VFDalston

Unfortunately, I have to give this venue 0 stars. If someone wants to host an event here, I would be very careful of the hidden fees. We ended up paying much more than we expected for a very tiny space. This also includes the fact that they have very expensive drinks and take 100% of the bar spend. VFD stated (via email in writing) that they are a charity, which is why they have these fees. Not sure if this information is true or not. You can hire the venue downstairs until 4 am, but the smoking area closes at 11 pm, which doesn’t really make sense. If you want to go down the route of being a co-producer, which is where they offer the venue for ‘free,’ please note that this means they would have full control of all your ticket sales. You will have no say in the ticket sales at all, unless you choose to pay for the space instead. I’ve never heard of this being the case, and it seemed like another way to make money from us. The cloakroom was disorganised, and we had guests waiting outside in the cold for over 30 minutes. The tech person we were told to pay for on the night of the event (another hidden fee not included at the beginning) did not know how to use any of the equipment, and our DJ set cut off. When we told the tech person, they began to google the manual. To say it’s been a rollercoaster working with VFDalston is an understatement. I am just happy our event is over and we can go somewhere else.

The world is quiet here.

Lyall and the team at VFDALSTON are exceptionally, great venue for exhibitions, entertainment and workshops. I highly recommend checking out this space and people.

Lovely small venue.

Very homophobic place. Was here with an older gay guy after the manager stood on the street, inviting us to go in, saying it was a friendly venue for LGBTQ. We paid and go in and get a wine downstairs. The bar staff, I don't know if male or female, was not so friendly. We kissed a little and then see that most people have gone from the dance area. We tried to walk into the room at rear of venue. The bar staff launches herself at us, yelling really loudly and accusing us over and over, of trying to go into in the toilets to have sex because "I know what you gay men are like." Wow !! We didn't even know it was a toilet!! My friend took ages to calm her down. This place is a really homophobic venue and its worth warning others.

It’s very important to have queer venues but 6.70 for a can of beer is quite steep. Other than that the space is small but the toilets were clean.