Part of the Gay London Guide — bars, events & things to do.
London, London
Grade II-listed Vauxhall pub known for outrageous drag and cabaret.
The Royal Vauxhall Tavern is the grande dame of London's queer scene — a Victorian pub on Kennington Lane that has been a gay venue for generations and is widely held to be the oldest continually operating LGBTQ+ community venue in the UK. The building dates to the early 1860s, raised on land that was once the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. In 2015 it became the first building in the country granted Grade II listed status specifically for its importance to LGBTQ+ history, after a campaign backed by Ian McKellen and Paul O'Grady; it also holds Asset of Community Value protection. The programming runs to alternative cabaret, drag and club nights rather than a straight dance-bar formula — this is where Paul O'Grady built the Lily Savage character, and where the legendary Saturday club Duckie held court for 27 years until 2022. Expect performance with an edge: campy, political, occasionally chaotic, rarely polished in the West End sense. It's a destination rather than a drop-in, a short walk from Vauxhall station and the cluster of railway-arch venues nearby. For anyone tracing the actual history of queer London, the RVT is the anchor.
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