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The Black Cap, of the capital’s most legendary LGBTQ+ venues, officially has a reopening date after years of campaigning.
Some very keen advocates of the Camden boozer have been steadfastly holding a vigil outside the venue every week for the past decade. And all their efforts have finally paid off, because the Black Cap is officially reopening in March 2026.
RECOMMENDED: An oral history of Camden’s legendary gay pub, the Black Cap.
The Black Cap in Camden Town served its last pint in 2015 and regulars have been mourning it ever since. The pub had hosted drag performances since the ’60s and it was where Lily Savage (Paul O’Grady) would often perform. The Black Cap Community Benefit Society has been fundraising and lobbying to save it since it unexpectedly closed 11 years ago.
Over the years supporters have twice fought planning applications to turn the upstairs into flats, got the pub listed as an asset of community value, and seen it taken over by squatters.
The Black Cap has revealed it will reopen its doors on March 21. A final symbolic vigil will be held outside the pub on Saturday, March 14. Having undergone a £2 million renovation, the restored pub will include a ground and first floor bar, performance space, terrace and B&B rooms for hire upstairs.
The pub will host a hiring day and open audition for performers and staff on Wednesday, February 11.
Drag performer and campaigner Alex Green told Ham&High: ‘We are so happy that the Black Cap has been saved and sympathetically restored to celebrate its LGBTQ+ and drag performance history and will finally open as a safe and fabulous venue for our community.
‘It's been a lot of hard work and many sleepless nights over the past 11 or so years but I am hugely proud of the campaign team, Camden Council, and the new investors for doing the right thing. But most proud of the LGBTQ+ and local community for standing firm and saving this iconic and historically important landmark’
Long live the Black Cap!
Did you see that iconic London LGBTQ+ club night Duckie is also returning? It’s just like the good old days!
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