The seven summers I spent braiding my friends’ hair and failing at water sports at sleepaway camp were the best of my life. But I would trade every minute I spent slaving over weird glittery creations in the arts and crafts barn for a weekend at Camp John Waters.
For three days in September, John Waters — iconic director, Pope of Trash — is taking over a Connecticut summer camp to present his own “all-inclusive campy getaway,” reports Time Out.
There will be: Hairspray karaoke. “Bloody Mary Bingo.” A John Waters lookalike contest. Burlesque lessons. A John Waters film marathon. A slip ‘n’ slide. And, crowning glory, a one-man show by Waters himself. Waters will also give a reading from his new book, Make Trouble. A signed copy of the book will be gifted to each departing happy camper, before they reemerge into cold-hard reality after three days with a man nicknamed the Prince of Puke.
“Relive your filthy childhood while participating alongside other trashy campers,” reads the camp’s website, which also lists routine camp offerings like sailing, rock climbing, and archery. But literally who wants to go canoeing when you could go slip ‘n’ sliding with John Waters?
The camp will host 300 fans in (two-, three- and four-person cabins) from September 22 to 24, and enrollment is open now. “Last one in’s a rotten egg,” reads the camp’s poster, on which a mischievous cartoon Waters appears in what is potentially his spirit outfit: camp counselor greens and jaunty red neckerchief.
Credits
Text Alice Newell-Hanson
Photography Alasdair McLellan
[The 35th Birthday Issue]