The two have been shut for more than a year now with no updates from the venue owners over the future of the businesses
Elysium found on Eberle Street(Image: Elysium)
Two Liverpool nightclubs remain shut ahead of one of the biggest weekends of the year for the city’s Pride Quarter. On Saturday, July 26, thousands are expected to come to the city to celebrate Sahir’s staging of Liverpool Pride.
The 2025 festivities will look a bit different from usual. The event and march were initially cancelled for the year, with the organisers citing “significant financial and organisational challenges” and insisting they “listened to the community” by cutting ties with sponsor Barclays. This decision created further issues with staging the annual event.
LCR Pride Foundation, the organisation behind Pride in Liverpool and the city’s annual March with Pride, then “regretfully” announced in a lengthy statement shared with ECHO that the event on Saturday, July 26, would not go ahead.
However, Sahir, the city’s oldest LGBTQ+ charity, has now managed “to turn things around” after stepping in to facilitate the event at seven weeks’ notice.
While a new route, party, and location were announced, the Pride Quarter’s festivities will be going ahead as normal – with former Sugababes star Amelle Berrabah taking the headline slot at The Masquerade’s Cumberland Street Party.
Dorothy’s Showbar on Victoria Street
And while venues throughout the city’s Pride Quarter will be packed with customers celebrating on Saturday, two venues in the heart of the area currently remain closed.
Dorothy’s Showbar on Victoria Street and Elysium on Eberle Street have both been closed for a lengthy period of time.
The ECHO made repeated attempts to contact both venues for comment but did not receive a response.
Dorothy’s shut its door shortly after celebrating Pride in Liverpool 2023. The company deleted all its Instagram posts and changed its bio to ‘coming soon’ at the time.
However, since this there has been no indication of when the club will return. The owner of the venue previously confirmed to the ECHO that the closure was temporary due to flooding issues.
The spokesperson said: “Due to a burst water main pipe, Dorothy’s Showbar has been left with water damage.
Celebrating New Year’s Eve outside Dorothy’s Showbar on Victoria Street.(Image: Andrew Teebay)
“We are currently waiting for it to be fixed and will re-open in the near future.” The owner has now confirmed the issues are currently being resolved in line with the landlord.
When the ECHO last spoke with the owner, they claimed the issues were being resolved with the landlord but were unable to confirm when the venue would reopen.
Dorothy’s Showbar opened in January 2020 describing itself as a “popular haunt for some of the world’s most famous drag queens”.
Elysium nightclub, located on Eberle Street in the former Garlands venue, has also been shut for an extensive period of time. Last year, on Friday, September 13 it was gripped by a fire, having been shit prior to the blaze.
A firefighter at the scene on Eberle Street(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
At the time, six fire engines surrounded the building as crews could be seen using the entrance to Elysium in order to fight the fire. Merseyside Fire and Rescue were on scene at 3.36pm with an aerial appliance also in attendance.
On arrival crews found the three storey building had a fire in the roof space. Four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus fought the fire internally using two hose reel jets, with one main jet being used externally.
Eberle Street was closed while fire crews worked at the scene and several car parks on Tempest Hey were also blocked off by fire engines, preventing vehicles from leaving.
Firefighters at the scene on Eberle Street(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Since then, the venue has yet to reopen its doors. As of this week, the venue remains closed, with the entrance covered by a plank of wood. The ECHO has contacted Elysium Nightclub for comment.
The company hasn’t posted to any of its social media accounts since before the fire took place.
When Elysium initially opened in 2023, it promised to stay true to the ethos of Garlands, “a nightclub before its time”. Clubbers were entertained with live music and “a line-up of some of the hottest house DJs in the area”. With a capacity of 1,200 the versatile space wanted to pitch itself as a private event space for city centre celebrations.