Promoter Ingo Cando on Stonewall Season and running a queer underground phenomenon. Although it’s been running for 13 years, Bar Wotever may be the best queer night in London that you’ve never actually heard about.
This is partly down to the fact that it has always spurned advertising in the LGBT press – and clubs and bars that don’t advertise tend to get a severely limited amount of coverage.
‘The thing with advertising is that there hasn’t been a good place for us to advertise,’ says Wotever promoter, Ingo Cando, by way of explanation. ‘I’m not saying that there aren’t good magazine or papers or internet sites, but always felt like if we had placed an advert in a specific place, it would only be for a very small part of our audience.’
The name Wotever comes from the club’s all inclusive ethos; ‘for boys, girls, wotever.’ Ingo says that clientele range from 18 to 98. It attracts a large number of gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and non-binary people (Ingo is non-binary and opts for the ‘they’ pronoun).
In fact, more than any other night I’ve personally visited, it’s somewhere that strives to make everyone feel welcome and included.
A true word-of-mouth success story, the wider Wotever World now encompasses a diverse range of events. These include regular Queer Fayres, monthly ‘Non-Binary Cabaret’ at the Glory in Dalston, monthly Club Wotever at Eagle London, the weekly Bar Wotever at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, and guest spots at the Hackney Attic and further afield.
There have been recent events in Glasgow, Bristol and Brighton, while a Wotever Iceland has been running for the past year.
For those yet to have discovered Wotever, its upcoming Urban Wotever party for the inaugural Stonewall Season will offer the perfect opportunity. It takes place 8 November at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern.
Read more……….
