Hampshire Boulevard opened in 2002 and is the only dedicated LGBTQ+ venue Portsmouth has. It stands on Hampshire Terrace, at the edge of the university quarter and a short walk from Guildhall Square, and its own sign calls it a bar, a terrace and a nightclub, in that order.
The programme is built on live entertainment rather than one long dance floor. A resident drag host runs the weekend show with a different guest each week, and the rest of the week brings karaoke, music bingo, DJ sets of nineties and noughties pop, and a night pitched at the navy, which in this city accounts for a good part of the crowd. Later the main room turns over to DJs on rotation.
Entry is by ID scan and the door is strict about it. Passports, driving licences, citizen cards and military ID are accepted, and nobody gets in without one. There is no dress code any more, and drugs bring an immediate ban. The crowd is mixed and largely local, students and sailors alongside the regulars.
