Mardi Gras Nightclub Skegness

By Angela Gooch on May 14th, 2008

Now some of you MUST remember the Mardi Gras nightclub in Skegness! The club occupied the same premises as Flirtz Lap Dancing Club does today. It was my favourite disco when I first came to Skegness in 1976. It was always packed with revellers and was THE place to be. I remember they used to have mini beauty competitions where all the girls would parade round in a circle to the music of “Isn’t She Lovely” and the winner got a bottle of plonk!

Even in the mid 1980s, the Mardi Gras on Lumley Road was ever popular with the young and lively. The music in 1985 was almost pure funk with DJ Ricky Ryan delighted in playing import and other lesser known tracks. Many of Skegness’ best break dancers were regularly seen there.

I’m not sure as yet when it actually closed down (anybody help here?) but lets have a look at what the papers had to say when the Mardi Gras Nightclub first opened its doors in May 1973…

May 1973 (news story appeared in March 1973)

TICKETS are selling fast for the two opening nights at Skegness’s latest nightspot, the Mardi Gras Club in Lumley Road.
Topping the bill will be comedian Charlie Williams, who started his stage career singing for £1 a night in the Skegness area.
The television show “The Comedians,” made him a nationally known figure and he has since had one of the longest ever runs at the London Palladium.

Charlie lived in Skegness for a number of years working as a window cleaner and captaining the Skegness Town Football Club. He was a former Doncaster Rovers player.

FULLY BOOKED
The Mardi Gras Club’s proprietor, Mr John Bennett, said last week that tickets were going very fast and there would soon be none left. The restaurant was already fully booked.
He promised that if any tickets were not sold people would be able to buy them on the door on the opening night.
Other cabaret lined up for this new nightspot for the over-20s are Bob Monkhouse, Terry Lightfoot and his orchestra, and singer Billy Fury.
The cabaret immediately following Charlie Williams will be Treble Chance, a three-piece harmony group, and Tony Downing, another of the comics from “The Comedians” show.

TOP COMEDY
Appearing for a week start ing from 13 May will be Chris Barie and Rickie Duval, two of the country’s top comedy female impersonators.
The resident band at the club will be The Nocturnals, a fully professional fourplece band, with organ, drums, two guitars and harmony backing. They come from Newcastle and are well known for their cabaret work in the north.
As well as providing top class cabaret the Mardi Gras club will also have dancing and a high class cuisine.
On the menu there is a choice of 17 main courses, ranging from 25p for a green salad to £3.25 for a
“Chateaubriand” fillet steak dish for two.
Mr Bennett is employing a highly qualified chef with experience of top West End restaurants.

Below are the ads which appeared in the 1973 local newspaper announcing the opening of the new Mardi Gras nightclub in Skegness.