New LGBTQ2S+ bar to open on Jasper Ave. Friday night

Edmonton's only LGBTQ2S+ bar is opening a second location Friday and will provide patrons with a more varied experience than the original location.

The second location for Edmonton’s only dedicated LGBTQ2S+ bar officially opens Friday.

The new Evolution Wonderlounge, located on Jasper Avenue and 115 Street, has a full kitchen, bar and seating area.

Evo will also offer activities like pool, trivia nights and karaoke.

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One of Evo’s owners told CTV News Edmonton the new location will be able to better serve different demographics within the Edmonton LGBTQ2S+ community.

“We need somewhere for people just coming out, we need somewhere for people visiting the city who maybe don’t know which bar to go to which night,” Rob Browatzke said. “They just need to know that this will be a fun, safe space that they can go to seven nights a week.

“The people that feel they’re too old for a dance club or people that can’t get down the stairs into an inaccessible basement, this is something that will have something for them … It’s the first time in over a decade that Edmonton has had a gay pub with a kitchen, and it’s the first time in about a decade that there’s been a seven-days-a-week gay bar. So that is something that I think people are really, really, really excited about.”

The original Evolution Wonderlounge location, on 103 Street and 102 Avenue, will operate for a few more months and close in the fall.

The owners say the dancing and nightclub elements will eventually move to the new location.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Connor Hogg and Galen McDougall