90s Mixtape Party at The Exchange Hotel

If your idea of a good night out involves double denim and glowsticks, this Saturday is for you. The Exchange Hotel in Hamilton is throwing its '90s Mixtape Party' on 29 August, a night built around the dance hits of the 1990s, and the best part is that entry is free.

The evening is set up to keep you moving. DJs start from 6:00 pm, spinning the biggest hits of the decade, before the Aubrey Band takes over from 9:00 pm. With two levels of music running, the party carries on well into the night, and the venue is leaning into the theme, so digging out your old 90s gear is encouraged. There's also a $100 bar tab giveaway in the mix.

For anyone who hasn't been, The Exchange is a Hamilton institution. It's been trading since 1880, which is a fair few rounds on most of the songs you'll hear that night, and it's built its name on live music, live sport and a weekly lineup that keeps the place busy. On a normal Saturday, you'll find cocktails at $12 from 2:00 to 6:00 pm and bands and DJs across two levels from 6:00 pm until the doors close at 3:00 am, with no lockouts and free entry as standard. The 90s night slots right into that, so it's an easy one to drop into without any cover charge.

If you're planning to make a night of it, it's worth knowing what else the pub does. Weekdays are built around cheap eats: $20 rump steak and salsa on Mondays, $20 wings and a schooner with music bingo on Tuesdays, $18 burger night and trivia on Wednesdays, and $18 schnitty or parmi with free pool on Thursdays. Fridays lean into the after-work crowd with $6 frothies, $5 Great Northerns and meat raffles from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, then DJs from 8:00 pm with $6 vodkas and $12 cocktails until 10:00 pm. And if you've got a birthday coming up, the pub hands out a $50 voucher if you bring ten friends in your birthday month, ID checked on arrival.

Upstairs, Nonna Bizzarro keeps the energy going late. It's an Italian-American spot that opened in May, serving shared plates with DJs playing every day and a late-night discoteca feel. The menu runs through antipasti, arancini, burrata with salsa verde and hot honey, beef carpaccio with truffle aioli, tuna crudo, calamari fritti, wild mushroom arancini, eggplant and chicken parmigiana, the signature Disco Pasta, a ten-layer lasagna, a hefty rib eye steak tagliata and an OG meatball sub, with all the pasta available gluten free. For dessert there's tiramisu, old-school soft serve topped with salted caramel and pistachio praline, and a Boozed Up & Wide Awake affogato, plus cocktails, wines and espresso nightcaps. Nonna's Bottomless is their set menu with two hours of drinks for $75 a head.

So, if you're after a night that doesn't cost you anything to get through the door, the 90s Mixtape Party is a safe bet. Grab your glowsticks, head to 125 Denison Street in Hamilton, and let the DJs and Aubrey Band do the rest.