Bingo is making a comeback – and it’s largely thanks to under 35s.
Millennials and Gen Z are flocking to a new take on an old pastime, where karaoke, cheap drinks and Dirty Dancing make for raucous good fun alongside the number calling.
Every weekend in London and across the UK, queues for the bar are snaking across local bingo halls. 20-something women gyrate on stage having a dance-off over a themed Grease vs Dirty Dancing competition, followed by Prosecco Bingo .
But it’s not a complete break from bingo tradition. Number calls like ‘legs 11” and “87, I’ve never been to Devon, “33, I need a wee” still exist and the crowd goes wild. However, “Two fat ladies” (88) is banned.
Yes, bingo has had a millennial makeover. Rank Group, owner of Mecca Bingo, which has 52 venues across the UK, said 44 per cent of its new customers in the year to June were under 35 years old. The group returned to profitability last year. And Buzz Bingo, which operates 82 clubs, said around half of its 200,000 new visitors in the year to January were under 35 years old.
Gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – have been heavily drawn into the fold. They get dressed up for a fun night out, wearing silky black shirts, enormous hoop earrings and inflatable crowns (prizes from a previous round). The prizes generally aren’t money, instead being silly fun stuff like a giant blow-up microphone or a life sized photo of David Hasselhoff.
The bar’s cheaper than regular pubs and clubs and to many the bingo is a bonus. At one bingo hall a pint is £4.30, a large glass of wine £5.
Not long ago, bingo seemed to be in terminal decline. The smoking ban in 2007 was a challenge, but its downward trajectory grew steeper with Covid. 75 bingo clubs have shut their doors in Britain since 2020, due to a combination of the pandemic and the spike in energy prices that followed.
Bingo’s renaissance amongst young people is partly down to concepts such as Bongos Bingo, a “a crazy mix of traditional bingo, dance-offs [and] rave intervals,” which started in Liverpool but now has nearly 50 locations worldwide. I know of one in Mallorca! Even my husband has DJd at a few bingo dance-offs.
Bingo fits in with the rise of “activity bars” in cities including London, Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol, that offer games alongside food and drinks. Now you can play darts, ping-pong and crazy golf, or even get to grips with axe-throwing, shuffleboard or a simulated clay pigeon as you enjoy your pint or cocktail.
As we came out of Covid, people were looking for ‘experiential’ evenings, and many Gen Z-ers are choosing to drink less alcohol than previous generations, or to forgo it entirely, and bingo is one example of “experiential leisure” that works booze-free – I suppose.
Am I up for it? Hmmm…
