Think bingo is all hushed halls and dabber pens? That version of the game still exists, and plenty of people love it.
But alongside it, something else has been growing for the best part of a decade.
A louder, wilder, altogether more chaotic version of the night out that has taken over arenas, bar basements, and festival stages across the country.
And Greater Manchester has been part of that story from very near the beginning.
The party bingo scene has expanded rapidly in recent years, with events that blend confetti cannons, live performance, and genuine crowd-pulling energy with the classic format.
According to WhichBingo, a leading authority on online bingo sites in the UK, seven events are currently leading the field in the UK.
The list includes a Manchester original, a Liverpool export that now calls this city one of its biggest homes, and a clutch of touring shows that have made the North a regular stop.
Bongo’s Bingo: Born in the North, built for everywhere
No conversation about party bingo in the North starts anywhere other than Bongo’s Bingo.
Born in Liverpool in 2015, it now runs around 40 regular nights across the UK and has put tens of thousands of people through the doors each year.
Manchester has been one of its biggest and most consistent venues, with the format transferring perfectly to the city’s appetite for a night that refuses to take itself seriously.
The format is straightforward in description and chaotic in execution. Confetti blasts, dance-offs, singalongs, and prizes that range from the genuinely useful to the deeply absurd.
The bingo is real, the atmosphere is not remotely what your nan would recognise, and the queues on a Friday night reflect exactly how well it has landed with a Manchester crowd.
The rest of the field
Dabbers Bingo, which helped establish the contemporary model for the format, swaps traditional callers for comedians and quiet halls for rave-style lighting.
It is London-based but has toured nationally and the WhichBingo list places it among the events that have done most to define what the modern bingo night looks like.
FunnyBoyz runs dedicated Manchester and Liverpool venues under its Benidorm Bingo brand, mixing drag cabaret with bingo in a format aimed squarely at fans of RuPaul and a big Friday night out in equal measure.
Buff Bingo, which filmed on Canal Street, brings a bottomless brunch format with drag performances and has toured to Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Brighton among others.
Then there is Hijingo, the most visually spectacular entry on the list. Its permanent Shoreditch venue features floor-to-ceiling screens, stadium-grade lighting, and a robot host called AVA.
It is bingo as immersive theatre, and while Manchester does not yet have a permanent Hijingo location, the format represents the direction the wider industry is heading. Bogan Bingo, with its 80s and 90s rock anthems and Australian comedian hosts, and Barry’s Bingo, a pub-touring night built around gameshow-style bonus rounds, round out the seven.
Why Manchester has taken to it
Manchester’s relationship with the reinvented night out runs deep. The city that gave the world the Hacienda has always been willing to take a familiar format and push it somewhere unexpected.
Party bingo fits that tradition. It is not trying to replace what came before; it is doing something different with the bones of a game that already had a loyal following in this part of the country.
The city’s entertainment sector has been growing steadily, and recent developments including the Co-op Live arena have brought a new infrastructure for large-scale live events to the region.
Party bingo operates at a different scale, but it benefits from the same broader appetite for nights out that offer something more than a bar and a playlist.
For anyone planning a group night out in Manchester this summer, the options across this scene are broader than they have ever been.
Whether it is Bongo’s filling a venue on a Saturday night or FunnyBoyz running a sold-out show on Canal Street, the city has a version of party bingo to suit most crowds.
The format has grown up without losing the energy that made it work in the first place, and Manchester has been part of that from the start.
Feature image: Free to use from Pexels
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