A new business plans to bring a different kind of nightlife experience to St. Louis. Nocturnal STL will kick off a series of pop-up events starting Friday, Sept. 13, at the And Co. Event Space located at 3427 Locust St., near the Fabulous Fox Theatre.
The concept will bring “nightlife without unwanted extras” and will feature dancing, games, snacks and mocktails, with each ticketed pop-up event promising to be open until at least midnight.
“We’re creating a club vibe that’s classy and still gives people an opportunity to dress up and go out,” said Willie Johnson, part of the team behind Nocturnal STL.
Although it is beginning as a monthly pop-up, Johnson said he sees Nocturnal STL evolving to twice monthly pop-ups and eventually finding a permanent home for the concept, as interest grows. Johnson, who is also a DJ, promises that in addition to music and dancing at each pop-up there will also be games, such as card games like Spades and Uno, as well as a Nintendo Switch.
And to ensure guests fully enjoy their experience, there will also be drinks and light bites. The mocktail menu is still in the works, but Johnson said the drink presentation will be elevated and worthy of a spot on attendees’ social media feed. In terms of snacks, guests will find an array of small desserts such as banana pudding, red velvet cake and rum cake, but in keeping with the non-alcoholic theme of the drink menu, Johnson promises the alcohol will have been cooked out of that particular dessert. Additional snacks are what he refers to as “late night food” like nachos and bowls of cereal.
Part of the inspiration for the concept comes from a desire to meet a need that he sees in the community. Johnson said people can often avoid some nightlife activity because they don’t drink or may not feel safe in some club environments, and he knew he wanted to find a way to create a place where those unwanted elements wouldn’t be there.
“For folks who want to get dressed up and go out with their friends, but don’t want to deal with all the extra, they don’t really have a place to go. We want to create that place,” he said.
The idea for Nocturnal STL came to Johnson after he attended a young adult game night and played card games like Giant Spoons.
“I had more fun than I’d had in a long, long time. I felt like a child again,” Johnson said. “I started thinking what if we could bring back that child-like fun of being with friends, playing games and just having a good time.”
General admission to the grand opening event is $20, and tickets are available through Eventbrite. Dates and locations of future pop-up events will be announced on Nocturnal STL’s Instagram account.
This article appears in August 2024.