Ahead of this year’s Toast the City Awards, celebrating the best of the Square Mile, we go inside Dabbers Social bingo
Forget darts, karaoke and axe-throwing: bingo is the latest way the experience economy has shifted in the capital.
New clubs dedicated to your gran’s favourite past time, now a huge hit with Gen Z, have popped up all over the West End, although now there’s a Square Mile bingo hall too.
In line with the latest bingo halls, Dabbers Social trades on eccentricity, with the callers dressed in loud and ridiculous outfits including brightly coloured wigs and fluorescent capes.
Alongside the actual bingo there is plenty of other entertainment, including stand-up comedy, quizzes and cabaret performances, many of which take seasonal cues.
For instance, this week and next, Halloween-themed evenings will bring players into direct contact with some of the darkest figures from London’s underworld for their “What Lies Beneath” events, where smugglers and fortune tellers disrupt the peace.
Xmas Sleigh Bae Bingo takes over come December, with three themed evenings of present-giving and no doubt plenty of seasonal sing-a-longs.
There are food and drink packages, including ‘cocktail trees’ formed of 12 cocktails, bingo wings, burgers including a Pad Thai flavoured bun, and lighter brunch dishes.
The rise of bingo
Buzz Bingo, which operates at 79 sites in the UK including five in London, claims interest from young people is driving its revenue.
Half of its 175,000 new players in the twelve months to September 2025 were under the age of 25, and takings suggest young players are most interested in themed nights and ticketed events, with young members 30 per cent more likely to show up for these.
Bingo is part of a wider swing towards experiential leisure – which also includes escape rooms and mini golf.
To find out more and book go to dabberssocial.co.uk