As the clock counts down to Easter Sunday, one question is on the lips of many San Franciscans: Who will win this year’s Hunky Jesus and Foxy Mary Contest?
For more than 40 years, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a legendary San Francisco order of drag nuns, have invited the community to Easter in the Park, a celebration taking place on Sunday at Dolores Park — with this legendary contest at its heart.
Every year, thousands of Bay Area residents fill up the park to watch the competition, plus performances and family-friendly events earlier in the day.
Many also show up simply to revel in the merriment of getting together with friends surrounded by music and laughter, accompanied by fabulous views of the city.
The Easter in the Park celebration includes an egg hunt for families at 10 a.m. in the northeast section of the park.
But the main event starts at noon, with performances and an Easter Bonnet contest chaired by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’s Sister Roma, drag queen Peaches Christ and political activist and drag performer Honey Mahogany as this year’s emcees.
Finally, at 2:30 p.m., the audience will decide who among the contestants — dressed either as hunky replicas of Jesus or foxy versions of the Virgin Mary — should join the fabled ranks of past winners.
But don’t mistake this for a beauty contest, Sister Roma said.
“Hunky Jesus doesn’t just mean that you get up there, have a gorgeous body, be handsome, stand there and flex,” Sister Roma said.
Last year’s Hunky Jesus title went to San Francisco producer and performer Wild West, who came in riding a life-sized chrome-covered model buffalo while waving a Pride flag, in partial tribute to Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album.
“As the son of a Southern Baptist minister from rural Appalachia,” Wild West told a cheering crowd of thousands, “I wish more people would act Christ-like, act with compassion, love your neighbor, be empathetic and caring.”
“Our audience really loves to see something unexpected,” Sister Roma said. “They love to see someone who’s sticking the knife into current politics, or expressing themselves. Someone who’s fighting for justice — somebody with a real message.”
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence made their first public appearance in San Francisco on Easter Sunday, 1979, offering community to queer and trans individuals and promising a mission to “expiate stigmatic guilt and promulgate universal joy.”
But only a few years later, the HIV/AIDS epidemic was claiming the lives of thousands of gay, trans and other queer individuals across California.
While the Reagan administration stumbled in its response to the health crisis, the Sisters quickly mobilized — distributing one of the first-ever safe-sex pamphlets about HIV, raising funds to help those living with AIDS and serving as caretakers for those who were dying.
But finding joy, even in the most difficult moments, has always been central to the Sisters’ work, Sister Roma said.
In the 1980s, the Sisters began to host an Easter party in San Francisco’s Castro District to thank the community for their support. And according to Sister Roma, the idea for a Hunky Jesus contest came about in a conversation between her fellow sisters.
She remembers everyone in the order quickly got behind the idea. “‘It’s so gay. It’s so queer. It’s just perfect. People will love it,’” recalled Sister Roma. “And boy, they sure did.”
By 1999, their Easter celebration kept getting bigger, so the Sisters applied for a permit to close Castro Street. But some residents pushed back, and this fight even caught the attention of national outlets.
And not only did the Sisters eventually win their fight, but they found that the controversy actually gave their event a huge amount of publicity — resulting in tens of thousands of people showing up to the 1999 Easter celebration, Sister Roma said.
By that point, the Sisters realized it was time to move to Dolores Park.
“One of the reasons that people love this event so much is because they know that it is the epitome of a San Francisco experience,” Sister Roma said. “People who come for the first time quickly learn that this is probably one of most joyous, diverse, exuberant and beautiful expressions of love and joy that you can have.”
San Francisco resident Semra Vignaux, 23, remembers her parents taking her to see the Hunky Jesus and Foxy Mary contests when she was a toddler. “Neither of my parents have a strong affiliation with the religions they were raised in, so it was really nice that we still had something to do on Easter,” she said.
As an adult, Vignaux moved to the East Coast for college and said it was difficult explaining to people she met over there some parts of San Francisco’s culture, including Hunky Jesus. “When you tell people about it, they are like, ‘That’s so sacrilegious,’” she said. “And they don’t realize it’s actually very beautiful.”
The theme of this year’s Easter in the Park is “Love Thy Neighbor,” and the event’s poster features a very toned Jesus — Sacred Heart, crown of thorns and all — with one hand in the air that melts through a wall of ice.
“The message is very clear,” Sister Roma said. “We respect and appreciate all of our neighbors, especially brown people who are currently being victimized, criminalized, attacked and viciously taken off the streets and without due process.”
While the Sisters first gained prominence due to their response to HIV/AIDS, they have become visible allies in other social justice fights in the Bay Area.
These struggles are all connected, Sister Roma said.
“We know that the trans community is being villainized and victimized and potentially eradicated by the current regime … We know that immigrants are our neighbors,” she said.
“We care very much about preserving democracy and human rights.”
What time are the Easter in the Park 2026 events on Sunday?
10 a.m. Children’s Easter begins
10:30 a.m. Children’s Easter egg hunt
(For parents and caregivers: The Sisters said that while “nudity and profanity are prohibited” at Easter in the Park, “the latter portion of the day is more adult-oriented, and the Sisters’ trademark irreverence may be inappropriate for young children.”)
12 p.m. Main stage events begin
1:45 p.m. Easter bonnet contest
2:30 p.m. Foxy Mary contest
3 p.m. Hunky Jesus contest
4 p.m. Festivities conclude
Full line-up information is available on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’s website.
Want to enter the Easter bonnet, Hunky Jesus or Foxy Mary contests?
The contests are open to all ages and genders, the Sisters said, and “When contests are announced from the stage, contestants should line up backstage near the tennis courts, where contestant wranglers will greet them.”
You should expect an “initial screening process,” after which finalists will be brought onstage for the audience to decide the winner.
“Groups are discouraged, and only one person per entry will be allowed onstage for judging,” the Sisters said.
According to 2025 advice from the Sisters, “Well-conceived, clever characterizations or concepts for Foxy Mary and Hunky Jesus always get the best response.”
How to get to Easter in the Park on Sunday
Dolores Park is accessible by the 33 and J Muni lines. The 22 and 48 Muni lines 22 also stop nearby. The 16th Street and Mission BART station is a 15-minute walk from the park. Parking will be extremely limited near Dolores Park on Sunday.
You can also sign up to volunteer at the event.
Accessibility
ADA parking is available on 18th Street. An ADA and ASL program viewing area is provided, along with ASL interpretation. For ADA requests, contact easter@thesisters.org.
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