‘I Can’t Explain, but Here I Feel Good:’ Inside a Queer Club Night in Hanoi

Once a month, in the coveted district of Tay Ho in Hanoi, Vietnam, some of the city’s most creative and talented gather to do what they do best: have a good time. 

Snug is a queer club night that, according to its Instagram bio, is home to the city’s “fabulous, dancers, kissers, homos, queers, posers, [and] bitches.” Their first party was in 2016, not long after the opening of their home club, Savage. There have been over 50 Snug nights since, and the fun is showing no signs of slowing down. This month’s edition welcomed around 600 people. For many, it’s the one time in the city they feel comfortable letting go and being themselves.

“It’s usually the craziest party,” Ouissam, a celebrated DJ and the founder of both Snug and Savage, told VICE. “You can feel a bit more loose, more open-minded.”

Before Snug, Ouissam said the queer nightlife scene in Hanoi was a bit too serious and dull. It was thirsty for color and diversity, both in its crowd and its music, and young people had little to no affinity for it. There was a gap in the city’s nightlife—the idea was for Snug to fill that. 

It did so by introducing a new sound to Hanoi. Ouissam invited DJs from other queer clubs and parties around the world to bring in music that was refreshingly different from the dark and monotonous tunes in other parties in the city. According to him, the resulting sound is eclectic, fun, uplifting, groovy, but still full of surprises. This way, Snug has been able to build a new queer scene from scratch.

“The first two years were pretty hard because people did not get it,” said Ouissam. But the crowd embraced the sound pretty quickly after that.

Useph, a DJ who has played at a few Snug parties, said it’s an “elegant, immaculate, and wild party with exceptional vibes that can’t be found at any other party around.”

Useph is a techno DJ, but for Snug he plays a range of 90s house and Italo disco tracks, with some gospel house and pop hits that he doesn’t get to play anywhere else. Useph played at this month’s Snug and said it was one of the most fun gigs he’s had this year. 

“The energy is on a different level—pure love and happiness that you literally can feel in the air,” he said. 

But Snug is not just a rave.

In 2018, it opened its stage to a group of drag performers called Peach. The drag show Peach produces for Snug is now an integral part of the monthly festivities. Peach still produces other shows in other venues, but its main show is always paired with Snug. 

The show is as eclectic and colorful as the party’s music. Peach is made up of a diverse group of performers with varying styles and acts that might not fit into other shows and venues. The group has also grown to involve not just drag but other queer performance art. AnnieTagonist aka BroTagonist, a Peach organizer and drag performer, said that not everything is for everyone, but there is always something for everyone. 

“One of the things we’ve prided ourselves on with Peach is encouraging an open queer space, not targeted toward any one demographic or audience,” she said. “We have always wanted Peach to be what the performers and audience wanted it to be. For a long time, one co-organizer described our job as ‘pointing a light at a stage, telling people about it, and seeing what happened.’”

If Peach’s artists are free to express themselves, so are Snug’s attendees. 

“Everyone is welcome as long as they are respectful,” said AnnieTagonist. “It is a space that allows people to express themselves in ways they may not otherwise have in their everyday lives.”

Useph shared similar sentiments. He said that while the drag performances are top-notch and the music is always on point, the most important thing about Snug is that people get to witness “the inclusivity and beauty of having people from all different backgrounds, genders, and sexual orientations getting together for a proper, quality time.” 

“As a straight male playing at a queer party, I get to pay my respect to the foundation of electronic music that I live for, as the roots of it are queer and no one should deny that,” said Useph.

Over the almost seven years that Snug has been around, it has lived up to its name and become a place where people, queer or not, can feel comfortable and cozy with themselves and with others.

It’s hard to say what about the party makes people feel that way. But as many queer people know, it’s not that some parties do anything wrong or explicitly make people feel unwelcome, uncomfortable, or unsafe—it’s just that other parties get more things right. 

“I can’t explain, but here I feel good,” is something Ouissam said a few people have told him about Snug. 

At the end of the night, which is often well into the morning, Ouissam said the party is all about creating an atmosphere where everybody is free to be who they are and do what they want. 

“We just want you to have a good time,” he said. “Really coming and feeling this energy of I’m just gonna have a good time tonight.”

Follow Romano Santos on Instagram.