Oasis, SF’s Iconic Drag Club, Will Close Down at the End of the Year

Oasis, a top destination for drag performances and queer entertainment in San Francisco, will shut its doors for good on Jan. 1, 2026, citing financial strain.

Co-founders D’Arcy Drollinger and Heklina opened Oasis on New Year’s Eve in 2014. In an interview, Drollinger, who is San Francisco’s first Drag Laureate, blamed decreased post-pandemic attendance along with rising insurance and security costs for the closure.

“Right out of the pandemic, we saw a quick surge where we got excited to go back out, but then little by little people got real used to going back to staying at home and ordering DoorDash and watching TV,” said Drollinger. “And then people started drinking less.”

Though the club has diehard supporters, with many of its nights well attended, Drollinger said Oasis’ profit margins are so thin that the venue needs to be at 90% capacity every night to be sustainable.

“When we weren’t making enough money, I had to start dipping into my retirement,” Drollinger said. “And then when that ran out, I’m like, ‘What am I doing?’ Now I’m in a situation where I can’t float it any longer.”

Oasis is the only venue of its size in the country created for and by drag artists. Its stage has hosted high-profile acts such as RuPaul’s Drag Race winners Nymphia Wind and Sasha Colby at its popular Saturday night party, Princess. The nightclub’s competitive events, including the High Princx Pageant and the San Francisco Drag King Contest, provide a proving ground for new talent. Jane Fonda and Cher have both graced Oasis’ stage, and queer celebrities like Lil Nas X have made appearances at the club.

In addition to its club nights, Oasis is a destination for queer theater. A show that Drollinger wrote, directed and starred in, Shit & Champagne, was turned into a feature film. Its current show, a musical parody called Jurrasiq Parq, received a rave review in the San Francisco Chronicle for its “electric wit.”

“I feel like it is a job that I’m going to probably have to be doing the rest of my life, working to show that drag is a viable art form and is not disposable entertainment,” said Drollinger, noting right-wing political attacks on on drag in recent years. “It does matter and is something to be taken seriously.”

“Our show right now has 1,200 cues in it, which is almost twice as many as a Broadway show,” Drollinger added. “There is real art happening.”

Oasis has also provided a platform for advocacy. Over the past decade, the SOMA club gave rise to Reparations, San Francisco’s only all-Black drag revue. Princess host Kochina Rude has used her platform at the club to champion harm reduction and safe drug use, which led to a partnership with the Department of Public Health.

When Heklina, a San Francisco drag icon, died unexpectedly in 2023, Oasis opened its space for the community to mourn.

Oasis plans to continue its programming with its nonprofit, Oasis Arts, at other venues in the Bay Area.

“Necessity is the mother of invention, and that’s got me this far,” said Drollinger. “I am trying very hard to be open to the opportunities that arise. I know this is shaking me, and it’s shaking the community.”