A Guide To Swindon’s Bingo Loco Christmas Event

 

 

 

 

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After a hugely successful night on October 28th, Bingo Loco will bring their brand of balls and beats back to the Boom Battle Bar on Regent Circus for Christmas. December 23rd sees the return of the phenomenon where disco meets dabbers - doors are at 6pm, with the last entry being at 7:15 to ensure nobody misses a moment of the three-hour show that winds up at 10:30pm.

In those three hours, you can expect three games of bingo - with a top prize for the winner of the final game, while DJs bash out the tunes, a light show flares up the dancefloor and confetti cannons fire. If that sounds a million miles away from the bingo your grandma plays, that's because it is. Bingo has revolutionised in recent years. Brick-and-mortar bingo halls - like many other entertainment venues - have faced competition from online versions, which offer huge amounts of variety and different themes for the contemporary audience. Case in point, there are Cheeky Bingo online games based around TV favourites like Friends and Coronation Street. What those games can't do, however, is give you a night out with your mates, and that's where Bingo Loco comes in. It adds the glitz and gloss to a bingo night that fights off the threat of online providers to the age-old game.

Changing times

Twenty years ago, students had cottoned on to the fact that a night at the bingo hall offered a relatively cheap night out. These days there's a whole category of 'drinks-adjacent' entertainment venues that run from bars with crazy golf (Puttshack is now on both sides of the pond, with venues from Watford to Miami) through to escape rooms and even axe throwing. A travelling show, rather than one in its own premises, Bingo Loco's focus on bringing classic clubland and bingo together has taken them to every corner of the UK, Ireland and even Dubai. Upcoming shows have even been booked for Australia. Live hosts keep the crowd entertained between tunes, with sets full of

your favourites from the 90s and 2000s. The Boom Battle Bar couldn't be better as a venue, with its in-house games and experience of putting on nights from speed dating to pole dancing to hosting Jongleurs comedy nights.

Bingo bites back

The Christmas show promises to be a hit with groups of mates and office parties alike. Top prizes run from globetrotting holidays to Bali and the United States, and there will be random selections throughout the evening. There could even be a couple of Christmas-themed games - although we're sure Santa would be after that big prize to spend his winter in Bali rather than the North Pole. Dance-offs at Bingo Loco should bring some heat to a Swindon December. Physical bingo has had to change and adapt to combat the rise of its online incarnation and Bingo Loco manages the concept perfectly. Yes, you can dance in your front room, playing on your phone. But when virtual reality comes to online bingo - and it's not far off - you're risking tripping over the furniture and getting yourself on You've Been Framed! Don't let Harry Hill ruin a good night. Looking for a big night out for a group for Christmas? Or just a good laugh to get over the stress of Christmas shopping? In the words of your grandma's favourite bingo caller, this one promises to be a number 35 - jump and jive.