Vot­ing in the Fourth Annu­al Wel­ling­tonista Awards is open from Decem­ber 1–15. Then come find out the res­ults at our Awards Night at Mighty Mighty on Decem­ber 17!

To vote, vis­it this page.

We’re fans of con­ver­sa­tion, but some­times we just want to shut the hell up and dance. These are the places that we go to dance our cares away.

Photo by JemswebBoo­gie Won­der­land: Most of the Wel­ling­tonista would nev­er be caught dead walk­ing through the front doors of Boo­gie Won­der­land. How­ever, when hav­ing a quiet drink at Alice, more than one of us are known to sneak through the side door and have a quick secret boo­gie. There’s some­thing about the light-up dance floor that draws us in, as well as the know­ledge that you’ll know every single song that they’re play­ing. And besides, the crowd’s totally from the Hutt, so it’s not like they can judge you.

The Garden Club: Those amongst us who went to plays or drama les­sons at the old Rep­er­tory Theatre are still a bit freaked out that it’s become a night club, but by provid­ing three sep­ar­ate spaces, The Garden Club man­ages to cater to a lot of people. What used to be the theatre now plays host to dance music, often of the drum ‘n’ bass vari­ety; the old Green Room is now a bar opened up to the air for smokers; and the top floor – the old rehears­al space – is now a gay club where older pat­rons feel right at home.

Mighty Mighty: If vari­ety is the spice of life, then that explains why MM is so spicy. Or lively. Four nights a week there are four very dif­fer­ent gigs at Mighty Mighty, and under the huge disco ball the many dif­fer­ent types of Wel­ling­to­ni­ans shake it out togeth­er.

San Fran­cisco Bath House: It’s jus­ti­fi­ably fam­ous for its live gigs, but the reg­u­lar Atom­ic and 24 Hour Party People nights also bring in a diverse crowd for whom ’80s and ’90s music means more than pre­dict­able top-40 songs. This is a place cus­tom-made for dan­cing, and while the sound sys­tem may not be the best in town, the sounds them­selves are the big draw­card.

The Watusi: Much of the Watusi is giv­en over to com­fort­able seat­ing, so their dance floor space is pretty lim­ited, espe­cially if there’s a live rocka­billy-ish band play­ing, as there often is. Des­pite this – or per­haps because of it – the floor is one of the most lively hap­pen­ing places to be, as the pretty hip­sters shake and shimmy and jive way into the night, pro­pelled by rum and com­munity.