Site News
The Global Nighttime Recovery Manifesto
VibeLab is excited to announce the Global Nighttime Recovery Manifesto
Now, more than ever, night-time stakeholders around the world must unite to find collaborative solutions in working towards a more resilient, sustainable and equitable future for people and communities of the night.
We want to invite you, the global night-time community, in making this manifesto a reality over the next several months — so we can collectively work towards this future for nightlife together!
Please register your interest in contributing to the Global Nighttime Recovery Manifesto by signing up to the Google form here
Germany officially declares clubs as cultural institutions
A historical achievement at the Bundestag: Clubs and live music venues with a demonstrable cultural reference are no longer considered entertainment venues, but “facilities of cultural purpose!”
A historical achievement at the Bundestag: Clubs and live music venues with a demonstrable cultural reference are no longer considered entertainment venues, but “facilities of cultural purpose”!
Last year, members of the GRÜNEN, LINKE, FDP, SPD and CDU / CSU founded the “Parliamentary Forum Club Culture & Nightlife” at the German Bundestag, to give the issue of club culture more support and visibility across the board.
The first and most primary concern was to obtain recognition of clubs as cultural regulations under the building law. The decisive meeting with the construction committee took place on May 5, 2021 and much to the delight of the stakeholders: LiveKomm – the Federal Association of Music Venues in Germany e.V. , the decision was made in favour of club culture. The motion was passed almost unanimously in the committee and will go to the vote in plenary tomorrow, Friday afternoon, under agenda item 36.
According to said “agenda item 36”, music clubs with a focus on artists, young talent and program curation will no longer be classified alongside arcades, betting shops, sex cinemas and brothels, but rather regarded as facilities for cultural purposes. Now clubs are aligned with theaters, operas, museums and concert halls, making clubs less vulnerable to urban development, investors, and gentrification.
Nightlife and club culture have seldom been given consideration in the building law and federal politics in Germany or across the world. However by passing this law, Germany now acknowledges how club culture has impacted an important part of cultural diversity over the past few decades.
The support and protection of cultural areas and preventing their displacement is one of the most important issues in the city of Berlin, which is becoming increasingly dense, and something that needs to be addressed even more in the urgent post corona future.
Pamela Schobeß CEO and political spokeswoman for LiveKomm comments:
“We would like to thank the members of the Parliamentary Forum in particular for their commitment and perseverance in this matter. With today’s decision, the Bundestag is sending a strong and long overdue signal to the republic. Music clubs are cultural institutions that shape the identity of city districts as an integral part of cultural and economic life. Now an outdated law is to be adapted to reality. This helps to keep cities and neighborhoods alive and liveable and to protect cultural places from displacement.”
Lutz Leichsenring, partner at the global nighttime consultancy agency VibeLab and spokesperson for Clubcommission Berlin comments:
“This is the result of more than 20 years of nighttime advocacy in Berlin and at the federal level. The draft law was passed across political parties and has a very good chance of being adopted in government action. This is an extraordinary decision and hopefully this example sets a worldwide precedent.”
Maskless and Sweaty: Clubbing Returns to Britain for a Weekend
NY Times reports on the trial Liverpool warehouse parties that took place this weekend, in order to test the safety of mass gatherings and to monitor whether social distancing can safely end.
6,000 people attended Liverpool’s Bramley-Moore Dock for two events taking place across last weekend, allowing the government’s Events Research Programme (ERP) to study club environments and the spread of coronavirus.
To get in, local clubbers had to take a lateral flow test for Covid-19 at one of four official testing centers in Liverpool, then upload the result to a website so it linked to their ticket. When they arrived at the warehouse, their results were checked, but once they passed security, the partyers were free to act as if the pandemic had never happened.
Claire McColgan MBE, Director of Culture and Tourism in Liverpool previously told the Liverpool Echo: “Liverpool is an event city. They are a critical part of our economy, culture and community and so we are delighted to be working with partners across Government, our colleagues at University of Liverpool and a number of local venues and promoters to plan this series of pilot events.
No sign of infection after test concert in Spain
BBC news reports on how researchers in Spain have found “no sign” of higher levels of infection among people who took part in a large test concert last month.
Six people tested positive within 14 days of attending the gig in Barcelona, but the incidence was lower than that seen in the general population.
Around 5,000 music fans took part in the experiment after testing negative for Covid-19.
Revellers wore masks but did not have to socially distance.
Voices of Creatives are ready to be heard – Today!
Findings of the GIZ/VibeLab research project on creative industries in Sub-saharan Africa and the Middle East will be presented in a online Zoom discussion today!
>>Tune in to VibeLab’s first public presentation of the report at 18.30 CET on 28.04.21 via this registration form.
>> The report will be published later this week, register below to receive it direct in your inbox as soon as its live.
“To deal with the unprecedented, first, we need to grasp it.”
