Kindergarten sits a couple of streets from the Fiera in a warehouse space, programming Italian electronic residents and visiting techno acts on a tight Friday and Saturday schedule that runs until dawn.
Tip: The club is small and the floor fills past 01:30; arrive earlier if you want a counter spot at the bar. Arci card at the door.
Address: Via Alfredo Calzoni 6, 40128 Bologna
Estragon Club has run a Parco Nord concert hall on Via Stalingrado for more than thirty years, programming indie, electronic, reggae, ska and rap touring acts across a calendar that books from September well into the following autumn.
Tip: The Parco Nord site sits north of the ring road; bus 11 from Centrale or a cab is the route in. The hall is standing-only and the headline runs around 22:00.
Estragon Club has run a Parco Nord concert hall on Via Stalingrado for more than thirty years, programming indie, electronic, reggae, ska and rap touring acts across a calendar that books from September well into the following autumn.
Tip: The Parco Nord site sits north of the ring road; bus 11 from Centrale or a cab is the route in. The hall is standing-only and the headline runs around 22:00.
Cantina Bentivoglio runs the Via Mascarella jazz cellar in a 16th-century palazzo basement, programming live jazz six nights a week, an Emilian kitchen and a list of more than 500 wines on the cluster of music venues by the Belle Arti.
Tip: Sets start around 22:00 so book a dinner table for 20:30 if you want one near the band. The cellar can run slow on busy nights; order the tortellini in brodo to anchor the table.
Bravo Caffe runs the busy corner of Via Mascarella, pairing a small live room with a restaurant kitchen and programming jazz, soul and songwriter sets on a nightly bill that brings touring names through the university quarter.
Tip: Reserve a dinner table for 20:30 to hold a sightline of the stage. In summer the music spills onto Via Mascarella as part of the Salotto del Jazz street programme.
Camera a Sud sits on Via Valdonica in the old Jewish ghetto, run by sommelier owners Roberta and Lorenzo with an armchair-and-bookshelf room, a wine list weighted to Italian regional producers and a soundtrack that swings from jazz to occasional acoustic sets.
Tip: Aperitivo from 18:30 with a vegetarian and meat plate buffet. Reserve an inside table for live nights; the room is small and seats book up by 21:00.
Macondo runs a Pratello cocktail bar with a tiny stage that programmes around 250 live nights a year, anchoring Via del Pratello's bohemian strip with Italian songwriters, indie sets, folk acts and the occasional jazz quintet from 21:30.
Tip: The room fills by the second song so arrive by 21:00 for a bar stool. Cash and card both work and the cocktail list runs cheaper than the centre.
Terrazza Mattuiani opens for the warm months on the fifth floor of Hotel Touring Bologna with a cocktail bar, loungers and an in-deck jacuzzi, looking across the rooftops toward San Petronio and the Two Towers a few streets north.
Tip: Reservations are required; the jacuzzi slot runs 30 minutes per booking. Open May through September only, hours can shift if the weather closes the deck.