Heklina’s Memorial She Would Have Hated Set For May 23rd In The Castro

Though to be honest, who DOESN’T hate the idea of having a memorial for a 55 year old beloved drag performer who still had so much to give? Still, HEKLINA, the iconic and legendary San Francisco punk drag superstar deserves to be honored with the biggest shindig possible. And, her San Francisco is giving her a sendoff that promises to shut down the Castro neighborhood, if not the city on Tuesday, May 23rd.

Heklina suddenly and shockingly passed away on April 3rd while in London to do a tour of shows with good friend and fellow San Francisco legend, Peaches Christ and fans of the Icelandic born diva immediately went into mourning. Plans quickly began for a memorial service set to take place in the Castro Theater in the heart of the city’s LGBTQ neighborhood but after the memorial at the 1400 seat venue sold out in minutes, planners quickly realized they needed to come up with a plan so more people could celebrate the life of Heklina.

The organizers of the memorial, including Peaches Christ, LGBTQ advocate and community leader Sister Roma and other close friends began talking to city officials to get permissions to close down Castro Street in front of the theater, to allow a larger outside gathering to occur simultaneously with the indoor service. With the help of city leaders, those perms got ok’d but…at a cost. It costs money to stage outdoor events so organizers created a GoFundMe to help pay for the event. As of this writing, they’re close to reaching their goal of $25k and if you’d like to help out, go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/heklina-a-memorial-she-would-have-hated-this

AND, happily, the memorial will be live streamed for EVERYONE to view via Oasis TV at https://www.sfoasis.com/watch-oasis-presents . The Oasis was the bar co-created and owned by Heklina and D’arcy Drollinger. Heklina sold her interest in the popular night club just prior to the Covid-19 epidemic and relocated to her first home in Palm Springs, California but regularly returned to San Francisco for performances.

More info on the event:

Castro Street will be closed between Market and 18th and the indoor memorial will be live-streamed for the public on screens in front of the theater.

In lieu of charging any admission and to cover the expenses of producing an event of this magnitude, we are humbly asking for donations. Miss the chance to donate and risk being haunted by Heklina forever.

Schedule of events:

• Noon: Castro Street closed between Market and 18th
• 5pm: Entry to Castro Street Stage area begins
• 6-8pm: Castro Street Stage hosted by LOL McFiercen and Dulce De Leche
• 7pm: Entry into Castro Theater begins *ticket reservation required – tickets are sold out*
• 8-10:30pm: Indoor Memorial *simultaneously live-streamed on Castro Street*