The best nightclubs in Canberra

Join the conversation
26
Zoo Bar will open its rooftop venue, the Mile High Club, this Friday and Saturday night.

Mile High Club at Zoo Bar is one of Canberra’s most recommended nightclubs. Photo: Zoo Bar.

A night out on the town can be an amazing way to spend time with your friends and let loose. From the loud music and cheap drinks to the gorgeous outfits and all-around good times, nightclubs are great destinations for anyone looking to party.

Canberra is home to some truly great venues. Whether you’re looking for a bar-club hybrid that lets you sit and enjoy a cocktail before heading over to the dancefloor or a thumping nightclub that draws a large crowd, there’s bound to be something for you.

If you’re itching for a night out in Canberra, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll talk a bit about what makes a great nightclub, as well as a guide to some of Canberra’s favourite spots.

What makes a great nightclub?

A great venue means the difference between an average night out and an awesome one. Here’s what we look for in a great nightclub:

  • Good vibes. Nightclubs and bars are for having a good time. Everyone should be happy, chatty, excited, and most importantly, safe.
  • An exciting drinks menu. Standard drinks are fine in some situations but if you like to try the latest and greatest, look for a venue with an exciting drinks menu.
  • Excellent tunes. From live jazz to 90s pop classics, the best nightclubs and bars in Canberra deliver killer tunes all night long.
  • A vibrant calendar of events. Look for regularly organised parties, performances, DJs, and more.
  • Tasty treats. It’s not all about the drinks! If you’re feeling peckish, look for a venue that serves up a fun menu of tasty treats.

The best nightclubs in Canberra

Riotact’s editorial team has combed through 20 years of on-site comments to compile a list of the most recommended businesses according to you.

To be listed in our Best of Canberra series, each business needs to have consistently received positive feedback on Riotact and Facebook as well as maintaining a minimum average of 4/5 stars on Google.

Reload

Reload Bar & Games is all about the love of games, drinks, good food and good times. At Reload, get comfy on the couches and play some video, card & board games while enjoying some burgers and themed cocktails, from the Dark Knight to the Yoda Soda. Then head on over to the dance floor as the resident DJs on Saturday nights play the best retro and modern tunes to get the party going.

As ‘Local Guide’ Kaitlyn Lodewikus describes it in their Google review, “Favourite bar in Canberra. Staff are awesome, drinks are creative and yummy, and the food is AMAZING. Definitely recommend.”

sideway

Established in 2019, sideway is an intimate independent club that’s great for enjoying wine, cocktails, beers, pizzas and snacks while dancing to some great tunes from the live DJ. With events programmed weekly from live bands to club style electronic nights, all with a totally local focus, sideway is the perfect spot for a night out any night of the week.

See what Facebook user Dan Parkinson had to say in this review, “I visited this place and heard some amazing live music talent. The staff were super friendly and incredibly down to earth and fun to chat with. It is the best venue I have visited in Canberra City.”

Zoo Bar

Zoo Bar is much more than just a bar – this venue sprawls over 5 levels, each with their own distinct purpose, from the bar & grill on the ground floor to the nightclub on the roof. The nightclub itself, The Mile High Club, opened just this year, and with futuristic neon decor unlike any other nightclub in Canberra, it rounds out Zoo Bar as the perfect destination for a night out on the town.

As Google reviewer Shelley Prosper writes, “The most amazing staff and beautiful cocktails! This is my go-to place for a drink with friends. Highly recommend!”

The Boardwalk Bar & Nightclub

The Boardwalk Bar & Nightclub is Belconnen’s premier nightspot with a neighbourhood vibe and waterfront views of Lake Ginninderra. Signature cocktails include The Boardwalk and Waterfront Breeze and bar snacks are on offer. Often hosting fun events for the public such as karaoke, drag shows and live DJs, plus their huge capacity, you're sure to have a great night out at Boardwalk.

