Drag bingo is a bingo night with a drag queen holding the microphone. The numbers (or songs) give the night its shape, but you’re really there for the lip-syncs, the dance-offs and a host who’ll pick on your table. Nobody owns the format.
Touring shows, Mecca clubs, Shoreditch bars and Saturday brunches all run their own version, at prices from under £8 to £50, depending on where you choose to play. Here’s how each one works and where to find it.
What Happens at Drag Bingo
You get a card, the queen calls, and you mark it off. After that, the formats split. Ginger’s Big Drag Bingo in Shoreditch gives you a bingo strip with your ticket. Drag Bingo UK plays music bingo instead, so a song comes on, you find it on your card, and you sing along while you’re at it. Their FAQ tells you to ask a neighbour if you don’t know the track.
Between games, the show takes over. Ginger’s nights have lip-syncs, dance numbers, team games and dance-offs. Drag Bingo UK adds live vocals, comedy and audience games, and there’s always a prize for the best-dressed table. A Drag Bingo UK night runs for about three hours in three acts with two intervals, while House of Drag Bingo at Mecca plays from 9pm to midnight.
The humour is adult. Drag Bingo UK’s terms warn of swearing, sexual language, nudity, strobes and haze, and say anyone invited on stage for a dance-off takes part at their own risk.
Who Runs Drag Bingo in the UK
These are the shows we found running as of November 2026, with the lowest ticket price we could see on each one’s own listing. Prices change by venue and date, so take them as illustrative.
| Show | Where it plays | Format | Price seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drag Bingo UK | Theatres and halls, mostly the South East | Music bingo with host Miss Demeanour | £35 (VIQ £50) |
| House of Drag Bingo | Mecca Bingo clubs | Mecca session then a drag show | £16.50 to £27.50 |
| BALLZ! Bingo | Mecca Bingo clubs | Comedy drag and live vocals | Varies by club |
| Ginger’s Big Drag Bingo | The Joiner, Shoreditch | Fridays and Saturdays | £7.70 standing |
| Buff Bingo | 21 cities | Saturday drag brunch | From £18.95 |
| FunnyBoyz | New York New York, Manchester | Benidorm Bingo on Saturdays | Varies |
| Dabbers & Drag | Tonight Josephine, Waterloo | Bingo and cocktails | Varies |
Drag Bingo UK is the name Google puts first. Miss Demeanour Ltd, a company registered in London in September 2024, runs it, and Miss Demeanour herself hosts it. Its tour mixes seaside venues with London. Current events on the calendar include Folkestone’s Leas Cliff Hall, Eastbourne’s Winter Garden and Woolwich Works before Christmas, then Gravesend, King’s Lynn, Milton Keynes and Weston-super-Mare’s Grand Pier in 2027.
Drag Bingo at Mecca
Two touring shows now play inside Mecca clubs. House of Drag Bingo names Mecca as its venue partner, and BALLZ! Bingo brings Drag Race UK queens such as Baga Chipz, Choriza May and Scarlett Harlett, with line-ups that change from club to club. Mecca’s own events page doesn’t list either of them, so you book through the show’s ticket listing.
At Mecca Leicester in November, House of Drag sold an “all in” ticket for £27.50, covering the main bingo session from 7pm to 9pm and the show from 9pm. The show-only ticket was £16.50 and needed a Mecca membership, which you can sign up for online before the night. BALLZ! Bingo sells the same kind of bundle, with the Mecca session from 7pm to 9pm and the show from 9pm. Everything after 9pm is the party.
House of Drag’s dates for winter and spring take place in these clubs:
- Mecca Crossgates in Leeds
- Mecca Leicester on Aylestone Road (twice)
- Mecca Norwich at the Norwood Rooms
- Mecca Romford
- Mecca Stevenage
- Mecca Thanet in Ramsgate
- Mecca Gateshead
- Mecca Crewe
- Mecca Glasgow at Springfield Quay
- Mecca Beeston in Nottingham
- Mecca Swansea
Our Mecca club finder has the rest of the chain if your nearest isn’t on the list yet.
