Balloons poured from the ceiling, music played at full blast and cheers broke out at midnight as nightclubs reopened across England after being closed for 16 months.
Londons G-A-Y Heaven, the countrys largest LGBT nightclub, counted down the hours, minutes and seconds to restrictions ending as it returned to dancing with a bang.
Partygoers queued from early evening to get into the venue, which has functioned as a restriction compliant bar in recent weeks.
Your guide to what to watch next – no spoilers, we promise
As the clock ticked towards midnight, the chairs, tables and protective screens that have been in place throughout lockdown to comply with government rules were removed one by one.
Staff rushed to transform the venue into a nightclub once more as the 240 guests legally allowed on the dance floor before midnight awaited the change in law.
Clubbers, who had been asked to voluntarily take a lateral flow test before attending, continued to stay apart until the final minutes.
Please, everyone, remain socially distanced and remember to Free Britney, declared RuPauls Drag Race star Tia Kofi, who hosted the nights party.
Revellers at G-A-Y Heaven in central London hit the dancefloor as Covid-19 restrictions in England lifted at midnight (Photo: Benjamin Butterworth)
For a lockdown that started with ominous warning from health bosses to wash your hands long enough to sing happy birthday, it ended with crowds on the floor of this London club emotionally singing it together through the final minutes of restrictions.
As the lockdown officially ended on what some have dubbed freedom day people hugged and cheered and flocked together on the dance floor to the sound of Lady Gagas latest album, released during the pandemic.
In the tech booth, music and lighting staff looked visibly emotional as clubbing returned. One DJ admitted she was overwhelmed by how special it felt to see people enjoying themselves again, as she wiped away tears at midnight.
More than 600 people who had waited for hours in queues outside that stretched from Embankment Tube Station down to Trafalgar Square flooded in as the clock struck 19 July.
The club, one of the worlds most famous gay venues, has hosted everyone from the Spice Girls to Adele on its main stage in its two decades open.
But the strike of midnight marked the first time anyone had danced in the venue since 14 March 2020, when the Pussycat Dolls were the last stars to perform.
Lets imagine its the New Years Eve we never had, declared the clubs owner, Jeremy Joseph, 10 minutes from restrictions ending.
The lockdown has lost the company more than £1m in rent, insurance and pension contribution costs which, Mr Joseph admitted, left him little choice but to reopen within the rules, even with concerns about recent Covid spread.
He told revellers: This isnt the end of the pandemic, but its the next step. Be careful, lets look after each other, and hopefully get back to normality.
The club expects to have raised more than £1,000 for Macmillan Cancer from the reopening night, using its door charge to raise money for charity. It hopes to fundraiser over £22,000 in coming nights for charities, which Mr Joseph acknowledged have struggled even more than night life businesses from the pandemic.
Heaven wasnt the only club to open its doors, as people up and down England headed out for a drink and a dance as the clock struck midnight.
In Leeds, patrons queued to enter Bar Fibre, as one said she was absolutely ecstatic to be heading into a club again.
People dancing in Bar Fibre in Leeds, after the final legal coronavirus restrictions were lifted in England at midnight (Photo: Ioannis Alexopoulos/PA Wire)
Lorna Feeney, 44, added: Thats my life, my soul I love dancing. It bonds me, its amazing, it makes me feel so good.
Its about listening to the music and really feeling it, having a dance and not having to worry about anything thats going on not sitting on your chair and getting fat.
Terry George, who had to close one of his three bars in Leeds due to financial pressures from the pandemic, said it felt so special.
He said: People are treating it like a very special occasion, like a New Years Eve type affair. Freedom Eve is what were calling it.
Finally, were going to be able to dance. Thats the biggest thing, which is kind of a little bit sad really, because were given back something thats our given right, to be able to dance in a bar, in a club.
It shouldve been something that was there much earlier than this.
Clubbers take to the dance floor just minutes after Pryzm nightclub in Brighton threw open its doors (Photo by Chris Eades/Getty Images)
He added that it would still take a long time to catch up on lost revenues, but to have the place rocking again is going to be so exciting.
Whats its been like for the last year and a half is stopping people dancing, coming up to people who are sat at a table saying You cant dance, you cant sing, youve got to keep quiet. Its the opposite of what were meant to be doing in the entertainment world.
In Brighton, clubbers flocked to the dance floor just minutes after Pryzm nightclub threw open its doors and back in London, people queued outside Egg nightclub for more than an hour and cheered as the clock struck midnight, following a countdown from 10.
Chloe Waite, 37, who was first in the queue, said the occasion was something were going to remember for a long time.
Its going to be a special night. For me this is a New Years-type event and something were going to remember for a long, long time and we might not get the opportunity for a while.
Gabriel Wildsmith, 26, a video producer from London, who joined Ms Waite at the front of the line said he had missed meeting random people and making friends.
People danced at Egg London nightclub in the early hours of Monday morning (Photo by Rob Pinney/Getty Images)
Im so excited Ive been waiting for this for so long basically since we locked down, he said.
I love going to clubs and I love meeting random people. You make great friends and you couldnt do that until tonight.
One woman waiting to enter Egg, who gave her name as Dolores Frankenstein, said: Im a bit open-minded as to how its going to be.
I dont know if its going to be good, it might not be. It might be quiet, it might be busy, (but) I think itll be a bit overwhelming to be around so many people again.
She added: Im a bit bored of queuing already.
Liam Turner, 24, a warehouse worker from Banbury, said: I need a wee but were in the queue, Ive missed the feeling.
But while today marks freedom day for some, some scientists have expressed concern at the ending of restrictions while the Delta variant is spreading so rapidly, after new cases of the virus passed the 50,000-a-day mark.
And Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the Government of being reckless, saying it was a mistake to lift all the remaining restrictions in one go.
We can already see that the infection rates are going through the roof, we know whats going to happen with hundreds of thousands of people being asked to self isolate, he said.
Like so many people I’ve been pinged by NHS Test and Trace as I have been in contact with someone with COVID-19, and I will be self-isolating until Monday 26th July. pic.twitter.com/X57gDpwDqe
Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 18, 2021
The Prime Minister is essentially putting the whole nation into a car, pressing the accelerator and taking the seatbelt off.
Boris Johnson appealed to people to exercise their new freedoms with caution in a video message shared on his Twitter page.
The Prime Minister is spending so-called freedom day self-isolating at his official country residence at Chequers after being pinged by NHS Test and Trace following a contact with Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who subsequently tested positive for the virus.
Mr Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who also met Mr Javid on Friday, initially tried to get round the requirement to quarantine by saying they would join a daily workplace testing programme being trialled by the Cabinet Office.
However they were forced into a hasty U-turn amid widespread public anger at their special treatment while tens of thousands of people were being forced to miss work or school and stay home.
Mr Johnson will self-isolate until July 26, which will include the final Prime Ministers Questions before the Commons goes into recess, and the two-year anniversary of him entering No 10, which is on Saturday.
Additional reporting by Press Association