As Diana Morton writes on Google, "Most incredible service from the staff and owner make this bar stand out! I have celebrated my 18th and my mother’s 50th here and can’t recommend highly enough!"

One22

Located in the iconic Sydney Building, One22 is one of the newest additions to the Canberra nightlife. One22 hosts regular DJ takeovers, delivering a variety of music to please any crowd. Great drinks and music all set in a completely unique retro style fit-out make for a fantastic destination on your night out.

As Google user Sebastian van Lieven writes, “Absolutely lovely atmosphere, great music and vibe. Bartenders are friendly and professional, and the drinks are great. Will be taking my friends here whenever possible! Great place to start or end the night.”

88mph

Celebrate all things 80s at 88mph! (80s culture savvies will pick the namesake right away). Head to the neon bar for some cocktails, pizza and snacks, then over to the light-up dance floor and dance to some classic 80s hits. Or get a group of your friends together and book one of their karaoke rooms and sing your hearts out to some of your favourite 80s music while you get your food and drinks delivered to you!

As ‘Local Guide’ Sean Cunningham writes in this Google review, “A very funky 80’s themed bar in the outer areas of the Canberra City. The absolute best thing about this bar/club is the amazing light up dance floor. It also has a good selection of cocktails and spirits.”

Planning a night out in Canberra? Check out our articles on the best wine bars, the best cocktail bars and the best restaurants for some handy guides to Canberra’s best nightlife.

Your experience with nightclubs in Canberra

Thanks to our commenters who have provided insightful feedback, if you believe we have got it wrong, please let us know.

Have you had experience with any of the nightclubs listed above? Have we missed your favourite? If so, please share your feedback in the comments below!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a bar and a nightclub?

The main differences between a bar and a nightclub are that nightclubs are usually open later than bars, and bars don’t have a dance floor. Nightclubs also schedule live DJs to play music in the venue and tend to sell cheaper drinks.

How late do nightclubs stay open?

Unlike many cities around Australia, Canberra doesn’t have any lockout laws, so our nightclubs are open quite late. While they do close at different times and may stop serving alcohol before actually closing, most nightclubs remain open after midnight and some as late as 3am.

Can I host my function at a nightclub?

Sometimes. Some nightclubs do have private function rooms, but not as a rule – call the venue ahead of your event and see if there’s anything they can organise for you.

Do nightclubs serve food?

Usually, no. A nightclub might have some small snacks behind the bar, and if the venue is a bar that becomes a nightclub as the night goes on, then maybe you will be able to get some hot food.

Where are the nightclubs in Canberra?

Most of Canberra’s nightclubs are all located near each other in the city centre. This makes for a great night out as you and your friends can easily walk from one venue to the next and make the most of what our nightlife scene has to offer!

Join the conversation

26
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest
townsvillecleaner8:04 pm 22 Sep 21

Thanks for sharing! This is very good information, I will share with my club rats friends. 

canberrascout4:04 pm 06 Nov 19

The Basement “Baso,” as the locals call it, is newly discovered for me. Great for live music. Sound in there is really good. They have 5 dollar beers for those omn a budget. Shame the fare to get there can be high for others on the other side of town. https://www.thebasementcanberra.com.au/

I spent 6 years in Canberra to do my Masters degree at ANU. I have fond memories of the cheap 2 dollar a drink days and 5 dollar a jug days from the mid to late 2000s. I can assure you that those days are over (college students may correct me being an ex Johns resident for almost 10 years)

ICBM, Moose, Academy, UNI Bar and North Bar were my favourites while other places like Meche and Cube were popular with my friends. Today ICBM “Icies” is gone, academy has announced it is shutting down (the only real house and trance – nightclub in my opinion) North Bar has shut down and so has Meche. There has been a few openings since in and around Garema place but the Sydney building is now scarily quiet bar for Mooseheads.

Holden Caulfield said :

fps_grandma said :

Then we don’t need large supermarkets like Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Costco or numerous dealerships from different manufacturers and instead we can just embrace local humble corner grocery stores with wooden walls and still use paper bags and only have Ford and Holden dealerships.
You’re surely happy with the latter?

