Arequipa - Guide for Gays, Lesbians and Queers

Arequipa has only a few LGBTQ+ venues, and they are not clustered in any particular neighbourhood. Many people meet through apps, circles of friends or events run by local groups. Anyone looking for a bar or a club almost always ends up at the same two addresses.

Divos, on Avenida Dolores in the José Luis Bustamante y Rivero district, is the one club in the city aimed explicitly at a queer crowd. On Fridays and Saturdays people dance there until morning, with drag shows and go-go dancers. Guests span a range of ages and are mostly from Arequipa itself. The club is outside the old town. At night it is best to take a taxi there and back.

Déjà Vu, on Calle San Francisco in the historic centre, is a cocktail bar with a small roof terrace. It is not considered a gay bar, but plenty of gay men, lesbians and their friends go there, especially on weeknights when the clubs are closed. People drop by after work, order a pisco sour and fall into conversation easily.

Queer cafés or a nightlife district in Selva Alegre, which some sources mention, cannot be confirmed. Imperio on Calle Jerusalén, named by older guidebooks as the city's main club, no longer appears in current listings either. Venues in Arequipa come and go quickly. Before heading out, it pays to check with the clubs on Instagram or ask people locally, for example at the bar in Déjà Vu. The community is most visible once a year, when the Marcha del Orgullo sets off from Parque Mayta Cápac through the city centre and thousands join in.