Oxford Street’s Mardi Gras warm-up lands at 25hours Hotel The Olympia this Saturday with Mardi Gras: The Opening Act –a full-building takeover from 3pm that leans into the strip’s party history. It’s open-house, free entry, and designed to pull people off the street and keep them moving room to room.
The ground floor fires up with DJs and live sets before the party pushes into The Mulwray cocktail bar and up to Monica rooftop until late, with Dyan Tai, Charlie Villas, I Hate Kilimi and Tyrone Pynor on rotation. Drinks do most of the talking: an El Jimador pop-up bar anchors the tequila crowd, Lion Nathan pours beers in the atrium alongside Chandon Garden Spritz, and Monica’s cocktail list leans playful – think a Picante Margarita with heat, a Negroni Rosa, and frozen serves built for hot, crowded rooms.
Food stays practical, souvlaki and falafel plates made to be eaten one-handed while you drift between sets, levels and old friends you didn’t expect to see. No dress code, no velvet ropes, no pretence – just a big, loud, early start to Mardi Gras that does what Oxford Street does best: throw everyone in the same room and let the night sort itself out.