Once upon a time there was Ancona that dances. Even in the city, with places like the JuJube or the Black Moon, but above all in the surrounding area, where the people of Ancona suffering from “Saturday night fever” went to let loose in places that for decades were icons of the night, such as the Green Leavesl’Aquail Babaloo, lo Shalimaro l’Odyssey. But then in the city there were other places where you danced, dined and even listened to live music.
Night clubs capable of attracting the attention not only of the people of Ancona but also of people who came from outside the city to seek entertainment in the capital. Like the historian Barfly, now closed and for sale. As well as Neon, which shone for a few years. Now a few steps away from where the Neon, in via Primo Maggio, there is the Nyx Club with its varied music, with its aperitifs and dinners, which opened its doors in 2022 in the footsteps of the U-Bahn.
The Faculty of Engineering
But the Nyx is the only nightclub in Ancona, the regional capital and university city. Once upon a time there was much more choice, even in the centre, while today for the young people of Ancona the musical meeting point is at Baraccolawhere it is easier to find suitable and structured spaces in such a way as to comply with increasingly stringent regulations, also having large car parks.
The big discos are no longer there
The big discos, at least in Ancona, are no longer there. With the decline of the multipurpose Barfly in 2009 perhaps an era is over. Born as a venue for live music within the walls of Recanati, it had moved to Baraccola, becoming a cult, transforming into a real multi-purpose disco: the success on Friday evening was sensational with “Disco Inferno“, since the late nineties.
Carmen Consoli
On its stage, as the news reports of the time recall, artists of the caliber of performed Gianna Nannini, Francesco De Gregori, Negramaro, Elisa, Carmen Consoli, Caparezza e Bandabardò. Just to understand. All this no longer exists, nor is there an Ancona alternative at that height, with that twenty meter counter, that stage, that capacity to welcome an audience. This applies to live music as well as to dancing, as long as the two things cannot be the same.
The Faculty of Engineering
Nightlife fun: where the kids go now
It’s the world of the night that changes. And in the current one there are young people, the many university students from Ancona, as well as high school students, the older ones, already looking for night time entertainment, family permitting. And it is here, for all of them, that the Ancona offer shows its shortcomings.
This was told by those directly involved, interviewed at the Engineering University on the occasion of the Open Day. There are those who study, those who walk, those who inquire about the university they will enroll in after graduating from high school. But after studying there is fun, there are places to spend the night, places to go with friends and where to make new friends. There are those who are satisfied, those who see the glass half full, those who focus on cultural clubs, the cinema, the bowling alley, the clubs in the center as meeting points, those who find themselves at pubgiven that there are still some that offer live music like the traditional one Donegal Irish Pub.
For the rest, in Ancona people dance on New Year’s Eve. And out of some bar, outdoors and in the cold. Or, as one university student says, there’s no dancing at all. The safety of public places and compliance with current regulations are fine, but it is reasonable to expect something more from a regional capital. And instead.
date: 2026-02-08 15:14:00
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