The Fringe Pop-Up Club Parties Next Door to The London 2012 Olympics
Here in London we’ve got the Olympic Games taking place. You may have heard. On Friday the city even hosted a rather massive opening ceremony for the Games. And yes, it was actually pretty spectacular, particularly when watched on the screens of a new pop-up members’ club that sits pretty much next door to the gargantuan Olympic Stadium itself.
Providing a stylish venue for spectators to watch the main Olympic and Paralympic events being broadcast, The Fringe had been gearing up for the grand opening ceremony, where it would party alongside the Olympic Stadium, but giving its members the chance to relax and watch the ceremony in comfort – on LCD screens, surrounded by a range of bars, cocktail lounges, restaurants and live music.
As expected, the atmosphere at The Fringe on the night of the ceremony was electric. Being so close to the Olympic Stadium meant that attendees could also see parts of the ceremony in the flesh — including a helicopter featuring a parachuting Queen of England (well, sort of) and a huge firework display — which merely added to the excitement.
The venue features several floors of thoughtfully lit, open warehouse space, each with a bar, and a huge courtyard on the ground floor, again complete with bar and a further giant TV screen, perfect for the huge audience that had turned up for the opening night.
Drinks-wise, visitors were well catered for, as The Fringe’s mixologists were on hand to provide various topical concoctions (designed by bespoke cocktail creation company Sweet&Chilli), including the Olympic Orchard – made with vanilla-infused rum, apple juice and soda water, mint, lime, sugar and apple slices – and the Ginford Christie (for anyone outside of the UK pondering this one, Linford Christie was a famous UK sprinter and Olympic gold medallist from the nineties), with gin, watermelon cubes, sugar syrup and basil leaves.
To wrap things up in style, Jazzie B and Soul II Soul stepped up for a rare live performance, before Jazzie span a slick selection of up-tempo funk, R&B and soul well into the small hours.
Quite a party for the opening night, and the perfect opportunity to showcase a slick new venue that allows visitors a cocktail-accompanied alternative method of watching London’s most talked-about event.
