The Cellar, a live music and dance club in Oxford, is under threat of being closed down.
One of the venue's promoters began circulating a petition earlier this week in hopes of defending the 250-capacity space. So far, it's had more than 8,000 signatures, with the goal set at 10,000. The current landlords intend to turn the basement into a retail space once the current leaseholder, who sublets the unit as a nightclub, moves out early next year.
In 2017 alone, The Cellar has hosted the likes of Avalon Emerson, Answer Code Request, Lena Willikens and Peverelist, and it's widely regarded as one of the city's most important independent music venues. There's been an outpouring of support from the UK dance music community to raise awareness of the petition.
"We have a solicitor looking into the legal side of things for us," venue manager Tim Hopkins told RA. "But at this stage we are very keen to open up direct talks with the landlords to try and find a mutually beneficial outcome to this issue. We are hoping to help them understand just how important The Cellar is to the community, not just local too, we have so many national and international touring acts." They've also been getting advice from Music Venue Trust, he said, which is a charity coalition created to defend grassroots local music businesses.
You can sign the petition to save The Cellar here.