On June 6th Pure Pride hits the Starlite Room with a loaded evening of entertainment that includes Adam Killian, Britney Spears impersonator Derek Berry, and RuPaul's Drag Race Season 6’s Adore Delano. Adore, who previously appeared in Calgary for Pure Pride, is excited to return to Alberta. Although she has spent the last year touring the world, pride events bear an extra level of excitement for the performer.

"It is really neat because there are a lot of families. We see gay couples and their families and older people – just the range of human beings is just so huge. It is not just targeted to the gay audience. It is really neat to see the difference, and seeing parents that are really fucking cool being there. I love pride and seeing people together," she told GayCalgary.com recently.

Adore has frequently appeared with other Drag Race alumni and enjoys both headlining solo and the group appearances. "It is different on your own and holding the show down on your own. It has been really neat to get to know the girls on the road, on a personal and professional level. To see the egos and how they clash; I wish there was a camera back there because it would be amazing. It has been really neat though. I wouldn’t change it for the world. At first I was like I’m never doing this again but then, as it kept going, it is really a neat experience to travel the world, do what you love: play Halloween every day of the week and dress up and inspire people, and have fun."

Although not on the Alberta dates, Delano enjoyed being part of the Battle of the Seasons tour this year. On some dates Darion Lake impersonated Adore during ‘Snatch Game’.

"I thought it was pretty accurate; Darion looked exactly like me and it was gorgeous. I loved it. The BOTS tour was so much fun! Some of them were all ages and it was really amazing – the turnout of young ones and parents and grandparents that were coming to the show. It definitely has a different energy when you are performing for them as well, because the entertainment is different. Kids just see colour; they don’t see gender, just the character. We are put on a platform where people can connect to our personalities and find out who their favourites are. It is an honour for them to say stuff, like I am an influence, to me."

Drama between Adore and Laganja has become part of Drag Race HERstory, including Laganja commenting that Adore "came for her", but she didn’t know what Adore said or did, just that she was hurt.

"It’s the funniest thing ever said on reality television. I was pissed at the time, but I think its funny along with everyone else. Watching it as a fan and viewer – it was hilarious."

It is a long process from filming to the finale. At the time of the interview, the current season’s winner has not been announced. As one of the top 3, Adore said that waiting so long to find out the winner was awful.

"It was horrible! The wait was like six months for it to even start to air, then waiting four months for the finale is crazy. You wait almost the whole year. It was definitely tense in that room, but we all knew Bianca was going to win. I was so happy for her; it was really well deserved. It was such an intense situation for myself," she said, before discussing the current season. "I am caught up pretty much. I missed a couple of episodes but I bought it on iTunes. I like Violet personally. As a person she is really cool and has a neat energy about her. I like Ginger’s story; I have seen some of her interviews and gotten to talk to her a lot during Battle of the Seasons, and she is a lovely person. I think Violet... I don’t know though! This is the first season that I am not 100 per cent attached to a favourite. I am not sure who will win. I can’t answer that... Violet, probably."

Season 7 queens are already on the road, even those that have been eliminated.

"Everyone knows – once the fifth episode is airing – that is when you start making your coin and travelling. The real journey happens when the show’s ending because that is when you figure out who you are as a real artist. You start soul searching and think of the next thing you are going to do. I always knew that I wanted to do an album, so it worked out perfectly. It is hard work – a lot of money and hard work and time – but it has happened." Despite being the youngest top 3 performer Adore has kept her head on straight, in part, due to her family.

"My mom always said the way you act reflects on the way that I raised you. I can talk about a bunch of things but I always treat people with respect and am responsible and punctual. It happens in the drag world that people get money for the first time, and don’t know how to act, or they get lost. I am close to my immediate family and my mom is very hands-on with who I am as a person. She never lets me forget what my character is and [if] I am straying too far from my roots. I know where I’ve come from, so it’s not something that I really tried to do, given an opportunity, I have a mom that would kick my ass so that is probably where it comes from! This whole year I have done Europe, Australia and Brazil just one after the other. I can’t believe I am traveling like that. It is surreal and very humbling. I don’t take it for granted. I am the youngest top three but I don’t get pressure from my age; more pressure at the beginning was from how am I going to carry on this journey as top three. I’m going to be myself, what I am most comfortable with, and whatever comes naturally to the character of Adore. It is working out ok. Some people get it, some people won’t, and that’s ok."

Delano laughed when asked how Drag Race compared to competing on the seventh season of American Idol in 2008.

"I was doing drag when I was 14, but I stopped it for American Idol. Then I started again and got on Drag Race. Idol didn;t prepare me for Drag Race at all. It made me more comfortable in front of a camera, but it is two separate worlds on totally different sides of the spectrum. One is a conservative station that prevents you from anything you want to say, and the other you can feel free to put yourself out there. One is liberating and one is like jail."

Adore is looking forward to meeting fans with VIP tickets at Pure Pride and performing her original songs on stage for Edmonton.

"It is cool. I talk to a lot of fans on Twitter and Instagram and it’s great to meet them in person. Even from my American Idol days I can still recognize someone – I am really good with faces. I am really grateful to have the opportunity to get a little personal with them; it means a lot to them, and it means a lot to me that it means a lot to them. Before I was covering a lot of songs; it’s all original music now, and I am working on my second album, so I have a lot of material to play around with. I love covering songs, but I always need to put together my own shit. I am a Libra and bi-polar so expect the unexpected: get a little drink into me and I turn into Courtney Love on stage. Everyone calls me a cat with rabies onstage."