Blue Mountain Club to close in September

By Lucas Arthur, Music Editor

Bristol’s Blue Mountain Club is confirmed to be closing in mid-September, after 28 years at the heart of Stokes Croft nightlife.

Despite setbacks incurred last year, the venue’s owners are pushing through with plans for redevelopment.

In October 2019 Bristol City Council rejected planning applications to build 240 student flats, office space and three shops on the site, though the developers have since appealed against the decision.

Announcing the closure on Facebook, the club’s management stated they had ‘exhausted all avenues to try to allow us to remain open’.

These developers need to realise the whole allure of Stokes Croft for students is the nightlife. Can you not like, replace the nightlife with student flats? You're putting the cart before the horse. Once lakota goes, Stokes will be on its last leg.https://t.co/gs6kprqLjZ
— Circa (@TheRealCirca) August 18, 2020

‘We are truly sorry that we will not get to have a proper send off with some closing raves due to the coronavirus situation of not allowing us to operate as a normal club,’ the statement added.

‘We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff, customers, promoters, artist [sic] and all companies that’s have worked with us over the last 28 years as without you guys we wouldn’t of been here as long.’

The venue has hosted countless renowned and up-and-coming DJs since opening in 1992.

Taking its name from Jamaica’s Blue Mountains, it showcased the best of drum and bass, dub, jungle, trip hop and breakbeat, quickly becoming a mainstay of Bristol’s electronic music scene.

The club also wished developers ‘all the best for their project in the future’.

The venue’s closure comes at a turbulent time for Bristol’s club scene. Restrictions on mass gatherings due to Covid-19 have exacerbated the broader, long-term struggles experienced by venues in Stokes Croft, Easton, and St Pauls, home to many of the city’s most beloved venues.

Lakota, Motion and the Black Swan have all contended with plans for redevelopment over the last two years, as the city’s soaring house prices prove lucrative for property developers. In the BS2 postcode alone, house prices rose by an average of 3.41% over 2019.

In April, it was announced that nearby nightclub Lakota, is also to be closed down and converted into a mixed-use development, which is set to include a four-storey building and 46 residential units.