Digbeth is the city’s most thriving party district, but railway upgrades could tear it apart. Here, clubbers explain why they are doing everything to stop that happening
House beats ring out through the open air while a heaving crowd of young partygoers dance. Suddenly, they begin to chant: “Richard Parker, Richard Parker!” You might think he is the next DJ on the set list, but in fact he is the mayor of the West Midlands and this block party has been assembled to send him a message: leave Digbeth alone.
It’s Sunday night and I’m in Birmingham’s trendy party district. It’s filled with bars, warehouse clubs and storied music venues. The 1,800-strong crowd of mostly twentysomethings at the Parker event fits right in. But buzzy scenes like this may soon be a thing of the past.
Under plans proposed by the Midlands Rail Hub Alliance – including Network Rail, which owns and manages railway infrastructure in Great Britain – seven nightclubs, including XOYO Birmingham, Mama Roux’s and Club Colette, could be demolished from 2030. The aim is to expand a nearby viaduct, allowing more trains to run through Moor Street station rather than the more congested New Street, but striking a blow to the city’s nightlife. Ravers want Parker, who leads the region’s strategic transport agenda, to use his power to lobby against these plans.
The proposal comes at a testing time for the industry. More than 26% of all late-night venues across the UK closed for good between 2020 and 2025, according to the Night Time Industries Association. Birmingham has been hit harder than any other major city, experiencing a 28% drop in the number of bars, clubs and other establishments where you might grab a late-night drink. But Digbeth, a former industrial centre where metal sheets, Typhoo Tea and Bird’s Custard were once manufactured, has stood strong as the city’s cultural bright spot – far cooler than Broad Street, Birmingham’s main clubbing strip, which has the vibe of a street-long All Bar One.
It’s where some of the names now headlining electronic music festivals around the world caught the raving bug. The Birmingham DJ Fleur Shore, 30, has been coming to Digbeth since she was 15. “Here is where it all started for me,” she says from behind her decks. “Without Digbeth, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I get to go all over the world and do my job.” Shore has played gigs in the Argentinian countryside, the historic Plaza de España in Seville, Spain, and the mountains of Gran Canaria.
But the UK has not always made it easy. “The UK is so strict,” she says. “They don’t embrace this part of people.” The Parker party is a way for young ravers to revolt, she says: “This country doesn’t value younger people who want to go out, let loose and socialise. When everybody’s all together, dancing to the same thing, it’s powerful.”
The mooted demolition of Digbeth’s bars and clubs is just one example of the threats to British nightlife. In central London, a bitter battle is playing out between venues and the Soho Society, a community group aimed at “preserving the character of Soho”, which routinely objects to new bar and restaurant licences, often backed by Westminster council. Venues say the restrictions could “destroy Soho’s reputation on the international stage”, while the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has criticised the council’s “breathtaking arrogance”.
In Manchester, meanwhile, the famed music venue Night & Day cafe was threatened with closure after noise complaints from neighbours in new flats. After a three-year row, it was told to limit noise in the small hours. There is no doubt that noise can be a nuisance, but it is hard to understand how anyone who moves next to a decades-old venue in an area known for nightlife can claim to be shocked by it.
The value of a good night out is being forgotten, says Shore: “There’s so much pressure in life. People come to these places to breathe, dance and not think about their problems. I feel like, the way things are going, we’re going to be a soulless nation.” Lina and Johnny, who are part of the crowd making its way down the Digbeth strip, agree. “People from all walks of life come together here to move our bodies and exist in harmony,” says Johnny, 24. “If this street is demolished, that will be a lot harder to do.” Lina, who is also 24 and a musician, says she has met “so many other beautiful, talented people” in the area. “Where would all these creative people go? It brings soul into this sterile world,” she says.
Among a group who met only hours earlier are Hood Ssengendo and Daniel Wright. “The fact they want to demolish this whole thing is pointless,” says Wright, a 24-year-old music producer. “There is still a club scene, ravers and people that want to have a good time.” Ssengendo, a 25-year-old welder, says: “For most young people, this is their hotspot for a night out and to make friends.”
