Addis Ababa Nightlife

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Loud music is heard from a shanty area between Haile Gebreselassie road, Bole road and Meskel Square. Most of the houses are dilapidated with flat corrugated roof. You don't expect to find bars here. Maybe you walk by without take notice of this place. But there are some small clubs there. Some tourist are invited (or fooled) into this area by local guys to see "traditional dance". They want you to sit down and drink beers and see the girls. Those bars may have a red curtain hanging outside the door.

The nightlife in Addis Ababa is good in the weekends. Many places are found along Bole road (also called Africa road). There are clubs, bars, habesha shows (traditional dances), conserts. They play loud, so just follow the music.

Other bars and clubs in Addis are scattered around the city like Memo Club, Silver Bullet bar, My bar, Concorde, Dome Club, Illusion, Divine, Temtation, Indigo, Utopia, the Cave and Karamara. Some places are disreputable red light places, so it's best to ask a taxi driver first. A taxi costs between 30-50 birr within the Bole road to the centre of the city.

Mostly can be found in poor areas like Meskel Flower Road and off Debre Zeit. These are small ‘kiosks’ or shops turned into bars. Each of these bars wont take more than 5 customers. The door is always shut, so if anybody smokes there, you need to go out every minute because there is no window or any kind of ventilation. Inside the bar, there is the owner, and one or two waitresses. You can buy a drink for the waitress and she will stay with you, but these bars are often visited by the locals who know the waitresses. The cost of a beer is only 10 bir (1$). One thing more, the music here is too high and only the locals can cope with it.

Dress Code: No dress code at all.

The Dome nightclub is attached to Concorde hotel. Residents of the hotel are allowed free of charge but you must mention it to the security guy. It starts at 9.30 with the traditional dance. It’s the same band which performs every night but it’s very good. From 9.30 to almost 11 o’clock, where the traditional dance takes place, most of the locals come with their foreign guests and families. It’s after 11 o’clock that the stage is filled with butterflies. Their target is foreign businessmen and tourists. They charge 100$ and more. A bottle of St. George is 20 bir (2$). Sometimes, they allow taking photos but video is prohibited. The traditional dance is very good and it’s worth a visit.

Dress Code: There are no special dress requirements here. I saw some of the foreigners wearing Jeans.

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Mira Band with dancers play traditional music - Habesha cultural show. I don't know the name of the place or the street. But I remember it on the map. To find it, start Google Earth and enter the coordinates: 8°59'41.13"N 38°46'41.84"E.

Look at one of the video's to see more...

On Bole Road, by the airport, you will see a plane emerging from the building into the street. Inside is a food place (see other tip), but a small bar is inside that hosts weekend live music. It was not the best (local violin and sax), but may be of interest to you.

Lots of nice local people willing to chat with travelling folk.

Small bar off Bole Road.

Decent Western music. Gets very busy on Friday and Saturday, less so the rest of the week. The theme is 'masks' ranging from tribal wooden masks, to comedy Eddie Murphy rubber heads.

This is a fun and lively salsa club. I was not expecting much from a salsa club in Ethiopia, but the decor was nice and the music was great. The dance floor was dominated by a few patrons, but the place is authentic and good for people watching.

Dress Code: It wasn't clear, but most people were at least a little dressy