Blow-up dolls, The Cheeky Girls, and dildos dished out as prizes aren’t what you expect to find in a bingo hall.
And you certainly wouldn’t expect to find a 97-year-old boogying to rave music with her daughters, grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
But Bongo’s Bingo isn’t your bog standard affair. ‘It’s boring if you just play bingo all night’, Anne Gandy told Metro.
She was something of a special guest among the 3,500 people wearing cowboy hats, bride’s veils and glowsticks at the the ‘immersive, experiential’ event’s 10th birthday in Liverpool on Saturday night.
Anne has been more than 20 times in the last six years since her granddaughter Sarah, 29, first inspired her.
‘She was talking about Bongo Bingo and I thought, “Ooh, I’d like to go there”, so she took me… in the end’, Anne said.
‘And I’ve been going ever since. I’ve enjoyed it.’
For this latest anniversary, four generations of her family went along – her daughters Donna and Norma, aged 59 and 71, and Sarah, of course, along with fellow grandchild David, 25, and great-grandson Bobby, 20.
They even took part in the ‘rave round’ – the customary 15 minutes of dancing to techno, when people even get up on the tables, amid cardboard cutouts of celebrities, including David Attenborough.
Anne said: ‘The dancing, the music, I just like the atmosphere.’
It’s a far cry from the church bingo Anne otherwise goes to.
‘Each show features riotous fun, amazing music, crazy prizes, en masse Karaoke, rave rounds, dance-offs and of course plenty of bingo as part of a bonkers, surreal and very energetic night’, its spokesperson said.
First started in Liverpool in 2015, Bongo’s Bingo now takes place in more than 40 locations from London to Newcastle and even, since February last year, New York.
More than five million tickets have been sold in that time.
‘It’s since helped to revolutionise competitive socialising across the UK’, with prizes including pink unicorns, Henry Hoovers and disco ball helmets.
According to the organisers, Bongo’s Bingo has ‘rejuvenated a quintessentially quaint British pastime’.
Live performers have included R&B singer Craig David, pop artist Natasha Beddingfield, Eurodance group Vengaboys, boyband 5ive, and electronic group N-Trance.
Jeremy Corbyn even called out a few numbers when he popped in during the Labour Party’s annual conference in Liverpool in 2018.
With lineups like that, it’s no surprise Bongo’s Bingo sells itself as ‘nostalgia-soaked revelry in a dose of pure, unadulterated and immersive escapism’.
‘There’s all age groups and everybody’s all enjoying themselves’, according to Donna.
‘We usually go for the Christmas specials, but Anne wasn’t very well this year so we couldn’t go. We haven’t been since her birthday in September.’
Anne will be spending her 98th birthday at Bongo’s Bingo though. She said: ‘Nobody seems to pick anyone out. Everybody’s relaxed with each other and enjoying themselves.’
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