Minneapolis has a fitness scene that doesn't always make the headlines, and Drop Deadlift Gorgeous is a good example of it. Organized by Solcana Fitness, the event lands on Saturday, October 24, at The Hook & Ladder Theater, and it's not your usual gym meet. It's a charity deadlift that mixes powerlifting with performance art and drag, and it's built around display and confidence rather than competition. There are no CrossFit, powerlifting, or Olympic weightlifting categories here; it's genderless and open to everyone, from first-timers to people pulling 600-plus pounds, and a lot of them show up in elaborate costumes.
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The numbers behind it are a big part of the story. The event is free and open to the community, with a fundraising goal of $100,000 for trans+ and gender-expansive organizations, with donations going to the PFund Foundation's TRANSCEND Fund. Over the past four years, DDG has directed more than $350,000 toward trans+ community care and helped sustain 40 organizations across five states. In 2025, over half the lifters were new to lifting events, and more than a third identified as trans+ or nonbinary. The event picked up a Moxie Award and a Quorum Young Professionals Award that same year.
On the day, more than 100 lifters take turns at the bar, and the lifting happens on the covered patio. Doors open at 8:00 a.m., and the main action runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., so it's an all-ages affair you can drop into. Local drag legend Dick Von Dyke emcees, and King Molasses, a star of the King of Drag series, performs at halftime. Around the lifting, there's fresh DDG merchandise, themed flash art from Jackalope Tattoo, coffee, drinks, snacks from food trucks, and a sensory space curated by Fraser. The afterparty, titled "2 Dykes Walk Into a Bar," carries over to The Black Hart in Saint Paul, with doors at 8:00 p.m., the show at 8:30, and $10 at the door.
It's worth knowing who's behind it. Solcana Fitness was started in 2014 by Hannah Wydeven, a former teacher and college athlete, and it's built for BIPOC, LGBTQ, larger-bodied, older, and differently abled lifters. The gym runs CrossFit-esque classes, affinity programs like Trans Strength and Big Body Fitness, personal training, and Acro-Yoga, with most classes capped at 10 to 15 people and trauma-informed trainers who focus on growth and confidence rather than weight loss. It recently hit a membership cap of around 340 members.
As for the emcee, Dick Von Dyke is a Twin Cities drag king, trumpeter, and host of the Dick Von Dyke Show at The Black Hart, known for a Dylan-style coiffure. He grew up in St. Louis, found drag at the University of Kansas, and competed in the first national drag king competition, King of Drag, which premiered on the Revry platform in June 2026. King Molasses joins in from DC. The venue, The Hook & Ladder Theater, sits in the historic Firehouse #21 and runs three stages: The Theater, The Zen Arcade, and Under The Canopy. If you want to lift, watch, or just support the cause, it's a Saturday morning that doesn't look like any other gym event in town.
Published Date
21 October 2026
