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7h ago

Iconic San Francisco Drag Venue Oasis to Shut Down Jan. 1, 2026

Rising costs drove owner subsidies to exhaustion, prompting the club’s team to transition programming to the Oasis Arts nonprofit.

Lisa Frankenstein delivers for “Meals on Heels.”
Simo´n Malvaez, left, Senator Scott Wiener, D’Arcy Drollinger, then-Mayor London Breed, Supervisor Matt Dorsey and Roberto Ordenana cut the ribbon in front of the completed mural “Showtime” at Oasis on June 2, 2022.
The bar at Oasis nightclub in San Francisco.
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Overview

  • Owner D’Arcy Drollinger, San Francisco’s first Drag Laureate, confirmed Oasis will end operations on Jan. 1, 2026, with final shows running through New Year’s Eve.
  • Post-pandemic audience declines and surging expenses for insurance, security and rent forced months of financial losses, depleting Drollinger’s personal retirement funds.
  • Earlier in 2025, programming moved under the Oasis Arts nonprofit and a May telethon raised $50,000 toward a $400,000 goal, but key grant applications were denied.
  • Since its New Year’s Eve 2014 debut, Oasis has hosted celebrities like Jane Fonda, Cher and RuPaul’s Drag Race stars while serving as a cultural touchstone for the LGBTQ+ community.
  • After the club closes, Oasis Arts will continue producing queer cabaret and storytelling across multiple Bay Area venues, ending reliance on a single physical space.