This was the impetus behind “Voice of Creatives” a GIZ/VibeLab research project commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Cooperation and Development.The community-sourced project has compiled and interpreted the most advanced data to date about the impact of Covid-19 on the music, fashion and design sectors in Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Senegal and South Africa.
The Voices of Creatives research team focused on 7 cities: Amman, Beirut, Cape Town, Dakar, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Sulaymaniyah, working with coordinators on the ground in each city to digitally conduct 604 surveys and 42 hours of focus group interviews with 133 participants.
The project was executed by VibeLab, a leading, purpose-driven consultancy agency with a vast network across 6 continents, known for empowering creative communities across the world by using data and engagement to turn their values and needs into public priorities.
>>Tune in to VibeLab’s first public presentation of the report at 18.30 CET on 28.04.21 via this registration form.
>> Stay tuned on nightime.org for news about the report launch!
Reminder: Join the Call today at 16:00 CEST
Through its sudden absence, nightlife has been put on the agenda.
Chapter 5 explores how the growing field of nighttime governance has not only become essential during the pandemic, but has also been accelerated, with many cities’ nightlife industries opening up new channels of communication with the government, thanks to a raised awareness of the high demand for leisure and culture, and their relevance as agents in the long-term recovery and reactivation of cities.
This chapter 5 presents a step-by-step toolkit to establishing night governance, and case studies from five cities that have recently created their own institutions to govern life at night.
During tomorrows call we will hear from Montreal, Helsinki, Vilnius.
Register to take part in the call here
Chapter Five: Nighttime Governance in Times of Covid
- What is a night mayor?
- And what other forms of governance exist to manage a city at night?
- How have nighttime governance institutions helped communities survive Covid-19?
- And how can your city go about building one from scratch?
These are just some of the questions answered in Chapter 5 of the Global Nighttime Recovery Plan (GNRP) series, which draws on expertise, perspectives and case studies from nightlife communities across the world, to provide inspiration and information to nightlife industries as they recover from Covid-19.
Find out more about the contributors on the GNRP page
Sign here to download Chapter 5
Sign here to attend a group call with the the chapter’s contributors
New feature article live on Saving Night life in Tbilisi!
“Thus far, we had never had any politician, let alone the mayor, accept that electronic music is a form of art. But Kaladze declared club culture is a culture – his speech was an important moment.”
To outsiders, it looked like here was an electronic music scene that knew its own value, and that could defend itself. And yet, lacking any formal support or even acknowledgment from the government, nor any organisation directed towards securing it, Georgian club culture found itself in immediate peril and without aid within weeks of the national lockdown. David Lezhava, together with Naja Orashvili, owner of the aforementioned Tbilisi techno haven Bassiani, decided to act. “We knew we were in tough situation,” says Lezhava. “And that’s when the association was born.” The pair, aided by a growing number of motivated industry stakeholders, has mobilised, organised and formalised the representation and protection of Georgian electronic music and club culture through a non-government, non-profit association called the Cultural and Creative Industries Union of Georgia (CCIU Georgia).
One year since its inception, CCIU Georgia can count itself among the pandemic’s silver linings, a clear success story in advocacy, born from adversity.
Clean Scene Releases A Report on Sustainability in the dance music community
Last Night A DJ took A Flight: The new report collates and analyses the carbon footprint of Resident Advisor’s top 1000 DJs touring in 2019.
The demand for a small number of DJs to tour constantly is the result of an environmentally unsustainable industry — and an industry that we have an opportunity to collectively reimagine.
The world’s first dance-powered fundraising app is saving clubs
Nightclubs have been shut for well over a year now, and in this year, we’ve seen many iconic venues around the world shut their doors for good due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Desperados is calling on party people around the world to save party culture by doing what they do best. Dancing. All night long. Just like they used to.
As the self appointed patron saints of parties, the brand created the app “Rave to Save” to give the club community a way to save the scene, by letting party goers dance at home to support their local club.
People are invited to join a series of eight virtual raves through the app and dance. Using the pedometer available in smartphones, users’ dance moves are tracked and turned into a cash donation by Desperados to the club they are dancing for across Europe. 1000 dance moves = €1. Users also have the option to boost their personal contributions by making a cash donation to clubs in Germany, UK and Spain. The company will donate up to €30,000 at each event.
With the first rave at Prince Charles in Berlin, featuring Purple Disco Machine and Nakadia: 27 March: Prince Charles, Berlin
Upcoming: 4 April: Reineke Fuchs, Cologne / Germany10th April: Halo, Hamburg / Germany17th April: Cassiopeia, Berlin / Germany
How it works
- Go to any major App Store on your phone.https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rave-to-save/id1553438452https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.heineken.ravetosave
- Download the Rave to Save app.
- Login and turn on notifications as the app will let users know when a rave is starting.
- Tune into the livestream.
- Dance all night long.
- Make a cash donation of your own if you like