Fetish Destinations: Melbourne
from
Recon News
10 September 2017
A creative and vibrant city, Melbourne has a cosmopolitan gay fetish scene to match. There's plenty to like about this cultural melting pot, as we explore here.
No visit to Oz is complete without sampling these Melbourne gay fetish hot spots.
A bit of background
As the two largest cities on the East Coast of Australia, and a mere 443 miles apart as the crow flies, Melbourne and Sydney are often directly compared. Melbourne can be seen as the somewhat edgier, artsier counterpart to Sydney's chic and glossy harbour city, and its gay scene also has more culturally-diverse vibe.
In the north of the city, the boroughs of Collingwood, Fitzroy and Abbotsford boast great gay fetish nightlife, while on the south side, Prahran, South Yarra and the bohemian beachfront suburb of St. Kilda are home to the main concentration of the scene.
Top recommended bars and clubs:
• Club 80: This mammoth, three-storey sex club in Collingwood is a fetish haven. With dungeons, dozens of private rooms, glory holes and huge areas for play, we wouldn't blame you for spending your whole time in Melbourne right here. An average week includes fisting parties, Wet Sundays and naked nights, and look out for the infamous Trough X fetish dance parties. Inspired by Berlin's underground club scene, Trough X nights feature art installations and aesthetic projections alongside the dance floors and play areas.
• Sircuit: Although it's not been around that long, Sircuit has already established itself as a fetish mainstay. At the weekends, a soundtrack of techno accompanies sweaty hedonism on the dancefloor, while the 'Tradie Beef' night celebrates hot guys in construction gear.
• The Laird: Strictly speaking, The Laird is a hotel, but it's also where you'll find the best leather and bear events in the city. There's a great beer garden for cruising, plenty of pool tables and a friendly atmosphere. The masculine crowd is serious about its fetish; check out Thursday's 'Spit 'n' Polish' night, where you can get a buzz cut and a boot polish, but no entry without at least one major item of leather, rubber or neoprene gear, or full armed forces or emergency services uniform. It also hosts the AWOL event – see below for more details.
• Wet on Wellington: A maze of saunas and steam rooms, plus a 25-metre pool, bar and a suckatorium make for a lot of wet and wild fun. There's weekly bear, naked and gym junkie nights, and at the weekend it's open 24 hours. Also sample Bay City Sauna, Subway Sauna and Peninsula Sauna for more of the same.
Top recommended events:
• A Week of Leather and Fetish (AWOL): Held at the Laird Hotel in August, AWOL is Melbourne's biggest gay fetish and leather event. The 2017 programme includes a Jock (strap) party, a gay fetish art exhibition, BDSM workshops, the Laird Leatherman competition and the notorious Code Black party. At Code Black, there's a strict leather dress code, plenty of hot boot blacks and an open bar and dancefloor until 5am.
• Woof Club events: These dance and fetish events frequently take place in Melbourne. The themes vary but include the Bunker leather pop-up bar and Scrubber, described as a 'beary and leathery tea-dance'. Check the website for the latest line-up.
Other recommendations
• Eagle Leather
• Mannhaus
If you have any other recommendations or comments about the Melbourne fetish scene, share them with us on Twitter (@ReconNews)
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