Drag Bingo in London
London has the most choice and the cheapest tickets. Ginger’s Big Drag Bingo runs every Friday and Saturday at The Joiner on Worship, 2-4 Paul Street, a short walk from Old Street. Doors open at 6pm, the show runs from 8pm to 9.30pm, and the bar stays open late with DJs. A standing ticket with a bingo strip was £7.70, a seat £11 on a Friday and £14.30 on a Saturday. Lucky Chip does the burgers. Bring ID, because the listing says no ID means no entry.
Over at Tonight Josephine in Waterloo, Dabbers & Drag pitches itself as a Friday girls’ night of drag-hosted bingo and cocktails. Drag Bingo UK comes to Woolwich Works in December, and House of Drag plays Mecca Romford in February.
If you’d rather have the party without the drag, Shoreditch also has Hijingo, and Dabbers Social Bingo runs themed nights on Houndsditch.
Drag Bingo Brunch
Buff Bingo is the brunch version, and it runs in more cities than anyone else: Bath, Bristol, Bournemouth, Brighton, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Ipswich, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Norwich, Nottingham, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton and York. Each city gets one session on a Saturday, starting at noon and lasting four hours.
At Revolution Brighton, the Fever listing started at £18.95. The bottomless package includes 90 minutes of prosecco, cocktail pitchers, beer and soft drinks, plus a brunch dish with fries; bingo also comes with drag, a DJ and the “buff butlers” serving tables. Tickets are sold only through Fever, in advance, and can’t be refunded or transferred. Book your group together, or email them afterwards to be seated at one table.
It’s seated, 18+, and most venues ask for photo ID on arrival (no photocopies). Buff Bingo says the event can’t currently cater for deaf or visually impaired guests, and some venues use strobes.
FunnyBoyz is the other brunch name, though its bingo is the Saturday Benidorm Bingo at New York New York, in Manchester’s Gay Village on Canal Street.
Is Drag Bingo Gambling?
Mostly not, and the shows are careful about it. Drag Bingo UK’s terms say no cash prizes are awarded, cards come with the ticket and can’t be bought separately, and the bingo is part of an entertainment show rather than gaming under the Gambling Act 2005. Its FAQ is blunter: there’s no money to be won, just silly prizes. Groups can be asked to share a card.
None of the drag bingo organisers here appears on the Gambling Commission’s register, which fits that model. It’s the same approach Bingo Loco takes. The exception is the Mecca bundle, where the 7pm session is ordinary licensed bingo run by the club before the drag show starts.
Going Alone, What to Wear and ID
You don’t need a group. Drag Bingo UK sells Flying Solo tickets and seats solo guests together, and its VIQ ticket adds fizz on arrival, a meet-and-greet with the cast before the show, and first pick of seats. Some venues add a third tier. The Grand Pier sold an ICON ticket with a meal and drink tokens.
Dress codes are loose. House of Drag asks for sequins, feathers and full glam (you don’t have to come in drag, though they’d love it), Drag Bingo UK gives a prize for best-dressed, and Buff Bingo says come as yourself.
All of these shows are 18+. Drag Bingo UK asks anyone who looks under 25 to bring ID; Ginger’s won’t let you in without it, and most Buff Bingo venues check. You don’t need cash for tips either. Throwing notes at the stage is an American drag habit, and it isn’t how UK drag bingo works.
Drag Bingo Near You
Drag bingo is busiest in the cities people search for it most. Brighton has Buff Bingo at Revolution, and Buzz Bingo Brighton if you want a normal session another night. In Glasgow, Buff Bingo runs on Saturdays, and House of Drag comes to Mecca at Springfield Quay. Manchester has FunnyBoyz on Canal Street, and Club 3000 on Hyde Road for the traditional kind.
Drag Bingo UK’s music rounds work like music bingo, and our bingo nights guide compares drag bingo with Bongo’s, Bingo Loco and the other party shows. Ginger’s and Drag Bingo UK both take private bookings. Planning your own? Start with our bingo night hosting tips.