Love nightlife but hate the late nights? This Vancouver event may be for you

Most of Metro Vancouver's nightlife starts up at 10 p.m. — but for the revelers at one bimonthly dance event, that's when they're getting ready to go home.

The event organizers at Home By Midnight (HBM) say their parties are geared toward those who like meeting new people and letting loose, but not the late nights.

HBM has been going since 2018, and organizer Mikael Bingham says it helps those who need to get up early in the morning or who have family commitments.

She says the parties have seen a huge spike in demand since public health restrictions were dropped and large events resumed last year.

"It's kind of an anti-nightclub. We start around 8 [p.m.], we end at 11," she said. "Once you get past a certain age … doors at 10 feels too late to you."

HBM comes at a time when B.C.'s average age is trending older. According to the 2021 census, the average age in B.C. is 43.1 compared to five years before that, when it was 42.3.

The number of people over the age of 65 rose by two percentage points in the province over that time span.

Bingham says she and the other organizers were finding regular nightlife spots didn't accommodate them well enough, and they could only dance with each other "at the next wedding".

"People should have these options," she said. "'Nightlife' shouldn't have to start at 10, 11 p.m."

The organizer says the event initially saw high demand from parents, especially mothers, but now includes a variety of excited dancers.

Bingham says that attendees come from as far away as Abbotsford, Mission and Coquitlam. Most of their events are held at the Anza Club in Vancouver.

Saturday marked HBM's first event of the year at the venue in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. It was sold out, with over a hundred people showing up to dance the evening away.

Kristiina Harris, a mother who was at the event with her friends, said she had been waiting for an event like this for over a decade.

"We wanted to come out and we really wanted to dance, but I don't know where we could go where we wouldn't be, like, 'We're 1,000 years old,'" she said, laughing.

Jessica Rosenblatt, Harris' friend and a mother of elementary school children, said the event constituted a safe place to go dancing and still be awake early the next morning.

Bingham said organizers have received encouraging feedback from attendees, who told them they are fulfilling an unmet demand for nightlife with better hours and a positive environment.

"We have an awesome crowd here," she said. "People respect each other's boundaries."

HBM events run every two months, with the next dance party scheduled for April 22 at the Anza Club.