Fez Faces Flattening…Again

Fez’s future is up in the air yet again. A fresh application has been made to convert the building that houses the Moroccan-themed club into 12 flats.

This isn’t the first time this has happened- last year we brought you news of a similar offer to convert the building into flats.

But the problems don’t end there; the owners of the building have also raised concerns surrounding fire safety in the club, which could reduce the already limited capacity down to 220.

Scenes like this could become a thing of the past

In a statement to The Tab, Reuben Harley, the chief executive of Eclectic Clubs & Bars, the owners of Fez, said:

“We really appreciate the loyalty that the students of Cambridge are showing at this time. Please rest assured that we are doing everything we can and are pursuing every avenue available to us to keep Fez trading.”

The venue is seen by many as the last bastion of musical variety for Cambridge nightlife, but with stiff competition from established student clubs and the arrival of the new Jam House its survival has often been questioned.

This news will be of particular concern to the student run BodyShop who use the venue to champion alternative music on Sunday nights, especially after the closure of Kambar last year. Fez closing its doors could be a fatal blow to student nights such as Klubnacht and Rudimental who have made great progress in bringing an alternative to the Cindies-Life monopoly.

Have we partied all nacht in Cambridge for the last time?

Sam Mellor and Napper Tandy, members of the Rudimental team fear that this news could spell disaster for student events: “Fez is incredibly important to Cambridge night life. It provides a musically varied alternative to the chart n cheese that is peddled almost everywhere else in the city, and apart from the Junction, it’s also the only venue in Cambridge with a decent soundsystem. If it closes then new, underground styles of music will struggle to get a foothold like they do in other cities and student club nights will have barely anywhere left to go.”