Back when Bea and I decided that the Bay Area needed a drag festival, we genuinely had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We had thrown parties before, so we knew we would figure it out along the way. But damn. This party got way bigger than we ever could have imagined.
Drag, in many ways, is an unglamorous art form. It’s unwashed tights and ratted wigs. It’s lugging a giant suitcase through the storage closet of a dive bar just for a 30 second gimmick. It’s inhaling the toxic fumes of E6000 glue for hours on end so that there’s a little bit of extra sparkle when the light hits you in exactly the right way.
Throwing a drag festival is no different. It’s taxes and contracts. It’s six months of jumping through the hoops of city bureaucracy just so you and your friends can get drunk on the street for a few hours. It’s sending rejection emails and cutting budgets so that we can make sure we’re actually able to do this year after year. It sucks sometimes. It’s a lot of work. But in just a few weeks, it will all be worth it.
I think the best decision I made year one was to hire an event manager for the festival. Someone who knows the party inside and out so they can keep things running and make hard decisions while Bea and I run around acting like idiots.
Year one it was my friend Emily Odenberg, who literally built the stage we ordered because we couldn’t afford pay to have the rental company do it. 💪
Then it was my drag daughter Dusty Darling who was never afraid to tell someone that no, we didn’t have time put them on stage if they showed up after the show was already over. 🤦🏻♀️
Bay Area’s #1 drag fan Laraine Gurke got us through the pandemic and helped us figure out how to throw the massive scale block party of our dreams while always keeping the party vibes going from 8am during set up to 8am at the afterparty the next day. 🤪
This year, my right hands man is Hands (do you see what I did there?). I met Hands working at CounterPulse, where they had the job I have now as the Program Director. Hands schemed to make me their drag parent since the day I interviewed there, I have since learned. And I told them if they’re going to be my drag kid, I was gonna put them to work. They’re an admin wizard and a somatic superhero. They’re also one of the best performers in the Bay right now, and it’s been our little secret that they’re also a powerhouse event producer. But the secret is out!!!
So, have fun, Hands! Because on the day of the festival, after six long months of zoom meetings and emails and spreadsheets and shaking hands with all the right people, I will be watching a sickening drag show, taking selfies with strangers, and hanging out backstage with some of the coolest performers from across the country.
See you there? 🍾
16 MORE DAYS TILL OAKLASH!!!
The 2024 Oaklash Festival of Drag and Queer Performance is Friday May 17 - Sunday May 19th and will feature over 100 performers, DJs, artists, vendors, and more in a weekend full of queer and trans bullshit!