Time and time again DCist hears that D.C. is an “uptight” town. We are trying our hardest to alleviate this stereotype, because really, there is a lot of spice in D.C. life. Tonight’s annual High Heel Race in Dupont is an 18-year veteran of spicing up D.C. life.

Yes, that’s right DCers, 18! For 18 long years, the pre-Halloween street party has drawn lifelong drag dressers and one-night wonder women to race, limp and sashay down 17th Street in a multitude of colorful costumes (the winner takes a $100 JR’s bar tab). This year there was some confusion on the permits because no one claimed official ownership of the annual event that started as a spontaneous community invention and continues of its own accord. Permit confusion or not, it appears that the annual event cannot be stopped.

DCist has been in years past (attending again tonight) and recommends getting there well before the 9 p.m. race time to secure a good view and to see the pre-race strutting and fan appreciation. The race concludes in a frenzied mass heading home (ho-hum) or out to keep the party alive. The crowd is exciting, the racers spectacular and hilarious, and the event is now a D.C. institution that proves that D.C. is in fact, not always that uptight of a town.