This is just the beginning 🌱
by Mama Celeste
Those of us who love Drag know that what draws us in is so much more than just a three minute lip sync performance on a poorly lit stage. Drag is the people who remind us that beauty exists beyond a binary; it’s the spaces where we are free to safely express ourselves however we feel that night; it’s the drama and the gossip and the shade just as much as it is the community who shows up when shit in the “real” world gets a little too real.
Oaklash has been bringing this energy from the nightclub out onto the streets since 2018 – elevating underground culture into the public eye so that our queer and trans bodies can no longer be ignored. Over 5000 people came out for our annual block party this year, making it our biggest event to date, and this feels like only the beginning. As we look towards next year’s festival, we continue to dream of bigger stages, better production value (did you like that jumbotron this year?), and expanding the list of over 600 queer and trans performers who have graced our stages since we began.
Now over six years later, we’re bringing the large scale productions you’ve come to expect from us onto even grander stages in the world of performance. Our commissioned performance of Rebirth with Hollow Eve and the House of Rude this year was just the beginning of a new series of programs where we will be working directly with queer and trans artists to take their vision to the highest heights – in 2025, we will be in residency with amazing Drag artists Glamputee, OBSIDIENNE OBSURD, and Evian to help produce large scale versions of their work. You’re gonna want to stay tuned to our newsletter for more information about that starting in the new year »
We have learned so much about how to bring community together in ways that are safe and accessible and we don’t see any value in gatekeeping those skills – it’s all of us or none of us, and we want to be a resource to help uplift the vision of the individuals who are going to continue to lead us forward – both the artists who are creating these bold utopias and the cultural workers who are bringing them to life. That’s why I think the Oaklash Skills for Nightlife Accelerator Program (O-SNAP!) is the future of all the work we’re doing – because we want to be in a community of people who can easily continue our mission beyond us. It has been so amazing to see the events and community spaces that our O-SNAP! alumni have already gone on to create here in the Bay Area.
And the best part of being a working Drag artist in this place and time is it’s not just us who are dreaming in this way – there are countless artists in the Bay Area who are pushing Drag to the next level, merging the worlds of dance, theater, visual art, and music with this queer traditional art form, and doing the work to make shit happen. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Drag is the quintessential queer art form, and I am so proud to be in community with so many other artists who are dreaming and aspiring to build a beautiful queer future. In a time when it feels like the world is focused on just building power for a few, we want you to join us in the work of creating a better ecosystem for us all.
Xx
Oaklash’s 2023 Impact by the Numbers
In 2024, Oaklash raised $181,427 to support queer and trans art in the Bay Area.
Of the money we raised, $61,233 went directly into the hands of 156 artists & performers.
Our curatorial committee members (who are also the hosts of our block party) ensured that the lineup of performers at our events was representative of the diversity of Bay Area nightlife. Of the 72 performers featured at our annual festival:
72% were People of Color
83% were from the Bay Area
63% was their first time performing at Oaklash
28% identify as a person living with a disability
Between our annual festival, our Oakland Pride weekend block party WE RUN THIS!!!, the drag stage we hosted with The STUD at the Folsom Street Fair, and commissioned events such as our performances at the Cal Academy of Science, over 16,000 people came to see our shows in 2025.
Of the 31 people who filled out our feedback survey at this year’s festival
90% gave our event 4 or 5 out of 5 stars
48% said they made a new personal or professional connection
48% was their first time coming to an Oaklash event
We love getting your feedback so we can improve our events year after year. But we’re drag performers and we’re vein so we also love when you gas us up!!! Like this anonymous admirer who told us:
“i’ve never felt more surrounded by ‘my people’ in my entire life, was truly magical and the crowd was so open to connecting”
This year we expanded our programs year round with:
Commissioned performances such as Hollow Eve and the House of Rude’s immersive show Rebirth at the Omni Commons, celebrating the life and death of their late drag mother Phatima Rude on the three year anniversary of her passing.
The Oaklash Disability Fund which distributed $5000 in critical support to 5 Bay Area queer and trans artists of color
The Oaklash Skills for Nightlife Accelerator Program (O-SNAP!) which provided $1250 in grants as well as mentorship and skill sharing for 5 emerging leaders and event producers.
And our first fiscally sponsored program The BAD Fund which redistributed $5,200 directly into the hands of 21 queer and trans artists in the Bay Area who lost or turned down gigs in solidarity with political issues including the Palestinian genocide. The BAD Fund also donated $1,973 directly in support toward providing eSIMs for people in Gaza.
In 2025, we want to keep bringing you more Oaklash all year round with programs that are diverse, accessible, and promote cultural and racial equity in the world of Bay Area nightlife but we need your support! →→→
That’s right! It’s almost the end of the year! Donate now! Add a few zeros on there! Your tax return will thank you!
Thanks for keeping queer art alive in the Bay Area & save the date for the next Oaklash Festival Friday May 16 - Sunday May 18th, 2025 live in Oakland, California!