Weekender: Events company to help nightlife economy recover

A northern events company is re-writing the student nightlife rule book, with a calendar of eight weekly freshers events fit for the post-lockdown world starting this month.

Voodoo Events has spent months planning its 2020 events calendar to ensure students have a safe space to let their hair down.

This includes a series of socially distanced indoor and outdoor events at venues including Revolution, The Shed, Temple Arches and Popworld.

Dave Gardner-Chan, Voodoo Events co-founder and managing director, said: “We realise we have an enormous responsibility to both our customers and the general public to deliver professionally managed, risk assessed, responsible events.

“We decided to close our club nights before the Government enforced it because we felt it was the right thing to do.

“We’ve spent many late nights planning these new events to ensure that the new and returning students have a safe place to enjoy themselves rather than choosing to go to unregulated house parties or illegal raves.”

 Voodoo Events has also taken the opportunity to extend its Ten Bar, in Leeds, which has been a major part of its portfolio since opening back in January 2017.

Ten Bar Underground, will reside in the legendary Space Nightclub and act as a bar until clubs are permitted to re-open.

It features a drastic new look that includes full seating, table service and a state-of-the-art audio-visual set-up.

Like other nightclubs across the UK, Space has been unable to continue in its current form for the time being due to social distancing.

Gardner-Chan said: “We’ve been delighted about the response we’ve had at Ten Bar since we reopened in July.

“Space and Ten Bar trade on the same license, so when it became apparent that Space Nightclub would be unable to open, we decided to adapt the venue and rebrand it as Ten Bar Underground.

“The feel will be quite different, but we hope to keep the fun atmosphere of both venues, providing the best experience we can, with safety in mind.”

Secret Yard Social will take place on Monday’s at Temple Arches, and boasts local street food vendors, DJ’s, and live entertainment in a large outdoor space.

Quids In, one of Voodoo’s biggest events, has a mini version taking place at Popworld, Revolution and Walkabout. Each venue will represent one of the music policies from its spiritual home, Pryzm.

Skint will reside at Ten Bar and Ten Bar Underground each Thursday, with an eclectic mix of party-centric tunes to usher in the weekend.

Voodoo will be teaming up with the iconic restaurant brand Red’s True Barbecue for weekend brunches at Red’s HQ, The Shed, for a new bottomless brunch concept. Expect amazing food and drink including beer brewed on-site at their very own micro-brewery.

All events are table only and must be pre-booked via the Voodoo Events website to ensure the safety of guests and team members. Each venue will be enforcing strict Track and Trace measures and orders will be taken electronically via apps such as W8R.

Gardner-Chan added: “The city’s economy will get a huge and welcomed boost from the arrival of thousands of students.

“Leeds is an amazing city and lots of businesses will find enterprising ways to provide them with the best experiences despite 2020 being such a tricky year.”

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