It’s unbelievable that for decades, the Bay Area did not have its own signature drag festival.
Really, queen?
It seems like a given that a region known for pushing the boundaries of the art form would host an event celebrating the performers who make drag the exciting, diverse mix it is in the Bay Area. From the iconic Finocchio’s club in North Beach, which began in the 1930s, to the ’70s performance troupethe Cockettesand the scene at the Stud Bar’s T-Shack in the 1990s and 2000s, local drag history is glorious. Long-established drag groups like the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Imperial Court, as well as drag venues like the South of Market cabaret and nightclub Oasis, offer further proof that San Francisco and its surrounding cities regard drag with a certain amount of civic esteem.
在著名的美国节日,拖新哟rk has had Wigstock in years past (which it briefly tried to franchise into San Francisco in 1996), and RuPaul’s DragCon has established its presence in that East Coast city as well as Los Angeles. It wasn’t until 2018, though, that drag performers Mama Celeste and Beatrix LaHaine founded Oakland’sOaklash, which returns live and in person for the first time since 2019 on Monday, May 23, after two years of being hosted virtually.
“It’s something people have talked about for years, the need for a drag festival in the Bay Area,” said drag queenD’Arcy Drollinger, owner of Oasis and a returning sponsor of Oaklash. “They actually went out and did the work. I love Oaklash because it really celebrates more of the freaky, fabulous Bay Area drag art.
“Our drag is not always as polished as some queens on the national stage, but it’s incredibly unique.”
Oaklash prides itself on expanding definitions of drag beyond archaic conventions of gender impersonation or pageant-pretty looks. It’s a festival that includes drag performers of all kinds, including drag queens, cisgender female queens and trans and nonbinary performers.
“A lot of performers have actually moved beyond the idea of binary in how they identify,” said Mama Celeste, Oaklash’s president and host of the Oakland skate event Rollin’ With the Homos. “Drag is the overarching gender mockery of the whole event. But we’re also bringing in a lot of other types of queer performers, burlesque performers, dancers, musicians. There’s going to be a broader spectrum of queer performance.”
Since launching in 2018, Oaklash’s creators have worked to strike a delicate balance between celebrating the alternative, sometimes chaotic ethos of Bay Area drag while also running it as a professional arts organization, complete with a board of directors and 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.
几乎同时,发现接受udiences and scores of performers who submitted applications. During its first two years, the event was held at the Classic Cars West dealership in Uptown Oakland. It included acts like Black Bussy, who wore a mask in the shape of a horse and drenched themself in fake blood onstage, and Intensive Claire, who did an ironic fast-food takeout-themed lip-sync of Melissa Etheridge’s hit song “Come to My Window.”
“I love as an established artist when new things crop up that keep the culture alive,” saidFauxnique, a veteran San Francisco queen who performed at the festival in 2019. “It feels inclusive, smart, fun, silly. It took its work seriously but didn’t take itself seriously.”
Now, in its fifth edition, the event has established its place in the drag community. More than 300 performers applied to be part of this year’s Oaklash lineup, and Mama Celeste estimates as many as 3,000 people couldattend the festival’s all-day block party on Saturday, May 28, in downtown Oakland.
This year’s headliners, performing throughout the week, are musical artist Ah-mer-ah-su from Los Angeles; Montreal drag king and “Call Me Mother” season one contestant Hercusleaze; “Dragula” season two contestant and former Bay Area queen Erika Klash; “Legendary” season one winner Calypso Jetè Balmain; and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 14 contestant Deja Skye from Fresno.
“We’ve totally faked it till we made it,” Mama Celeste quipped. “We didn’t know what we were doing. We didn’t know how to throw a festival or start a nonprofit or any of these things.”
Yet Oaklash has persisted.
This year’s festival will take place both online atwww.oaklash.comand at several venues including CounterPulse in San Francisco as well as the White Horse bar and the New Parkway theater in Oakland. Programming is slated to include panels like “Indigenous Voices: Drag as Medicine, Drag as Ceremony,” hosted by Enbeguiling with Landa Lakes and Papi Churro; and the workshop “Commedia dell’Arte and the Art of Improv in Drag,” which will look at the Italian theater style and its parallels with drag; plus afilm festival featuring work by nine queer filmmakers.
And organizers say this year’s weeklong expansion is just the start of working toward a bigger presence in the Bay Area.
Aided by grants from the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the City of Oakland’s Cultural Funding Program and the California Arts Council, among others, Oaklash intends to continue programming year-round.
“I think quarantine really helped us realize that there’s a lot more to be discussed about drag and nightlife,” said LaHaine, Oaklash’s vice president. “I feel we have a duty to the community that Oaklash reflect on what’s going on in the world right now and what needs to be heard and expanded.”
To that end, Oaklash board member Vera Hannush said that Oaklash 2022 plans to feature a majority of performers who identify as Black, Indigenous and other people of color.
“I think we operate well for being such a young organization,” said Hannush, a drag king who, like Mama Celeste and LaHaine, has performed at every Oaklash to date. “But the next step in our mission would be making ourselves a resource for the community full time. There are so many obstacles for queer, trans, BIPOC performers being able to really produce their art and live in the city. We want to uplift them.”
Future plans for year-round programming include workshops on managing finances and applying for project funding, makeup and costuming classes, and panels that bring together drag performers from across generations.
但资金这些新产品将比n grants, Hannush and Mama Celeste said, so they are counting on revenue from the festival itself — a tricky proposition for an event that does not charge admission.
Along with sales of Oaklash-themed merchandise, they will be seeking donations from attendees.
Mama Celeste isn’t worried: “Drag performers are really good at harassing crowds for money.”
Oaklash 2022
When:Monday, May 23, to May 29
What:The fifth installment of the Bay Area drag festival featuring performances, panels, screenings and an all-day block party.
Where:CounterPulse, 80 Turk St., S.F.; New Parkway, 474 24th St., Oakland: The White Horse, 6551 Telegraph Ave., Oakland; Ninth Street and Broadway, Oakland; The New Parish, 1743 San Pablo Ave. Oakland; Oakland Township Commons, 288 Ninth Ave., Oakland. Live streams also available viawww.oaklash.com.
Opening program:“Indigenous Voices: Drag as Medicine, Drag as Ceremony,” hosted by Enbeguiling, featuring Landa Lakes and Papi Churro. 6-7 p.m. Monday, May 23. Live stream atwww.oaklash.com.
Oaklash Film Festival:Movie screenings, plus a live performance by Holly Graphic. 7-8 p.m. Friday, May 27. $12-$15. New Parkway, 474 24th St., Oakland.
Centerpiece:Oaklash Block Party. 1-8 p.m. Saturday, May 28. Ninth Street and Broadway, Oakland.
Closing Day:Rollin’ With the Homos x It’s a Lovely Day, hosted by the House of Cakes. Noon-8 p.m. Sunday, May 29. Oakland Township Commons, 288 Ninth Ave., Oakland.
Admissions:All events are free except the Oaklash Film Festival ($12-15). Donations encouraged.
More information atwww.oaklash.com.
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