Bristol venue Strange Brew launches fundraiser appealing for help

Strange Brew
© Strange Brew

After opening its doors in August, the Bristol venue is now appealing for help.

Bristol music and arts venue Strange Brew has launched a Crowdfunder with Music Venue Trust. As a new venue, which launched with a virtual event in August 2020, the space is ineligible for financial support from the government. Since its launch, the venue has battled with a 10pm curfew and a 70 percent reduction in capacity.

Currently, the UK is in its second lockdown and Strange Brew is closed. All bars and restaurants have been ordered to shut during the lockdown apart from those that are able to offer a takeaway service. The government’s winter plan will be revealed today (23 November) and so far, Boris Johnson has said a tougher tier system will be introduced after the lockdown ends on 2 December.

Strange Brew’s co-director Rob Needham said, “Until the 10pm curfew was introduced we were easily making ends meet, but when that came in and all office workers and students disappeared from the centre, we have just about been breaking even. This second lockdown is going to make things very difficult and it’s impossible to plan ahead when we don’t know what the rules will be after 2nd December.”

Co-director Shaun Tennant added, “We have been working flat out to make Strange Brew safe and successful during the pandemic, and so far we’ve had a had a lot of positive feedback from the music community about how we have balanced being Covid secure whilst giving people something worthwhile to come into town for.”

Founded by the Dirtytalk crew, the opening of the venue was partially crowdfunded. Over 1000 supporters contributed £53,152 towards the £120,000 fit-out costs in June 2019. Since its opening, Strange Brew has operated as a socially-distanced bar and record shop. Local DJs such as Crack Magazine cover star Batu, Danielle, Ghost Phone and more have headed up the decks at the space.

Head here to donate to the Crowdfunder.