If you think my username relates to a car it’s no surprise you missed the point.

Not at all it’s mere coincidence as the latter options merely emphasise lack of variety.
My point is why question variety if it doesn’t suit you especially if the topic in question may not apply to you?
Did you go to Academy, Meche or ICBM recently?

Holden Caulfield said :

fps_grandma said :

Then we don’t need large supermarkets like Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Costco or numerous dealerships from different manufacturers and instead we can just embrace local humble corner grocery stores with wooden walls and still use paper bags and only have Ford and Holden dealerships.
You’re surely happy with the latter?

If you think my username relates to a car it’s no surprise you missed the point.

LOL this just made my day. Cheers mate.

Ben_Dover said :

At least you didn’t mention that Nirvana once played here, or Iron Maiden.

What, don’t mention that things more entertaining than watching a guy check his email happened?

Would be nice if there was still a decent live music scene in Canberra, and big names still turned up.

Ben_Dover said :

farnarkler said :

Ben you’ve misunderstood me. I mean house party as in a party at someone’s house.

LOL!! 🙂 Yes, I know, I was having a giraffe.

Come on folks, name one Canberra “nightclub” which would hold it’s own anywhere else? name one “biog name” DJ who has played Canberra in the last 12 months?

Nope, thought not.

In the last 12 months I’ve seen Timmy Trumpet, SAFIA, Havana Brown, Will Sparks, Joel Fletcher & Tiger Lilly….. All at Academy, mind you. It might be nice to have different options on where to go – but the big names are defintely coming.

Ben_Dover said :

Ezy said :

Oh sorry – my mistake, I thought you asked for big name DJs. Instead you are after those guys who hide behind macs and tweak nobs with finger flair to disguise the fact that they really aren’t doing much at all apart from increasing the treble here, reducing bass there. But these shows do come with all the lazers to try and take everyones attention away from what nonsense is going on behind that mac.

De gustibus non est disputandum, no? It matetrs not whetehr you like or admire what the current “big names” in the DJ culture do or do not do, or produce or personify. The fact of the matter is that they do not come to Canberra, which is the point being made.

Ezy said :

Hey, have you ever noticed that guy from Foo Fighters looks like the drummer from Nirvana? Crazy huh!

Nah, he looks a lot older than that guy.

Wasn’t Will Sparks (currently one of the biggest Aussie DJs) here a month or two ago?

And Guetta, Tiesto, Afrojax, et al have been to Canberra a number of times (mostly as part of music festivals mind you) but we aren’t totally forgotten.

Oh and what ever happened to that fresh young Nirvana group? They had so much promise!!

Ezy said :

Oh sorry – my mistake, I thought you asked for big name DJs. Instead you are after those guys who hide behind macs and tweak nobs with finger flair to disguise the fact that they really aren’t doing much at all apart from increasing the treble here, reducing bass there. But these shows do come with all the lazers to try and take everyones attention away from what nonsense is going on behind that mac.

De gustibus non est disputandum, no? It matetrs not whetehr you like or admire what the current “big names” in the DJ culture do or do not do, or produce or personify. The fact of the matter is that they do not come to Canberra, which is the point being made.

Ezy said :

Hey, have you ever noticed that guy from Foo Fighters looks like the drummer from Nirvana? Crazy huh!

Nah, he looks a lot older than that guy.

Ben_Dover said :

Ezy said :

Coming up in March… DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist!

Oh wow, a fine example of what I was saying, thanks for that!

DJ Shadow was big in 2004, (you know, 11 years ago,) since then, not so much.

At least you didn’t mention that Nirvana once played here, or Iron Maiden.

Ben_Dover said :

Ezy said :

Coming up in March… DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist!

Oh wow, a fine example of what I was saying, thanks for that!

DJ Shadow was big in 2004, (you know, 11 years ago,) since then, not so much.

