News / Clubs
New LGBT+ club opens in Bristol
Bristol’s dedicated LGBT+ venues have ebbed and flowed through the years, from the closing of Gin Palace and Flamingos on Old Market to the current offerings of OMG and Queenshilling on Frogmore Street.
Intersectional nightlife spaces have become increasingly common in the city too, however venues owned by LGBT+ people guarantees a level of safety and comfort for Bristol’s queer community.
The aim of a new LGBT+ club on Baldwin Street is to do just that.
Rush will be ran by managing director Owen Chard and operations director Tony Kirwin, who have been inspired by queer scenes in other cities and together have extensive experience managing venues across the South West.
Owen Chard, 21, is the managing director of the new Rush nightclub – photo: Owen Chard
Owen said he feels as if Bristol is missing elements of dedicated LGBT+ venues in other cities.
“I’m part of the LGBT+ community, a lot of my friends are students and they want a venue that’s affordable,” he said. “We want to make the venue as safe for everyone as possible.”
Rush is being marketed as a gay club, but Owen explained that anyone can come as long as they contribute to making the club a comfortable space for all.
The venue, opening in the old Popworld, will offer a range of music across four varied nights, from pop to drum and bass and house.
Owen said: “A lot of queer spaces in Bristol don’t necessarily offer the range of music we want to play. It’s Bristol.
“Drum and bass is wildly popular here, we want to offer it in an LGBT+ friendly environment.”
The Rush nightclub opening night will be hosted by Tess Drive
Tony added that they want the club to have its own identity. The aim is to make Rush a “full experience”, as well as a venue to dance in, and the venue will run giveaways on random nights.
The hope is that revellers won’t know what to expect each night which will draw people back, explained Tony.
Affordability is a key aspect of Rush, with student pricing keeping drinks “as low as possible”.
Owen said: “To save money a lot of people will drink before a club. Then they will show up and not have a good time. We want people to be able to have fun here, and enjoy a drink without breaking the bank.”
Tony said that they are also speaking with different groups and universities in order to use the space when it is not open as a club.
From dance classes to DJ workshops, Rush will be available with the intention of being a space to be used for and by the community.
Rush on Wednesdays will showcase house and drum and bass, there will be resident drag queens on Thursdays and Fridays will be gay club pop anthems.
Owen added: “Saturday will be chaos, with confetti cannons, candyfloss machines, pinball machines. We’re trying to be different each week.”
Speaking about his admiration for his young business partner, Tony said: “He’s only 21 years old, it’s really impressive.
“I came in to help with my experience as a manager. There’s a lot of moving parts on the operations side of running the venue. We’ve been quite secretive with the opening, we want it to be a surprise.”
They both wanted to keep the new venue on the down low, explained Owen. This has kept people intrigued, and when the venue was launched on social media, it was quickly shared widely around.
Owen explained that the calibre of drag performers booked at Rush is exciting for a new LGBT+ venue in Bristol. Their 2026 calendar of bookings is already beginning to fill up with drag queens.
One of their host drag queens, Tess Drive, is involved in the Bristol drag scene and they explained that they have connections across the country helping them to book performers.
Owen and Tony are not just focused on the opening weekend, hoping to create a permanent venue in Bristol platforming queer talent.
For the opening night, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season seven alumni Catrin Feelings, Chai T Grande and Elle Vosque are performing, with a £1,000 bar tab as well as some Halloween touches.
Speaking about the duo’s vision, Owen said: “We want to create a safer, queer space for drum and bass to be enjoyed. Our team is very young. I understand what works and doesn’t work for club spaces, and hear a lot about it from my friends.
“We want to be inclusive to everyone. If you don’t make it on Friday, you’ll be really sad on Saturday at what you missed.”
Rush opens on Friday, and will be open weekly from Wednesday to Saturday. For more information, visit www.instagram.com/rushclubofficial
Main photo: Rush
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