New London LGBTQ+ bar and arts space to open in much-needed boost for capital’s queer scene
Coven – a brand new queer club and arts venue – will open in Hackney Wick on 19 June. (Flashpop/Getty Images)
Coven – a brand new queer club and arts venue – will open in Hackney Wick on 19 June. (Flashpop/Getty Images)
A new LGBTQ+ bar and arts space is set to open in East London, in a much-needed boost for the capital’s queer scene.
Coven will open its doors in Hackney Wick on 19 June, with live music and DJ sets.
The venue promises to be a “first-of-its kind in Hackney Wick”, offering a “queer-run, genre-fluid nightclub and performance haunts for heretics, hotties and the hexed”.
The first night, called Solstice, will start at 7pm and run until midnight, with live music and sets from Bestley, Zach Witness and Sissy Fit.
‘Expect chaos’
“This is a prelude to the summer solstice: a ritual of light, sweat and queer witchery to summon the season,” a spokesperson said. “Expect chaos, communion and bass lines that shake the altar. Come dance, hex and howl. The spell begins here.”
Coven’s opening comes against the backdrop of a gradual decline in queer venues in the capital . Figures from the Greater London Authority show more than half of the city’s LGBTQ venues closed between 2006 and 2022, with numbers falling from 125 to 50.
A number of venues cited the cost-of-living crisis and the rising cost of rent for the closures, the BBC reported.
However, LGBTQ+ spaces are now beginning to return. Last year, lesbian bar La Camionera officially opened its doors as a permanent venue in Hackney. A bar-goer told PinkNews: “To have a permanent venue where you can come with your friends, that isn’t a club, is very exciting.”
Camden’s famous Black Cap is also set to reopen, more than 10 years after owners Faucet Inn brought down the shutters. There have been some delays after renovators found structural problems and the pub isn’t expected to start trading until the summer “at the earliest”.
Among the stars whose careers were built there were Paul O’Grady’s much-loved Lily Savage, drag act Hinge and Bracket, and a number of RuPaul’s Drag Race favourites, including Bianca del Rio, Adore Delano, BenDeLaCreme and Trixie Mattel.
Tickets for Solstice can be bought here.
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