The Guide to the London Kink Scene:
Summer 2016
If you’re interested in what’s on in London, then look no further: here’s the official Fetish.com roundup for the London kink scene. The list is nowhere near exhaustive, but it’s a good place to start if you’re just dipping a toe in the water.
Two Houses, Both Alike in Dignity
My usual recommendation for newbies to the London kink scene is to attend one of our two monthly kink-focused shopping and playing events. The London Alternative Market is held on the first Sunday of every month, near Bank. The London Fetish Fair is held on the second Sunday and is currently located in Vauxhall - though they’re about to find themselves a new venue. Both have lots of great stalls during the day, followed by excellent fetish after-parties. Your time for dancing, playing and a chance to try out your new toys.
Plenty of people go to both. For anyone sufficiently involved, there’s a weird turf war that I’ve never entirely understood. I ended up an LFF person rather than a LAM person by dint of who I was dating when I first went. It’s all a bit Oxbridge over there. They’re great places filled with good people, though.
Where Writers Fear To Tread
If FetLife is to be believed, everything that happens in the London kink scene takes place in a strange invitation-only members club. Where attendees are screened for attractiveness and women coming alone are cautioned not to turn up if they don’t fancy a threesome. I have never entirely understood these places, and yet there are dozens of them. Who is going? How do you get in? Are they really as deceptively straight-laced as their websites make them look?
The Hybrid Nightclub That Wouldn’t Die
I always thought I was at the very first Club Antichrist, but apparently, they actually started in 2004. The 2007 origin I can recall getting super enthusiastic about when I was eighteen was a reboot.
It’s a funny place, Antichrist. It’s about 60% a goth club and 40% a fetish club. I’ve seen Professor Elemental perform there more than once. It has been going for approximately forever, in a city where most of our alternative clubs have a lifespan of three to five years and our most sacred space is somehow now full of children.
What it is, though, is the city’s most accessible fetish club. It’s not even remotely intimidating because it feels so much like any other goth night. I still turn up from time to time, and it’s a good place to go if you’re curious but unsure.
A Munch For All Seasons
No matter where in the capital you live, there will be a munch near you. There appear to be three within walking distance from my flat all of a sudden. I live in a delightfully crappy bit of southeast London that is still relatively unblemished by the rot of gentrification. Look yours up on Fetlife if you’re interested. They’re still the most common entry into the community, and it’s a good way to meet people in a low-pressure situation.
The Old Faithful
It seems disingenuous to write this without mentioning Torture Garden, but I have a confession to make: I have literally never been to Torture Garden. I know, right? I’ve been an active member of the BDSM community for ten years in the home city of one of the best-known BDSM clubs in the world, and I have never gone to it.
I’ve always been a bit intimidated by Torture Garden, truth be told. It seems like it’s a place for willowy masochist switches who own a lot of PVC or whatever; you know, the kink community cool kids. Speaking as a short, vaguely dumpy sub with a penchant for psychological BDSM and a surprisingly low tolerance for fucking bullwhips or whatever is “in” these days, I’m probably better off going down the pub.
If you're looking for more action in the London kink scene check out our monthly articles of world wide events.
Abi Brown is a freelance writer and general pen-for-hire devoted to sexual deviancy, far-left politics and wearing too much jewellery. Find her at her website or @see_abi_write.
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