WHAT THE FUCK IS OAKLASH?

Oaklash is a weekend-long festival of drag and other queer performance that takes place annually in Oakland, California.

Founded by Beatrix LaHaine and Mama Celeste in 2018, the first Oaklash festival featured over 50 performers from Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose and has now doubled in size to include 100 performers from the Bay Area and beyond.

Oaklash is dedicated to building new and ever-expanding stages to showcase & elevate bay area queer talent. Our event aims to create a safe and welcoming environment that not only accepts but celebrates members of the queer community, especially queer and trans people of color. Our stage was created to showcase performances that are boundary pushing, provocative, and unique to the sensibility of the Bay Area, especially staying true to the history of Oakland as a home to creative renaissance rooted in diversity. We hope that by amplifying and supporting the queer art community in the Bay Area, we can emphasize the need for investment in the arts in the face of gentrification, growing economic disparities, and the Bay Area housing crisis.