It’s Queer, it’s Safe, it’s Cheap: nightlife tips on how to survive Helsinki
Teak student ambassador, George Rallis, shares the details about queer nightlife in Helsinki
It’s June and that only means one thing: PRIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Evidently, it goes without saying that Pride is a year-long commitment to living our lives unapologetically queer. However, June has been marked as the global month where we commemorate our past, our elders and our ancestors for the fight of queer liberation.
Coined as Pride month, June has been cemented as the rainbow month aligning with the 1969 Stonewall Riots, occurring in New York City. The riots started by black and brown Trans women, with Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson leading the forefront of the event in present memory. However it is important to also remember that Pride has occurred as a reaction to the constant police violence and discrimination. As the never-ending pressure inflicted on nightlife reached its peak, queer poc activists have defended the nightlife front, leading to the mass discourse of the now watered down, neoliberal, gay rights movement. I by any means do not imply that we do not need the current conversations going on in relation to the LGBTQIA+ community, yet it is important to honor our past and hold our own political backbone in what we seek as a community.
Nightlife has always played a huge role in the safety and socialization of queer people, and still continues to this day to provide a haven for misfits, colorful entities, fairies and night owls of the queer spectrum. Helsinki is no different. Regardless of whether Helsinki cannot compare to any of its bigger European counterparts like Berlin and London, I personally believe that smaller hubs/spaces and communities, are more important in upholding the true essence of where queerness started from. You are as strong as your weakest link. In the same way, trying to shape a place into something that it’s not, only pushes further the neoliberal agenda of homogenizing all queer spaces to look like “Berghain” or any other huge capitalist venture that dictates an “in-unison” identity of what queer can mean.
It’s important to remember that queer is not an adjective, but a library. For me, this library also understands the importance of accessible pricing, accessible entry policies but also, accountable staff and participants in the space that the night creates. With all that said, this is my own personal list of the best that Helsinki has to offer as far as bars, clubs and events:
Venues:
– Post Bar (free before 23:00)
– Kaiku (free before 23:00)
– Leppakomies (great gigs + cheap drinks )
– On The Rock (great gigs + cheap drinks)
– Bar Loose (great gigs + weekly shot offers)
– Ääniwalli (not cheap, yet still has some early bird ticket offers + safe space policy)
Bars:
– Om’pu (on Tuesday all beers are cheaper)
– Femma (post-work wine happy-hour from 16:00-18:00)
– Alexis K (cheap drinks)
– Struts (queer safe space with various events)
– Kurvitar (cheap drinks + Happy hour 22:00-00:00)
Events:
– Club Anvil (6eu all-night happy hour at their monthly On The Rocks event)
– The Attic
– Sluts Against Techno
– L’Appel Du Vide
– Club Mascara
– Disco Bête Noire
– Midnight Mass
– QueerHel
– Dionysia
– Interlink
– Big Sexxxy Bass
– Queereoke
– Yalla
– U-Haul
– DanceGender
P.S. there are also some underground clubs that you need to know someone to get to, yet I will not reveal those since the premise of the underground is its word-of-mouth safety.
Honorable Mentions: Street Pride Bar, Drag-nights at Mascot bar, Hercules, Korgy, Sorkan Russu, Sauna Vogue, Club X, Fairytale, Mann’s Street, Room Blvd, Monsieur K.