A new alcohol-free bar is coming to the Lake District.

Aiming to be open next Thursday, March 7, on Main Street in Keswick, No Monkey Business, led by Vicki Mallaghan who also operated Café Hope in the town will be embarking on a new frontier for Cumbria’s nightlife.

Stressing that this is not a children’s bar or a youth club and is aimed towards adults who simply don’t drink, Vicki said the bar will bring something fresh to nighttime drinking culture and offer something different that a new generation of people have secretly wanted.

Vicki said: “A lot of the younger generation coming through now don’t drink, it’s possibly because when they were in university during Covid they didn’t have the full (drinking) experience.”

This has been reported by other news sources as an emerging phenomenon, such as in pieces produced by Vice and Bloomberg to name a couple.

Young people of Generation Z are drinking far less than their predecessors – Millennials – who are said to drink less than their elders – Generation X.

But this isn’t about going out to drink coke and juice, alcohol free drinks that are targeted towards adults and new herbal and fungal-based ‘mood altering’ drinks are entering the market and will feature at this new bar.

Vicki said these drinks, which accompany alcohol free spirits and beers that never go higher than 0.5%, can make someone feel more talkative, energetic, relaxed, and excited, but do not contain any alcohol and, importantly, do not result in a hangover.

Other drinks that will be only for customers over drinking age will imitate and reflect alcohol closely using accurately-flavoured alternatives to fulfil a gap in the booze-free drinking market.

During the daytime, however, all ages will be permitted to sit and dine on casual dishes like shakshuka and French toast for brunch, changing to flatbread pizzas and small foods in the evening, but after 9pm it’s adults-only.

“I think there are all types of people with many reasons why they might not drink, and as someone who doesn’t drink alcohol, socialising is difficult, especially in Keswick where there’s not much to do but climb mountains and go to the pub.

“It can still be just as fun without the alcohol,” Vicki said.