Inside The Birdcage: Kemptown's new home for cabaret, drag and community
The Birdcage opened on Marine Parade in Kemptown in May 2026
Two months after opening on Marine Parade, The Birdcage has live entertainment booked through to the end of December, more than thirty performers on its roster and a bar menu that gives half the proceeds of its charity cocktails to an LGBTQIA+ mental health charity.
Kemptown did not lack for places to drink. What the founders of The Birdcage argue it lacked was another room built specifically to bring Brighton's queer community together, and they have gone at that with a programme most venues twice their age would struggle to fill.
The Birdcage bills itself as a home for Brighton's queer community and its allies
Why they opened
Part cocktail bar, part entertainment venue, part community hub
The venue describes itself as a home for Brighton's queer community, and is direct about the gap it set out to fill. "Brighton has never been short of incredible queer people," the team say. "What we felt it needed was another space dedicated to bringing those people together."
The Birdcage was created as a venue where entertainment, hospitality and community collide. A place, in their words, where drag queens share the stage with comedians, where first dates become lifelong friendships, and where every guest is encouraged to show up exactly as they are.
"We're not trying to be the biggest venue in Brighton. We're trying to be one of the most welcoming."
The Birdcage
The location is deliberate. Kemptown has the highest proportion of residents identifying as LGB+ of any comparable area in the UK, at just over 20 per cent at the 2021 census.
The Birdcage donates half the proceeds of its charity cocktails to LGBTQIA+ mental health charity Queerwell
What makes them different
Built on belonging
The venue sets out four things it wants to be judged on, and they are more specific than the usual hospitality boilerplate.
The Birdcage says it exists to support Brighton's creative and queer communities, working with local performers, artists, musicians, charities and community organisations. "Supporting local talent isn't a marketing strategy for us," the team say. "It's part of who we are." The roster and the diary, covered below, do a fair amount of the arguing for that claim.
Live cabaret runs most nights on the Main Stage, alongside drag bingo, quiz nights and comedy
The programme
Eight regular series, and a diary that runs to December
This is what separates The Birdcage from a bar that puts a drag act on at the weekend. The venue runs eight named recurring series, and its listings are already populated with dates through to the end of December 2026.
On top of the regular strands sit the one-offs, and the naming tells you as much about the venue as any mission statement. The Category Is has run editions themed around Leather & Lace, Hallo-Queen, Video Games, Back To School and a Night Of 1000 Moira Roses. There has been a Pride warm-up with Cosmic, a Cocktails & Canvases session with Peanut, and an unofficial Jane McDonald after party.
Good to know
- Shows run on the Main Stage, most starting between 7:30pm and 10:30pm
- Listings are filterable by drag, quiz, cabaret, DJ and bingo
- Tables can be booked through the venue or OpenTable
- Beer garden, gender neutral toilets, wheelchair access, dog friendly
The Birdcage lists more than thirty performers drawn from Brighton's drag and cabaret scene
The cast
More than thirty performers on the books
For a venue that opened in May, the roster is the most surprising number in the whole operation. The Birdcage lists over thirty performers, drawn largely from Brighton's drag and cabaret scene, with hosts, singers, comedians and a resident DJ among them. Six are given front-of-house billing.
Behind them sits a much wider cast who appear across the cabaret listings.
Lovinia Belle, Mary O'Kart, Ivanna Drink, Dave Lynn, Roberta Calamari, Darcey Nox, Dawn The Drag Queen, Dolly Diamond, Dolly Rocket, Fonda Cox, Heidi Heights, Portia, That Girl, RJ Campinuff, Sandra, Snow White Trash, Emma Lindars, Lydia L Scabies, Lola Fierce, Marsha Mallow, Amy Laqueefa, Sam Solace, Cooper, Crudi Dench, Rococo Chanel, Joey Heasman.
Whatever else the venue is doing, that is a lot of paid work being put through Brighton's performer community by a business two months old.
Half the proceeds of every charity cocktail go to Brighton LGBTQIA+ mental health charity Queerwell
The bar
Half of every charity cocktail goes to an LGBTQIA+ mental health charity
Alongside the standard list, The Birdcage runs a charity cocktail menu supporting Queerwell, a Brighton-based LGBTQIA+ mental health charity. Fifty per cent of the proceeds from every charity cocktail sold is donated directly.
The connection is not arm's length. Managing director Sean Pettit-Scheepers sits on Queerwell's board, and the venue describes LGBTQIA+ mental health as something it is deeply passionate about as a business rather than a cause picked at random. It is a meaningful split. Charity tie-ins at bars more commonly run at a fixed donation per drink or a percentage in the single figures.
The signature list
Cocktails at a tenner
Deals worth knowing
- Any two cocktails for £15, mix and match from the signature list
- Happy hour Monday to Thursday, 5pm to 9pm, 15 per cent off drinks
- Wine Lover's Deal, 50 per cent off your second bottle
- Shooter Special £10, Jagerbomb Special £10.50
Cocktails from £10, with half the proceeds of every charity cocktail going to Queerwell
The kitchen
Chef Cameron Ly, and a menu written like a script
Cameron Ly runs a menu of what the venue calls elevated comfort food, built to be shared and to sit alongside a night of entertainment rather than compete with it. Every burger comes with skin-on fries and can be ordered as beef, southern fried chicken or plant-based, on a brioche, vegan or gluten-free bun at no extra charge. The naming does a lot of work: Basic Bitch, Hot Flock, Bird Of Prey, Drag Me To Brunch, Spilling The Tea, Mother Of The House.
The weekly offers are built around the entertainment. Sunday and Monday, a burger and cocktail for £20. Tuesday, burger, booze and bingo for £25. Given a signature burger alone runs from £14.95 to £19.95, both bring the drink in for very little on top. Typical spend is around £25 a head. The kitchen is open Monday to Sunday, noon to 9pm, last food orders 8:30pm, with brunch served until 2pm.
Private hire
Three tiers, up to 120 people
The venue is available for private events, and publishes its capacities and minimum spends rather than making you ask.
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The venue holds up to 120 for private hire, from birthday parties to full cabaret takeovers
Kemptown, Brighton BN2 1TL
01273 435927
TikTok @the.birdcage.bar
Paid partnership with The Birdcage.