At least you didn’t mention that Nirvana once played here, or Iron Maiden.

Oh sorry – my mistake, I thought you asked for big name DJs. Instead you are after those guys who hide behind macs and tweak nobs with finger flair to disguise the fact that they really aren’t doing much at all apart from increasing the treble here, reducing bass there. But these shows do come with all the lazers to try and take everyones attention away from what nonsense is going on behind that mac.

Hey, have you ever noticed that guy from Foo Fighters looks like the drummer from Nirvana? Crazy huh!

Holden Caulfield10:28 am 11 Feb 15

fps_grandma said :

Then we don’t need large supermarkets like Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Costco or numerous dealerships from different manufacturers and instead we can just embrace local humble corner grocery stores with wooden walls and still use paper bags and only have Ford and Holden dealerships.
You’re surely happy with the latter?

If you think my username relates to a car it’s no surprise you missed the point.

Ezy said :

Coming up in March… DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist!

Oh wow, a fine example of what I was saying, thanks for that!

DJ Shadow was big in 2004, (you know, 11 years ago,) since then, not so much.

At least you didn’t mention that Nirvana once played here, or Iron Maiden.

Ben_Dover said :

farnarkler said :

Ben you’ve misunderstood me. I mean house party as in a party at someone’s house.

LOL!! 🙂 Yes, I know, I was having a giraffe.

Come on folks, name one Canberra “nightclub” which would hold it’s own anywhere else? name one “biog name” DJ who has played Canberra in the last 12 months?

Nope, thought not.

Coming up in March… DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist!

farnarkler said :

Ben you’ve misunderstood me. I mean house party as in a party at someone’s house.

LOL!! 🙂 Yes, I know, I was having a giraffe.

Come on folks, name one Canberra “nightclub” which would hold it’s own anywhere else? name one “biog name” DJ who has played Canberra in the last 12 months?

Nope, thought not.

Bennop said :

Can’t wait for this one to start (opens popcorn).

Mind you, if lack of nightclubs is a good enough reason to want to/leave Canberra, then you must be a pretty shallow person anyways.

*ducks*

Then you must be equally judgemental? Isn’t this why the world is full of segregation and hatred?
If the corn in your theoretical popcorn was cheap because it was harvested by poorly treated farmers wouldn’t you be the shallow one?

Evilomlap said :

I think the last thing Canberra needs is more nightclubs. But then again I don’t go to nightclubs anymore so I don’t really care either way. I think the problem with Canberra restaurants and bars given our population is that when a new one pops up, it’s the place to be until the novelty wears off, then it either establishes itself or stagnates until another one takes its place. The problem I’ve found personally with ‘things to do’ like the ones you have mentioned Floriade, Enlighten etc is that year after year they are basically the same so once I have been once I’m rarely inclined to go again.

An issue I have always had with Canberra’s night life is this – nothing but the nightclubs and 24 hour servos stays open after around 10pm. In cities like Melbourne or Sydney, which are far larger and have worse crime rates, I’ve never felt unsafe walking around the inner city even after midnight. That’s because there are still normal people walking around having coffee, late dinners, seeing movies, whatever. I have often felt unsafe walking around Canberra’s inner city late at night because seemingly the only people left walking around at that time are the morons who are too drunk to get into the nightclubs. Walking a date to her car in Melbourne we had a relaxing stroll and nice chat, as oblivious to other people as they were to us. Walking a date to her car in Canberra I have had to shield her from abuse, cop abuse myself from the steroid brigade who measure masculinity by bicep circumference, steer her around puddles of vomit and shake my head at the huge difference between Garema place during the day, and what it becomes after dark.

Canberra has a lot of diversity and a lot of things to do, until about 10pm, then your options become far more limited.

If nightclubs are not your thing why continue commenting about it?
First you talk about the worse crime rates in Melbourne then you immediately worry about the testosterone-overloaded neanderthals roaming Civic who are up to no good which isn’t a problem in Melbourne now?

