Shoreditch nightlife: where to go out after dark

Shoreditch nightlife runs along three lines: the clubs around Old Street and Cowper Street, the late venues on Hoxton Square and Great Eastern Street, and Brick Lane in E1 for the bigger rooms. Pick a line, not a postcode, and you will spend the night walking minutes rather than half hours. This weekend, with Halloween on Saturday 31 October, most of the places below are already sold out or close to it, so the useful planning starts with next Friday.

XOYO, Cowper Street

XOYO is back, and on its own site it calls itself a rebuilt space for forward-thinking sound. The week has a shape now: Motion London on Mondays, Paradox LDN on Wednesdays, Cherry, a house and disco night, on Thursdays, and Feel It, a queer dance party, on Fridays. Saturdays carry the names. Drum and Bass Classics runs as an all-dayer on Saturday 7 November, Airspace LDN brings Burnski and Danny Snowden on Saturday 21 November, and Andy C plays on Saturday 5 December. Tickets go through Fatsoma or the event pages, so buy ahead rather than queue.

Village Underground, Holywell Lane

Village Underground at 54 Holywell Lane, EC2A, is a renovated Victorian warehouse with hollowed-out Jubilee line carriages on its roof. It started life in 2006 as affordable studios for creative people, opened in April 2007, and the carriages were hoisted into place with Great Eastern Street closed for the day. The building underneath was once a railway coalstore. It does gigs early and clubs late: Ella Knight's House Party starts at 11pm on Saturday 28 November and Riria presents Floating at 11pm on Saturday 5 December. The rooftop, with a heated terrace and access to the carriages, opened to the public for the first time this summer.

Colours, Hoxton Square

Colours at 2-4 Hoxton Square, N1, is the room that used to be Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen; Mothership Group relaunched it in 2019. There is a Main Bar, a Live Room and a Karaoke Room for up to 30. Club nights lean house, disco and hip hop, mostly on Fridays. It opens until 3.30am on Fridays and Saturdays, until midnight from Tuesday to Thursday, and is closed on Sundays and Mondays. It is five minutes from Old Street station.

The Old Blue Last, Great Eastern Street

The Old Blue Last at 38 Great Eastern Street is a pub first and a venue second, and it claims 300 years of history. Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse, IDLES and George Ezra all played early shows here. It runs a seven-day programme and stays open until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays, 1am on Thursdays and midnight earlier in the week. There is an early-bird drinks offer on weekdays from 1pm to 5pm if you are starting from the office.

93 Feet East, Brick Lane

93 Feet East at 150 Brick Lane, E1, has five spaces: the Main Room, the Live Room, a Members Bar, a Rooftop Terrace and the Courtyard. Its listings run from bands to club nights. Lo Fidelity Allstars play on Friday 6 November and Hot Vox brings Herodias, Jackals and Posture on Friday 20 November. Tonight's Halloween Boat Club party is sold out.

Before and between: the late bars

Not every night needs a club. Callooh Callay at 65 Rivington Street pours until 3am from Thursday to Sunday and until 1am the rest of the week, with the JubJub Bar tucked inside. On Hoxton Square, Happiness Forgets is a basement cocktail bar at 8-9, open from 5pm every day, with a house line of "Great Cocktails, No Wallies". At 1 Curtain Road, Queen of Hoxton runs club nights, pop nights, hip hop jams and drag cabaret until 2am from Thursday to Saturday, and its rooftop stays open all year with a heated yurt in winter. Thursday is "Clock Off at Queen", with £5 drinks from 5pm.

What has gone

Cargo on Rivington Street is not coming back as a club. It closed in December 2021 after a licence review, and Hackney Council turned down a new late-night venue on the site in March 2025. Its old web address now points to 83 Rivington Street, an events space for hire. Plenty of older guides still list it.

How to plan the night

• Old Street to Hoxton Square: Happiness Forgets, then Colours. Two minutes apart.
• Rivington Street to Great Eastern Street: Callooh Callay, then the Old Blue Last.
• Brick Lane: 93 Feet East for bands, then its Main Room for the club.
• Big night: tickets for XOYO or Village Underground, a drink at Queen of Hoxton first.

For the gig side of the same streets, see live music venues in Shoreditch, and for the bars with a smaller door, cocktail bars in Shoreditch.