had sold out in 24 hours, there was a host of glamorous drag queens, an entirely LGBTQ+ cabin crew, performances from musical stars, interseat dating, glitter a plenty, and six hours of all-round pride extravagance.
Read more: Massive crowds flooded New York City to cap off a month of Pride celebrations around the world
Celebrity entertainers included actor Titus Burgess (best known for his role in "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"), DJ Jodie Harsh, drag queen Courtney Act, Grammy-winning singer songwriter MNEK, model and activist Munroe Bergdorf, and more.
Burgess said: "Let me be perfectly queer - the Virgin Pride Flight was an event to remember. Singing some of my favourite songs half-way across the Atlantic to 300 LGBTQ+ passengers is a true honor, and I'm certainly looking forward to showing off the best of New York City over the coming days."
Tree Sequoia, an 80-year-old Stonewall veteran, was also on board.
Named VS69 in honor of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, it certainly wasn't a flight for anyone looking to snooze their way across the Atlantic.
Fortunately, the Powell family, from Basildon, Essex, UK were up for getting stuck in.
Kerry and husband Sean had booked the flight back in September 2018 and weren't told it would be the Pride Flight until further down the line.
When it was announced, the family was given the opportunity to change to another flight, but the alternative timings weren't convenient, so they decided to stick with the celebratory journey.
And it turns out they all had a blast, with four-year-old Calum and one-year-old Cody seeming particularly to love all the celebrations - in the video below, they can be seen bouncing out of their seats to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way."
https://twitter.com/AttitudeMag/status/1144937243393613824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
"Kerry told INSIDER that the flight was "brilliant" from "start to finish."
"Kept the kids entertained," she said. "They loved the drag queens as they chatted lots to them."
She added that "the goody bags were amazing" as well."
Indeed, the family left the flight with a selection of goodies including a DKNY watch, a bottle of Lanson champagne, and an Alyssa Edwards makeup palette.
"Well this goody bag is alright ain't it," Kerry wrote alongside some images shared to Facebook.