Local culture is precious; venue losses in Edinburgh are painful.

Over the past decade (and a bit) the City of Edinburgh has lost a plethora of subculture friendly venues and community resources which housed gigs, clubs, general arts gatherings, were much loved by promoters and patrons alike and on the whole, were not replaced.

We no longer have La Belle Angele, The Venue, The Roxy Art House, The Subway Cowgate, The Attic, Legends, Cas Rock, The Tap O'Lauriston, Forest, The New Street Art Spaces, Ego/Luna, TePooKa or the Gilded Balloon (not in any permanent state in any case) and soon to be added to this list, gig & clubbing hub, Cabaret Voltaire which closes its doors on the 20th of February 2012.

News this week that the Bongo Club, which has continuously supported independent culture in the city for 16 years, is in receipt of an eviction notice from its landlord, the University of Edinburgh, caused a great deal of upset and rightly so.

Though Edinburgh has wonderful venues such as the Voodoo Rooms, the Wee Red Bar, Henry's Cellar, Bannerman's, the Caves, Sneaky Pete's and the Banshee Labyrinth, among others; which are welcoming to independent promoters - the number of outlets for forward thinking, subculture focussed live events is diminishing, where creativity, need and demand is increasing.

Modern culture in this beautiful city is more diverse than the plethora of chrome fixated, pop music spouting nightspots suggest; space is needed more than than the acres of empty offices littered across the city centre, more focussed than the mountain of pile 'em high student nights and far greater than a one month summer festival which, love it or loath it, takes as much from local culture as it offers internationally.

Fight the good fight, save the Bongo Club and help preserve Edinburgh's local culture.

Petition:

Save the Bongo Nightclub

Facebook Group:

Save Bongo Club

Further Reading:

They bang the drums: How Edinburgh will cope with the loss of Cabaret Voltaire and the Bongo Club - David Pollack in the Scotsman.