Can Gen Z still party?

They may seem to eschew boozy club nights for sober 'daylife raves', but the reality is more complex

- Teo Kai Xiang

Step into Marina Bay Sands' Marquee nightclub on a Wednesday night, and one finds a curious answer to the question: Do Gen Zs still know how to party?

Tourists and expatriates are in the minority here. Instead, the venue is packed with young adults in their early 20s, complete with long queues for the indoor Ferris wheel and screaming glee as the nightclub drops a blanket of balloons on the dance floor.

But, behind this glittering facade, the establishment has been working overtime to court new blood.

This particular party is one of Marquee's FTW themed nights, when the nightclub opens an hour earlier at 9pm, offering complimentary admission and free-flow drinks until midnight for a limited number of partygoers. Marquee's typical maximum capacity is just under 2,000 people.

It is part of a strategy that includes $40 student discounts on "infinite pour" drink promotions, exit vouchers for free entry the following week and e-mails enticing past patrons to come down with guests for free.

This strategy pays off in volume. Marquee has seen month-on-month growth in patronage since January, says Mr Patrick Robertson, Marina Bay Sands' director of nightlife operations.

"At the start of this year, we noticed a shift in partying trends within Singapore's nightlife scene, which prompted us to refine our operations," he says.

"With a larger Gen Z crowd today, the key difference in the industry is the pace of change. Nightlife trends used to shift every two to three years, but we now see them evolving every few months."

Even as liquor licensing hours were recently extended till 4am in limited parts of Singapore, a subtler shift is happening beneath the surface at Singapore's major nightlife players.

Underground party collective Thugshop has begun hosting Higher Sundays events with $1 cover charges and cheaper drinks, while offering free drinks and waiving cover charges through its Telegram channel.