JimboJones said :

Clubs are for singles. Once you’ve got a partner, night clubs are the most unappealing thing known to man. I agree that Canberra nightlife for the under 24’s is pretty poor but suits me just fine. I’m happy to go to a bar with mates. The presence of nightclubs usually results in late night fights and vomit on the streets the following morning. They also seem to make areas a lot shittier don’t you think? Think of areas in Sydney/Melbourne where the good clubs are – They’re usually a dump. Would you want to live in an apartment that was next to or very close to a popular night club? I’m no prude but I definitely wouldn’t. Most people would agree. In short, Canberra nightlife is crap for clubbers, its great for bar-hoppers though. I fall in to the latter group and think the lack of clubs is one of Canberra’s selling points.

What if you’re a straight or gay single person or couple who just wants to have fun at the Cube?

If fights outside nightclubs are a problem then perhaps you may consider living at one of the numerous outback towns instead such as Lightning Ridge which has bars rather than nightclubs?
Surely visting Queanbeyan in the evening won’t be an issue?

Holden Caulfield said :

I agree that Canberra doesn’t have a lot of choices when it comes to nightlife. But the reason for that is clear and mentioned by the OP; we’re a small city!

Canberra will never be able to match Melbourne and Sydney in this regard, so why complain about this all the time?

For the blow-ins who come and go as soon as they can, there must be something that attracted them to Canberra in the first place.

To answer the question posed in the title; no Canberra doesn’t lack nightlife venues. It may lack a variety of quality venues, but that can be explained by the simple fact we don’t have the population to support a huge number of options.

Rather than bemoan that a city of less than half a million cannot compete with cities with five or six times that population why not embrace the good things about Canberra and enjoy life?

It’s kind of boring to whinge about how Canberra sucks all the time. Much more boring than Canberra is alleged to be, that’s for sure!

Then we don’t need large supermarkets like Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Costco or numerous dealerships from different manufacturers and instead we can just embrace local humble corner grocery stores with wooden walls and still use paper bags and only have Ford and Holden dealerships.
You’re surely happy with the latter?

Ryoma said :

I think the problem here comes down to expectations and the way people deal with change.

I came here some years ago as a graduate, but also as someone already in a relationship. Therefore, I wasn’t looking to go out clubbing as a way to meet people, but more as something to do occasionally.
By contrast, some of the other (yes, admittedly younger) graduates would head back to other places on every long weekend – and this was particularly true of those from Sydney. I really enjoy going to Sydney myself. It’s a great city, and, as noted, it’s a big city, with a lot more diversity on all sorts of measures. The same goes for Melbourne, many of our other capital cities, and more overseas.

However, if you are able to go out each weekend, and head for a different club, etc, then for a long time, you don’t need to face up to the idea that you are responsible for your own choices in life; and this includes learning more about who you are when left to your own devices.

In essence, moving here means taking the good with the bad. For those people who were forever headed somewhere else, not surprisingly, Canberra remained/s a clique-y, isolating place. It was hard to make friends, etc, etc, perhaps because it required the commitment to stay here and to get past the awkward stage. Putting down roots takes time, effort, a willingness to step out of one’s comfort zone, and maybe also to get involved. It’s a shift that moves from “the world is here to entertain me” to “how do I work with what we’ve got, and maybe work with others to do something cool”?

And don’t get me wrong – some people are already able to do that, and if they still decide that Canberra is not their scene, then that’s by all means fair enough. But expecting Canberra to be able to offer the same scale of things as Sydney or other much bigger cities do, across the board, is somewhere between unrealistic at best and wildly deluded at worst.

