If you’ve ever wanted to attend a pajama party at Boston City Hall, now’s your chance. Night Cap is a third-space pop-up fueled by a Wake Up the Night grant and located in the famous Brutalist civic center of the city. For eight nights this month, Night Cap is bringing substance-free, LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC-centric programming to the space, including the party with a bunny-slipper dress code.
“There’s a huge interest in wanting to meet people naturally,” says Matt Meyers, creative director of Night Cap. “People are looking again for that third space, a place for community to gather.”
The base of Night Cap is an evening coffee bar by Snowy Owl Coffee Roasters and a music lounge with custom audio design by Sound Logic and live DJ sets by MX.Blair, Stealth Mode, CakeWalk and others. The lounge is open 6pm-11pm, much later than most cafes in Boston. In addition to the ambiance and liquid offerings, daily programming from
8 p.m. to 10 p.m. runs the gamut from comedy shows and queer speed dating to a Dungeons and Dragons character creation night and a fashion and figure drawing class with the Boston Figurative Arts Center.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NIGHT CAP CAFE
“We really want to use the space and the time that we have to cater to different audiences and provide a wide variety of opportunity to let people try out different things,” said Meyer.
Inclusivity is also a key tenet of the project. Though all are welcome at Night Cap, it’s particularly meant to create space for LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities in a nightlife landscape not always designed for them.
The pop-up was made possible by a Wake Up the Night grant. The Office of Nightlife Economy awarded 42 grants totaling $301,581 to individuals and organizations for nightlife activations that create accessible, intergenerational and culturally sensitive programming. Other programs that received grants offer nighttime kayaking, a non-alcoholic beer garden, Black culture trivia and more.
“We asked what do we have in the Boston nightlife scene and what are we missing?” Meyer said. “And beyond that, how do we use this space for queer audiences and marginalized audiences?”
Night Cap opened November 6 and will continue November 12 to 14 and 19 to 21 on the ground floor of Boston City Hall. The pop-up ends on November 21 with a combined night market and pajama party, when attendees can wear their coziest nightwear and shop a large market of local businesses. The Basement Project and DJ Cakewalk will be spinning beats all night.
Meyer says he’d love to see Night Cap continue in a pop-up format or even better in a permanent space. Though the events at Night Cap lean into novelty, especially with their historic setting, the ultimate goal is to create organic community connection in a safe, artistic space.
“The ideal scenario is that you could sit down at a table and just start a conversation with a random person,” he said. “You can make the space your own.”
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