Inner west to see even more nightlife

By Lauren O’Connor

The shifting of Sydney’s night life to the inner west continues as Vivid Sydney hits the area for the first time this year, encouraging more crowds to move west.

Part of the cultural festival will be hosted by the Imperial Hotel and Spice Cellar in Erskineville under the new management of venue owner, DJ and producer Murat Kilic.

Mr Kilic said the expansion into the inner west “made sense”. He began a refurbishment of the historic Imperial Hotel in April after moving his club Spice Cellar from Martin Place to Erskineville.

Cabaret, burlesque, theatre and performance based entertainment will be featured at the event, and Mr Kilic said inclusion in the historically gay pub was still paramount.

“I can say we have the HEAPS GAY guys doing events with us in the near future, we’ve got Homosocial doing events with us, the Harbour City Bears. Our gay-lesbian focussed programming is not just drag, we’ve got a lot of emerging artists, not just the classic drag shows,” Mr Kilic told City Hub.

“I don’t want to be prejudiced towards the venues as far as saying it’s ‘this’ or ‘that.’ Our doors are open to anyone who wants to come and have a drink,” he said.

Lockout laws in Sydney’s CBD may be the reason for the growing popularity of the inner west as a nightlife destination. Newtown electorate has the highest population density of any seat in NSW and highest representation of gay couples.

Newly elected Greens member for Newtown, Jenny Leong said acting against alcohol-fuelled violence and protection of the suburb’s cultural diversity were important priorities.

“It’s really important for us to recognise the need for safe spaces,” she said. 

“We need to have a complex conversation about wanting to stop alcohol related violence, wanting to make sure our streets feel safe, wanting diversity to be celebrated on our streets, while at the same time we don’t shut down our vibrant nightlife which is why we all love living in the city,” Ms Leong said.