Catch newbies strutting their stuff at Try Some Thing at 10pm(ish), give all your dollars to the queens in the 11pm(ish) show, and stay late for the after-hours dancing. It’s a great mix of traditional drag and experimental performance art curated by VivvyAnne ForeverMORE. If you’re looking for more of an arty edge, then check out The Stud’s weekly Friday night show, Club Some Thing. The stage is perfect for big production numbers with video, choreography, and reveal after reveal! Oasis also creates its own shows and, in 2015, Drollinger helmed drag parodies of Star Trek, Sex and the City and Facts of Life, as well as staging 70s exploitation-inspired comedies about exotic dancer Champagne White. The newest cabaret and club space, Oasis is co-owned by SF drag legends Heklina and D’Arcy Drollinger, and hosts a plethora of dragtastic events, including solo-performer shows, storytelling, pageants, parties and, of course, Heklina’s weekly Saturday night show, Mother (formerly Trannyshack). But there are a few performers and events that you need to experience in your trip to the “Gay Mecca”.
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San Francisco is exploding with drag amazingness! You can find a show any night of the week. Photograph: Gareth Goochīy drag performer LOL McFiercen, co-hostess of Lilith Bear New on the block … the recently opened Oasis cabaret club. In fact, you can find a strong queer presence throughout the city, it’s just a case of knowing where to look.
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Among them are the literary-inclined RADAR Productions, CounterPulse, a theatre, gallery and community centre, the SF Queer Open Mic, the community-focused arts organisation Galería De La Raza, SOMArts and the Center for Sex and Culture.
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And, despite San Francisco’s rapid transformation during the recent tech boom, many gay and gay-friendly institutions are keeping queer creativity alive in SF. However, the Castro is not the only place you’ll find LGBT people congregating: the South of Market (SoMa) neighbourhood in particular has long been a stronghold for the leather and bear communities. Today, the Castro has a flourishing bar and nightlife scene and plenty to offer in the art and history departments, too, such as the GLBT History Museum and Castro Theatre, which hosts the annual LGBTQ film festival, special screening events, and drag-inspired parodies of classic and cult films.