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Fabric to host livestreamed debate on the future of city nightlife

By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 20 September 2016

Fabric will reopen its doors today for a panel debate to discuss the state of the UK’s nightlife and the future of culture in British cities. It will be the first time the venue has opened since it was forced to stop running club nights at the beginning of August.

Joining the discussion, called ‘Can Nightlife Be Saved?’, will be Fabric’s local MP Emily Thornberry, Amsterdam’s Night Mayor Mirik Milan, producers Goldie and Artwork, Bloc Festival’s Alex Benson, Dan Beaumont from Dance Tunnel, and Fabric co-founder Cameron Leslie.

The moderator will be Gabriel Szatan from Boiler Room, which will also livestream the event, which will run from 2.30pm to 5pm today. Tune in here:

Fabric, of course, was forced to shut down, initially temporarily pending a licence review by Islington Council, in the wake of two recent drug-related deaths at the venue. At a hearing earlier this month, its licence was then fully revoked, the council claiming that “a culture of drugs exists at the club which management cannot control”.

Defending his venue’s record on drugs at the hearing, Leslie accused the council and police of colluding on “an entirely premeditated exercise to find the evidence required to be able to serve a summary review”.

The venue’s management have vowed to fight the council’s decision. However, unlike last time it took the council (very successfully) to court, on this occasion it has already been closed down, making fighting such a legal battle more tricky. To that end, a fundraising campaign was launched last week to help raise a legal fund, with nearly £140,000 already raised.

You can throw a few quid in yourself here.