Oaklash Returns With an Epic Block Party, Drag on Skates and Wellness Workshops

Amid attacks on trans rights and defunding of the arts, it feels like the queer community needs to come together, blow off steam and bolster its resolve more than ever. Enter Oaklash, a homegrown, grassroots drag extravaganza that takes over Oakland this weekend, May 16–18.

The event kicks off with ApocaLipstick Friday night at the White Horse, a queer bar going strong since 1933. Oaklash resident artist Obsidienne Obsurd — who is a classical violinist as well as an experimental, surrealist drag performer — will headline with a preview of their upcoming show, The Last 7 Days of Obsidienne Obsurd. Performing alongside Obsidienne are Super Bloom, OMN, Miss Bea Haven & Poppa Bubbles, ViVi S Fierce and Piss E Sissy.

The centerpiece of Oaklash will be an outdoor day party on May 17, with 60 performers, 40 vendors and seven DJs taking over four blocks of Old Oakland. Performers include RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 11 winner Yvie Oddly, who’s known for gravity-defying dance moves and iridescent fashions; Nicki Jizz, host of San Francisco’s popular all-Black drag show Reparations; disco queen Bebe Sweetbriar; prolific drag king Mudd the Two Spirit; and Glamputee, a performer and disability justice advocate who recently led the twice-sold-out theater performance Glamputee’s LEG-acy Ball.

An afterparty at nearby nightclub Fluid510, The Lash Down, follows the main event. And on Sunday, drag artists and fans can decompress at DeFremery Park at the Panther Skate Plaza Kick Back. Not only will there be drag on roller skates, but fitness studio Radically Fit will also offer two classes: Queer Calisthenics and Twerklates, plus free acupuncture and massage from Freedom Community Clinic, an Oakland organization bringing traditional medicine to the people.

For diehard drag fans and those new to the scene alike, Oaklash is an ideal destination to appreciate the Bay Area’s multifaceted abundance of gender-bending expression.

Oaklash goes down May 16–18. Full lineup and tickets here.