While adding hundreds of venues of the same type is indeed excessive the problem is that venues of a particular type which in this case is nightclubs are being subtracted away i.e. Meche and ICBM.

girl_about_town said :

Its unclear if you are commenting on nightlife in regards to nightclubs or things to do once the sun goes down. The nightclub scene was strong in Canberra in the 1990s and early 2000s but times and trends change. On most nights of the week there is live music at a number of different places in Canberra, theatre, workshops, trivia nights, fundraisers, movies and fantastic resturants.
Potentially a change in attitude may be the solution to the problem? Ever ventured to Transit Bar, ANU for gig, Smiths, Edgars Inn for the footy on a friday night, Kremlin bar for some yummy vodka cocktails, PJ Oriellys in Tuggers for Guinness and a game of pool, Suburban in Dickson for a meal and some people watching, Comedy Gig at the Irish Club in Weston/City Pub…………………………I could go on

You can be married to one and only one person in your lifetime or be married to multiple partners at the same or different time either with or without any of their partners’ permission.
Everyone has different attitudes in life.

Ben you’ve misunderstood me. I mean house party as in a party at someone’s house.

girl_about_town2:34 pm 06 Feb 15

Its unclear if you are commenting on nightlife in regards to nightclubs or things to do once the sun goes down. The nightclub scene was strong in Canberra in the 1990s and early 2000s but times and trends change. On most nights of the week there is live music at a number of different places in Canberra, theatre, workshops, trivia nights, fundraisers, movies and fantastic resturants.
Potentially a change in attitude may be the solution to the problem? Ever ventured to Transit Bar, ANU for gig, Smiths, Edgars Inn for the footy on a friday night, Kremlin bar for some yummy vodka cocktails, PJ Oriellys in Tuggers for Guinness and a game of pool, Suburban in Dickson for a meal and some people watching, Comedy Gig at the Irish Club in Weston/City Pub…………………………I could go on

farnarkler said :

You would be surprised how big the 30s-40s house party scene is here.

House is so 1990’s though, I still enjoy a bit of uplifting house, even in my 50’s.

You can count on the fingers of one hand the number of true clubs in Canberra, and on the fingers of one foot the decent ones.

In the city in the UK I used to go clubbing, which is smaller than Canberra, there were a dozen clubs, each with their own specialty, with one catering to the “over 30 yr old” clubbing scene exclusively. Clubs would compete to get big name DJ’s in, when was the last time a major new DJ played Canberra?

If you’re over 35 then Canberra does lack decent venues. There are a lot of generation x people in Canberra who I think would like a nice place to party without having to put up with youngsters. You would be surprised how big the 30s-40s house party scene is here.

Bravo Ryoma, bravo…

I think the problem here comes down to expectations and the way people deal with change.

I came here some years ago as a graduate, but also as someone already in a relationship. Therefore, I wasn’t looking to go out clubbing as a way to meet people, but more as something to do occasionally.
By contrast, some of the other (yes, admittedly younger) graduates would head back to other places on every long weekend – and this was particularly true of those from Sydney. I really enjoy going to Sydney myself. It’s a great city, and, as noted, it’s a big city, with a lot more diversity on all sorts of measures. The same goes for Melbourne, many of our other capital cities, and more overseas.

However, if you are able to go out each weekend, and head for a different club, etc, then for a long time, you don’t need to face up to the idea that you are responsible for your own choices in life; and this includes learning more about who you are when left to your own devices.

In essence, moving here means taking the good with the bad. For those people who were forever headed somewhere else, not surprisingly, Canberra remained/s a clique-y, isolating place. It was hard to make friends, etc, etc, perhaps because it required the commitment to stay here and to get past the awkward stage. Putting down roots takes time, effort, a willingness to step out of one’s comfort zone, and maybe also to get involved. It’s a shift that moves from “the world is here to entertain me” to “how do I work with what we’ve got, and maybe work with others to do something cool”?

And don’t get me wrong – some people are already able to do that, and if they still decide that Canberra is not their scene, then that’s by all means fair enough. But expecting Canberra to be able to offer the same scale of things as Sydney or other much bigger cities do, across the board, is somewhere between unrealistic at best and wildly deluded at worst.

