The Night Time Industries Association is excited to announce a year-long #nightlifematters series aimed at celebrating British club culture. Kicking off with six nights in six cities across the UK, the events are the first in an ongoing programme of club nights, talks and exhibitions which seek to celebrate UK nightlife and its cultural heritage.
Despite having incubated labels who represent some of the UK’s best musicians – including Adele, Dizzie Rascal, The Prodigy and FKA Twigs amongst others – British club culture is under threat. Increasingly strict licensing laws, aggressive development and a lack of understanding about the benefits of our night time economy have meant that in the last 10 years, nearly half of the UK’s clubs and live music venues have closed. Whether it’s Plastic People in London or the Arches in Glasgow, venues up and down the country are being forced to shut their doors permanently.
With performances from Seth Troxler, Craig Richards, Kano, Dusky, Lady Leshurr, Shy FX and more to be confirmed each night aims to spotlight a different genre of music born out of UK club culture. Venues up and down the country are taking part, including Fabric (London), Sub Club (Glasgow), Haunt (Brighton), Hidden (Manchester), Rainbow Venues (Birmingham), Motion (Bristol) and Lakota (Bristol).
We’re encouraging the silent majority to make their voice heard by signing up to the #nightlifematters manifesto atnightlifematters.com. Supporters can email local councillors and MPs directly through an email form embedded onto the website and will be notified about upcoming events taking place as part of the #nightlifematters series.
Tom Findlay of Groove Armada, said: “Nightlife Matters across Britain because it nurtures and sustains all our creative industries. It’s part of what makes Britain great, our club culture is admired across the world. Nightlife matters because it employs loads of brilliant people, bringing different ages, colours, genders and ethnicities together for a common goal. I can’t imagine our country without it and it’s time we showed one of our great national pastimes a lot more love and respect.”
Pete Jordan, Director at MADE Festival and the Rainbow Venues, said: “The UK has a nightlife and festival industry that is revered the world over. We are currently seeing more threats to venues and their licenses for a variety of reasons, that could in time, destroy the industry. Supporting the Nightlife Matters initiative from the NTIA is essential, and will help the industry safeguard itself from the real issues that exist and could change the cultural landscape of cities and towns forever.”
Tom Paine, Founder of Love Saves The Day and Owner of Motion, said: “Nightlife Matters is a really important campaign for people to support and really get behind. For too many years there seems to have been a shoulder-shrug response to news of one one of the city’s great music or night-time venues closing, an attitude that it is just ‘one of those things’. Nightlife Matters aims to move against this and to establish that our thriving music, creative and social scenes in this great city of Bristol should be protected and indeed encouraged to grow – and highlight all the benefits that they bring to Bristol and the UK.”
Alan Miller, Chairman of the NTIA, said: “In Britain millions of people go out every week and enjoy some of the world’s best music, clubs and bars up and down the country. The “silent majority” that loves going out, socialising, dancing, eating & drinking, meeting new friends and getting inspired will now have the chance to have our voices heard – and make a difference. By supporting Nightlife Matters, a message is sent to local councillors & MP’s that we want nightlife protected and celebrated, not destroyed.”