Oxford Street gay bar Stonewall Hotel will no longer trade on Mondays and Tuesdays throughout winter this year.
The Darlinghurst institution revealed the news on its Facebook page just after 1pm on Tuesday.
Gay Sydney News first found out about the reduction in trading days after a local who was walking past the venue noticed the lights were off and the doors closed despite its Google listing stating it was open.
A Stonewall insider, who did not wish to be named as they were not authorised to speak publicly, told Gay Sydney News that the venue had been closed on Mondays for the past few weeks.
Stonewall posted on June 13 that it would be closed on Mondays “through winter”, meaning this week was the fourth time it was closed on a Monday. We could find no earlier post mentioning closure on Mondays.
The Stonewall insider said staff were notified on Friday last week that the venue would now also close on Tuesdays during winter and that the reason was due to Oxford Street not being busy enough early in the week.
“It does speak to how venues are struggling though,” the insider said. “Mondays and Tuesdays are completely dead on the strip at the moment.”
The closure will mean Stonewall’s Tuesday night Turbo Trivia, hosted by drag queen Charisma Belle, will be put on hold. Tuesday karaoke, which was hosted by rotating performers including Marilyn Mootrub, Carmen Geddit and Dakota Fann’ee later in the night has also been put into hibernation, it would appear.
Stonewall was previously hosting Turbo Trivia on Monday nights. When the venue ceased trading on Mondays, it moved trivia to Tuesdays before karaoke until it put Tuesdays on ice too.
September is the start of spring, which is when we hear the venue is planning to re-open on Mondays and Tuesdays.
We reached out to Stonewall via its office phone but, unsurprisingly, there was no answer (it is closed today, after all). We sent them an email but had not heard back at the time of publication.
During winter last year, ARQ Sydney announced it would put regular Friday and Sunday night queer events into hibernation until spring but they never returned that year. As part of the changes, its Drag 4 Dollars competition was eventually axed. The ARQ business was later sold to the owner of Home The Venue.
However, Arq last week re-launched Fridays as an R&B hip-hop party under the banner “ARQADE”.
“From the creators of Homemade Saturdays, ARQADE is the ultimate Friday night party experience. Featuring the best DJs, drag shows, and dancers in the city,” the ARQADE poster said.
Apart from the recently re-launched Friday event, ARQ hosts Poof Doof on Saturdays.
News of Stonewall’s closure on Mondays and Tuesdays comes after Oxford Street Italian restaurant Big Poppa’s re-opened in July last year only to “temporarily” close again in May this year. It blamed the delayed redevelopment of Oxford Street for its closure but said it would re-open when the development is complete.
Ben Grubb is the founder and editor of Gay Sydney News, an independent publication covering LGBTQIA+ news. A journalist with more than 15 years' experience, he has reported and edited for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, WAToday, Brisbane Times, The Australian Financial Review, News.com.au, ZDNet, TelecomTimes and iTnews, primarily on the topic of technology. He previously hosted The Informer, a queer current affairs program on Melbourne’s JOY 94.9 radio station, and contributes to LGBTQIA+ media including Stun Magazine. Ben has also appeared as a technology commentator on Channel Ten's The Project, ABC RN’s Download This Show and commercial radio stations 2UE, 2GB and 6PR. Contact Ben: ben.grubb@gaysydneynews.com.au