Yeah maybe it does,

You’re young, single, and from a much bigger place than Canberra with more happening 24/7.

The nightclub scene is a reflection on a few things:The populations size, spending and social behaviour, demographics, regulation and planning laws and the ability of the venue owners to make a dollar. Don’t underestimate how critical that last point is…

Annandale & Newtown in Sydney are good examples of social change. Both undergone significant gentrification the last decade or two. Close to the CBD, both had a few pubs with bands playing live music 6 days a week. Not anymore. The 40 year olds,even older folks have all moved into big unit complexes, designer baby and “cute” dog….they want city conveniences too.

If you’re having a good time at the venues you repeatedly end up in, who cares? JimboJones will happily chaperone you around for a night – I look forward to the report…Queanbeyan can offer you Country Living, City Benefits…

Holden Caulfield1:24 pm 05 Feb 15

I agree that Canberra doesn’t have a lot of choices when it comes to nightlife. But the reason for that is clear and mentioned by the OP; we’re a small city!

Canberra will never be able to match Melbourne and Sydney in this regard, so why complain about this all the time?

For the blow-ins who come and go as soon as they can, there must be something that attracted them to Canberra in the first place.

To answer the question posed in the title; no Canberra doesn’t lack nightlife venues. It may lack a variety of quality venues, but that can be explained by the simple fact we don’t have the population to support a huge number of options.

Rather than bemoan that a city of less than half a million cannot compete with cities with five or six times that population why not embrace the good things about Canberra and enjoy life?

It’s kind of boring to whinge about how Canberra sucks all the time. Much more boring than Canberra is alleged to be, that’s for sure!

Clubs are for singles. Once you’ve got a partner, night clubs are the most unappealing thing known to man. I agree that Canberra nightlife for the under 24’s is pretty poor but suits me just fine. I’m happy to go to a bar with mates. The presence of nightclubs usually results in late night fights and vomit on the streets the following morning. They also seem to make areas a lot shittier don’t you think? Think of areas in Sydney/Melbourne where the good clubs are – They’re usually a dump. Would you want to live in an apartment that was next to or very close to a popular night club? I’m no prude but I definitely wouldn’t. Most people would agree. In short, Canberra nightlife is crap for clubbers, its great for bar-hoppers though. I fall in to the latter group and think the lack of clubs is one of Canberra’s selling points.

I think the last thing Canberra needs is more nightclubs. But then again I don’t go to nightclubs anymore so I don’t really care either way. I think the problem with Canberra restaurants and bars given our population is that when a new one pops up, it’s the place to be until the novelty wears off, then it either establishes itself or stagnates until another one takes its place. The problem I’ve found personally with ‘things to do’ like the ones you have mentioned Floriade, Enlighten etc is that year after year they are basically the same so once I have been once I’m rarely inclined to go again.

An issue I have always had with Canberra’s night life is this – nothing but the nightclubs and 24 hour servos stays open after around 10pm. In cities like Melbourne or Sydney, which are far larger and have worse crime rates, I’ve never felt unsafe walking around the inner city even after midnight. That’s because there are still normal people walking around having coffee, late dinners, seeing movies, whatever. I have often felt unsafe walking around Canberra’s inner city late at night because seemingly the only people left walking around at that time are the morons who are too drunk to get into the nightclubs. Walking a date to her car in Melbourne we had a relaxing stroll and nice chat, as oblivious to other people as they were to us. Walking a date to her car in Canberra I have had to shield her from abuse, cop abuse myself from the steroid brigade who measure masculinity by bicep circumference, steer her around puddles of vomit and shake my head at the huge difference between Garema place during the day, and what it becomes after dark.

Canberra has a lot of diversity and a lot of things to do, until about 10pm, then your options become far more limited.

Can’t wait for this one to start (opens popcorn).

Mind you, if lack of nightclubs is a good enough reason to want to/leave Canberra, then you must be a pretty shallow person anyways.

*ducks*

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.