On October 8th, Hackney Wick’s Number 90 swapped the usual plus-one for a nan, a nana or a granddad, and the dancefloor was better for it.
There’s a particular kind of nightlife story that usually starts with “back in my day,” and it rarely ends with the storyteller in the middle of a packed dancefloor at a Hackney Wick warehouse. At BYOG, it did.
Short for Bring Your Own Grandparent, the night was hosted by Kahlúa to mark the launch of its new Coffee Cream liqueur. The ask was simple, leave the usual plus-one at home and bring your nan, nana, granddad or grandpa instead.
Nearly 450 guests filled Number 90, creating a crowd that spanned generations who rarely get to share a night out, let alone a dancefloor. DJ Rossi kept the energy high from behind the decks, while viral personalities Grimegran, Grandad Frank, Jack Joseph and Lil Lesbian Nan added to the atmosphere. Rave-ready sunglasses appeared on grandparents, and Gen Z clubbers danced shoulder to shoulder with the people who taught them to say please and thank you. The usual rules of who belongs in a club were, happily, ignored.
BYOG is part of Kahlúa’s wider Not A Nightcap campaign, which pushes back on the idea that growing older means winding down earlier. It’s a message backed by the brand’s own research, which found that 85% of Brits want more intergenerational nights out. That figure points to something nightlife has been slow to acknowledge, plenty of people are looking for ways to go out together, whatever their age. As the night proved, the appetite is there. It just needed an invitation.
Looking past the novelty of a nan in a nightclub and there’s a bigger point underneath. Club culture is always shifting, but its best moments have always come from the same place, connection, self-expression and the thrill of sharing a room with people who are there for the music. Those things don’t expire at 30, or 50, or 80.
Maybe the future of nightlife isn’t about who’s next in the queue. It’s about who’s on the guest list.
Photography courtesy of Kahlúa / Pangolin.