When Soulelujah turns 20 later this year, the longtime soul dance night will have a new home across Cambridge. The beloved party announced today (January 5) that it is relocating from The Sinclair in Harvard Square, where it resided as a weekly Saturday night event for the past five years, to State Park in Kendall Square. And with the new spot comes a new calendar, as Soulelujah will set up shop on the third Saturday of each month. The first party goes down January 21, free of charge.
Fueled by an endless collection of vinyl soul, R&B, and funk records and a solid roster of resident DJs, including Claude Money, Ty Jesso, John Funke, and others, Soulelujah has been a mainstay in greater Boston nightlife since 2003. It took up an award-winning residence at The Middle East and ZuZu in Cambridge for 15 years before bouncing to The Sinclair’s restaurant space in 2018.
Soulelujah says the move away from The Sinclair was fully amicable and thanked the venue for its tireless support and community.
“We just wanted a fresh start post-Covid,” Money tells Vanyaland. “State Park seems to be really leaning into local bands and DJs and that’s really the sort of approach we work well with. Moving to a monthly FREE event on third Saturdays. That may change over time but for now we are looking forward to having a few Saturdays off. Plus ‘free’ means folks can worry less about inflation and put more money into staff hands! Excited to be back into a family owned establishment too! …We loved our time at Sinclair and will always be grateful for what we accomplished there.”
Soulelujah also made sure to shout-out The Sinclair on social media for serving as hosts for the past half-decade, writing: “Thank you to everyone that rolled through @thesinclair to party with us over the last 5ish years! Mad respect to the staff there for keeping that space safe and drama free! Love y’all!”