Nightclubs in Burlington

Club Metronome is Burlington's premier nightclub and dance venue — a downtown club above the Church Street Marketplace that hosts DJ nights, dance parties, and live performance events for Vermont's most energetic nightlife market. Burlington's unusually dense concentration of colleges, universities, and young professionals for a city its size creates a nightclub market that Club Metronome has served as a central gathering place for decades.

Burlington's Church Street entertainment district is Vermont's most vibrant urban entertainment environment — a pedestrian corridor anchored by Nectar's and surrounded by outstanding restaurants, bars, and Vermont craft establishments that create the most complete small-city entertainment experience in northern New England. Burlington's extraordinary combination of outdoor recreation culture (Lake Champlain, the Green Mountains), progressive politics, and a creative university community create an entertainment ecosystem of unusual energy.

Burlington's nightclub scene serves Vermont's most vibrant city — a Lake Champlain waterfront community where the University of Vermont, Champlain College, and a remarkable concentration of independent musicians create a nightclub culture of unusual Vermont creative depth. Burlington's extraordinary independent arts culture (it has more independent bookstores, record stores, and music venues per capita than any other New England city outside Boston) and its genuine community arts investment create a nightclub environment of genuine Vermont urban creative significance.

Nectar's is one of the most historically significant venues in American music — the Burlington bar where Phish played their first shows in 1984 and refined the music that would make them one of the most successful touring bands in American history. Phish's extraordinary musical innovation (they invented the modern jam band festival circuit) and Nectar's remarkable place at the origin of that story create a music venue of genuine American rock music historical significance.

Nectar's is the most historically significant music venue in Vermont — the Church Street bar where Phish formed and played their first gigs in the early 1980s, directly responsible for launching one of the most successful and beloved touring bands in American music history. Burlington's extraordinary music scene, anchored by the University of Vermont's music community and the hippie/jam band culture that has made Vermont synonymous with Phish and folk festivals, creates one of the most culturally distinctive music environments in New England.

Radio Bean is Burlington's most beloved small music bar — a North End café and bar presenting live music seven nights a week to Vermont's most creative community. Its extraordinary commitment to free live music, its role in developing Burlington's remarkable local music scene, and its genuinely welcoming community spirit have made it the social heart of the North End neighborhood and one of Vermont's most culturally important small venues.