For many marginalised communities, the district remains a safe haven for a night out. Birmingham’s Gay Village has long been the city’s premier queer destination, but it has shrunk significantly in recent years. Two of the area’s most popular spots, the Loft Bar and the Village Inn, were last year folded into the Nightingale nightclub, which also plans to downsize. Venues in Digbeth regularly hold events for communities that might otherwise struggle to find an inclusive space to party. The Night Owl, a soul and retro club, holds a night catering to those with support needs, and Club Collette, an underground music venue, regularly runs events for the city’s LGBTQ+ and ethnic minority communities.
“We’ve lost the Gay Village and we might lose this,” says 26-year-old Lucy, who is queer. That would leave Broad Street as the only option for people looking for a cheap night out. “Personally, we don’t feel comfortable on Broad Street,” she says.
“This is the most vibrant part of Birmingham,” says George Fleming, the founder of the campaign group Save Our Scene, which organised the Parker block party. “What do we want as a country? A copy-and-paste high street where you’ve got a Tesco Express, a Costa and a Subway, or do you want somewhere which has got a bit more colour to it?”
Mark Cuzner, the director of the Midlands Rail Hub Alliance, says the consortium “fully understands the uncertainty some businesses and venues are facing about what the current proposals could mean for their future”. He says the group is “carefully considering everything raised to refine our plans and help make the viaduct extension … a positive part of Digbeth’s future with the least amount of impact on the area”.
Fleming agrees that times are tough for the nightlife sector. “The cost of everything has gone up so much and these venues are operating on paper-thin profit margins, if at all. We’re the most taxed industry in Europe. VAT is killing us and increasing national insurance has actually meant people have lost their jobs.”
The squeeze isn’t being felt equally. Live, the UK trade body for the live music industry, said the sector contributed a record £7.6bn to the UK economy last year, driven by some of the biggest names in music selling out tours and festivals. At the same time, the Music Venue Trust’s annual report for 2025 revealed that 30 grassroots music venues closed permanently in the year to July 2025, while 54% of smaller venues made no profit and 6,000 jobs were cut. This has a knock-on effect for partygoers. “The cost of going out now has gone up so much. It’s important we keep dancefloors accessible for young people,” says Fleming.
Some music stars, including Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Pulp, Diana Ross, Katy Perry and Radiohead, have committed to adding a £1 levy to their tickets, first proposed by Save Our Scene, that would be funnelled back into grassroots venues. But Live Nation – which, including its affiliates, controlled 66% of the UK’s major-event ticket market in 2025 – has resisted calls to implement the charge wholesale. “If we have an industry where we have a bunch of arenas and stadiums charging £150-plus for a ticket, we’re going to end up in a situation where we don’t have the talent coming through and all you’ve got is people spending ridiculous amounts of money going to big shows,” says Fleming.
This is part of a wider trend. Alessio Kolioulis, an associate professor of urban economic development at University College London, says that a “centralisation of nightlife spaces” is under way in big cities. Between 10 and 20 small venues might shut down while one big one opens, “which probably doesn’t cater to people who would love a more creative offering”, he says. For example, Broadwick Live has opened the large-scale venues Drumsheds and Printworks in London, as well as Depot Mayfield in Manchester. It has become one of the biggest operators in UK electronic music, with a turnover of £67m last year.
Andy Burnham’s arrival at No 10 has raised some hope that the UK’s nightlife could be saved. As the mayor of Greater Manchester, he set up the Greater Manchester combined authority’s night-time economy office, designed to help regional government serve local nightlife. “He says he’s a man of culture, but I don’t think he can truly say that if he allows seven venues in Birmingham to be demolished,” says Fleming.
The next phase of consultation is earmarked for next summer. If the plans go ahead, bulldozers could begin knocking down these beloved venues by 2030. Days after ravers made their mid-party plea to Parker, he responded. The mayor maintains it is his priority “to ensure that the West Midlands secures the transport improvements it needs”, but the concerns “must be taken seriously”.
It seems this ravers’ revolt has already made some encouraging noise.
