Everything has gone from bad to worse in the past few years in Lebanon except partying. Every year the parties get hotter and better and that’s one of the few things we can still brag about as Lebanese. Sundays at Skybar, Decks on the beach, Mar Mikhael’s Train Station, Garten, O1NE, B018, C U NXT SAT and other venues made Beirut’s nightlife this summer the best in years and I am positive things will only get better.
Since what’s happening in the Middle East is way too complex for anyone to understand, let us think of our beloved capital as a “comfort in the chaos, as a place where the lack of regulation somehow makes life easier, and where partying and preserving this lifestyle is worth fighting for”.
Despite its political climate, Beirut has maintained an irreverent and thriving party scene for years. Rooftop nightclubs adorn the coast of the Mediterranean, bohemian districts cater to tourists and local artists, and bars offer coke-fueled benders down the street from Hezbollah headquarters. It doesn’t get more scenic.
The juxtaposition of political tension and flagrant partying is not the only clash of interests in Lebanon. The New Jersey–sized country is one of the most religiously diverse in the Middle East, offering representation to 18 different religious sects and all the divergent political ideologies that come with them. But nothing has survived civil war, foreign invasion, 800,000 refugees, and a regular stream of targeted bombings quite like Beirut’s club scene.
This disregard for the violence that surrounds Beirut is not apathy. Partygoers are all too aware of the country’s political turmoil but stay within its imploding borders to seek a better alternative. In that respect, nightlife has become yet another medium in the culture of dissent. But the influx of Syrian refugees and the encroaching threat of the Islamic State has made tourism plummet by 40 percent this year, with hotels and airlines lamenting up to 60 percent in revenue loss. To many, it seems like Beirut’s revelry is doomed, but not to Yousef Harati. [Link]
You’ve got fight, for you’re right, to paaaartey
it’s a shame to brag about that!
first of all for i don’t get yet why Lebanese are so proud about their night life scene?
does it need rocket science to do it? did we invent something that the world didn’t know about?
night life is all about drinking alcohol, smoking, show off and dancing…well no one is dancing anymore.. it’s a big facebook photoshoot session these days.
Anyway regardless of that , Lebanon is getting worse year by year! the economic situation is bad, more and more pollution, our mountains and shores are being destructed and privatized, it’s war all around and we can even consider ourselves in a war, the deputies are still the same and robbing us
But we know how to Party! wohouuu!
we are in a deep coma my friends! Lebanese have became so individual, no one cares expect for himself, his plans, his parties, his car..all we do is go eat, party and shop that’s our national hobby!
a 100 000 Lebanese are ready to attend DJ van blabla and a 200 000 are to attend an opening of a political office in some region
but less than 100 people are ready to support and attend a ecological event for example
this is why this country is never going to get better
we citizens simply don’t care
go party go have fun but at least don’t brag or be proud about it and please please no more articles about “Beirut the capital party of the MEA” khalas ..too cheesy
we have much more critical things to write about
well put !
Nada: +100000
Our politicians are ruining the country, our country is totally bankrupt, we are losing generation after generation of brilliant people, but we have the biggest dish of Tabboulé and Hommos. Shame.