How Pxssy Palace Transformed Queer Nightlife
In celebration of 10 years, co-founder Nadine Noor shares their best moments.
Whether you’re searching TikTok or asking friends about London’s queer functions, Pxssy Palace will always come up. If you’ve never heard of them, just know this collective has revolutionized how queer people party. Think safe space – before it became a marketing buzzword. In this interview, we chat with co-founder Nadine Noor about the collective’s impact – and wildest nights – as they celebrate 10 years.
Jokingly referred to as “A silly ‘lil QTBIPOC club night,” Pxssy Palace is everything but unserious when it comes to the safety of its community. At first, it was a London house party hosted by roommates Skye Barr, Kesang Ball and Nadine Noor. The party gained its name after Noor’s cat birthed kittens and a friend joked that it was the “P-ssy Palace.” Later, Noor joined forces with Ryan Lovell and Mya Mehmi and would soon take over East London and beyond. Don’t believe us? Since then, they have led some of the UK‘s favorite parties from Boiler Room to Glastonbury. Oh, and they’ve curated events for fashion’s favorites like The V&A Museum, Diesel and more.
@pxssypalace For nearly 10 years, we have explored alternate realities through our themed parties & it’s been so fun to play dress with you all. And 6 of those years were spent dancing in the building we know as Colour Factory FKA Micks Garage. We bounced between a few other venues but always found our way back home. We have loved & learnt so much in that space. As we approach our 10th year anniversary at the end of 2025 we’re switching things up by stepping away from the bigger & themed parties, but this is not goodbye-just a lil break before we introduce what’s happening next. This is truly the end of an era, but we’re excited for what’s to come. Join us for our Last Dance at Colour Factory where we celebrate every theme we have ever done, under the roof that has held us for so long. TIX IN BIO Graphix: @Elise Rose (◕ ‿ ~)★ Video edit: @izuseeindis Track ID: Little Bit – @erikadecasier Spit – @bam_bii @BEAM @ladylykez #london #queertok #events #club ♬ original sound – PXSSY PALACE
From feeling sexy to twerking freely, mainstream parties just don’t get queer culture. What happens when your idea of “hot” isn’t trending, or even worse, is targeted politically? For a decade, Pxssy Palace has transmuted that pain into power, through care, fire fits and sounds that carry community through nights of self-expression.
Kwame Dapaa
In celebration of 10 iconic years, the London-based party took over the Glastonbury Festival stage and they’re hosting the upcoming Maiden Voyage Festival which they curated alongside Bree Runway, Amaarae and more. As for their fall functions, they’ll return to Somerset House for the Queer Family Picnic this year. The official 10-year party will unveil the collective’s first-ever bespoke exhibition “to shine a light on the work over the past decade, as well as pay homage to the queer manifestos from the 80s and safe space parties in New York that imposed a strict morality inside the venue,” a representative shared.
Continue reading for our interview with Pxssy Palace’s co-founder, Nadine Noor.
What was your first Pxssy Palace night like, and how did it make you feel?
Pxssy Palace was a house party, and those house parties made me feel safe and in control because it was the place I lived. My roommates and I decided who came in, who wasn’t allowed in and what music to play. When we first took it from the house to a club night, I felt excited by the transition and the possibilities, but I didn’t feel safe or in control, and that feeling became the catalyst to making the night more intentional.
Do you have a favorite Pxssy Palace moment?
When the production team experienced a moment of panic because the sound went off and our guests didn’t seem to care, they sang out every word. It was so beautiful.
Ten years deep, how has Pxssy Palace shaped your understanding of identity, expression and chosen family?
Over the last 10 years, I’ve learned that identity is fluid. Expressing ourselves through play, experimentation leads to uncovering who you are and not who you were told to be, and it’s necessary to have spaces that explore that self-discovery. Pxssy Palace has been that space for me, and I’ve been fortunate to witness it in countless others. With a chosen family, I’ve learned that people are not disposable, communication and boundaries are skills, and like any skill, it takes time, commitment and care.
If Pxssy Palace were a feeling, word or song… what would it be?
Too hard to put into one song, but the word is definitely “transformation.”
Lucian Koncz
Has it influenced your style, sound or sense of self?
Pxssy Palace has been one of the largest influences in my style, sound and sense of self. For a long time, I felt contained in a hyper-feminine, sexualized way of styling myself, and today I still love that style, but Pxssy Palace has broadened the spectrum of what makes me feel sexy. Now, I feel just as good with no makeup, a white vest and good-fitting jeans.
Sound-wise, I’ve been introduced to so many music sub-genres I didn’t know existed, it takes me to so many niches around the world that all have had an influence in some way. But the biggest impact is that my sound doesn’t have to be genre-specific; it can be fluid. Pxssy Palace has strengthened my sense of self because it continues to challenge and educate me, it’s pushed me to confront my issues and not fear my vulnerability.
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In a world that can still be unsafe for queer people, what has Pxssy Palace meant in terms of reclaiming space and joy?
Joy, especially now when there is a rise of right-wing ideology and policy, can feel harder to access, so it means everything. By everything, I mean sometimes the difference between life and death to us, to have a space where the point is to release and feel joy in a place that’s built for you.
However, this is not enough, which is why we have so much safeguarding built into the infrastructure of Pxssy Palace, such as a welfare team, a chill space, a policy, security guard training and much more that’s constantly improving and evolving. This is one of the many reasons we decided to take a break from producing our own events, because we are at a point where joy and action need to sit side by side if we are fighting through this current wave of oppression, and we are figuring out what those next steps look like.
What does community care look like to you in 2025, and how has Pxssy Palace embodied that over the years?
It looks more organized and strategic in creating systems of care, and Pxssy Palace has embodied that over the years by building care into the foundation of everything we do.
What do you hope to see from Pxssy Palace in the next 10 years?
That it’s still here doing the same thing we are doing now, just evolved into something tighter organization-wise, with a bigger team and a more sustainable financial model.
This interview has been condensed for clarity.
While you’re here, take a look at this protest disguised as a party.
