Rebel Bingo In London
Wednesday 21 March 2018
The idea of visiting or renting out a bingo hall in any modern city might sound a little bit strange. If you have the perception that bingo is a game played primarily in retirement homes or on cruise ships, you’re probably not alone; that, for years, was the reputation.
Over the course of the last five or 10 years however, bingo culture has shifted a little bit. It’s become fairly popular at online gaming platforms, and it’s even made for some trendy clubs in the UK and around Europe. As one article put it, it’s a game making a comeback.
As you might expect, that means a club has appeared in London, and it was viewed as something of an alternative to a night out at a club. To be clear, Rebel Bingo wasn’t a permanent establishment opened in the city, but something of a roving bingo show that passed through Camden in 2016 (and may return in the future – you can stay updated via the company’s mailing list, if you like).
Despite its roving nature, Rebel Bingo was featured on a list of the best bingo halls in the UK, and that list described well what made it so different. With music, dancers, glitter cannons, and prizes outside the ordinary, it was a bingo experience unlike any other in the region – and certainly a far cry from the aforementioned retirement home and cruise ship scene. The same article framed it as “bingo reinvented for the hipster generation,” which may in fact be the best way to look at it. It made bingo seem cool and trendy, and did so as a sort of pop-up show rather than as a permanent venue. And as a result it seems there’s likely a strong future for Rebel Bingo touring the UK, and hopefully returning to London in the near future.
When Rebel Bingo came to London it was on Leake Street between the London Eye and Waterloo Station, which made it a more natural attraction to begin with. For now, the establishment isn’t necessarily the sort that carries to rentals, but it does speak to the potential of bingo for a group outing, party, or even corporate event. Here’s hoping it makes its way back to the capital in due time, or that it inspires similarly high-energy bingo clubs to open up in big cities around the UK. It’s certainly a nice alternative to most of the more traditional nights out on the town.