Patrons and arrests aplenty in party hub

LARGE groups – including two 250-strong African bookings – converging on party precincts over the long weekend have proved a double-edged sword for the Glitter Strip.

It resulted in a busy Thursday through Sunday across Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach punctuated by:

● Police making six arrests on Thursday night with patrons charged with police assault, intoxication, rumbling with security and drug supply;

● Broadbeach’s Love Nightlife getting a lucrative 250strong group of Africans making separate VIP bookings on Friday and Sunday nights but resulting in a disturbance among exiting patrons in the wee hours of Monday morning;

● Sin City facing an accusation of racism by a patron denied entry but refuted by management who say Sin was at capacity.

Nightclubs were on high alert heading into the weekend with expectations of the large groups of out-of-towners descending.

But in the case of the Sin City racism claim, Artesian Hopsitality partner Matt Keegan – who oversees Sin City Bedroom and Havana – said the same patron was let into The Bedroom.

“We had reached a point of capacity at Sin where groups were being turned away to maintain a safe venue as is standard. They got into The Bedroom, it’s also an Artesian venue and has same management, security. It was nothing to do with the group itself or their race.”

Love Nightlife owner Elliott Wicks said two big African groups which booked VIP booths both Friday and Sunday were among the “most humble, decent groups we’ve had”.

“But after the club shut in the early hours of Monday they just hung around and didn’t want to go home. They just congregated and had their own little party in the street.”

Police attended a “disturbance” at 3.30am on Monday on Albert Ave, where Love is located, but made no arrests.