Last weekend, Seasonal Markets and Leftfoot joined forces to bring The Night & Day Markets to Digbeth.
This two day festival witessed a bespoke banquet of music, entertainment, arts, liquor, ales & the finest street food all in one unique canal-side location.
The beautiful Bond events complex was transformed into a botanical themed wonderland playing host to legendary DJ’s Norman Jay on Saturday alongside resident DJ and host Danielle Moore (Crazy P) and Don Letts on Sunday, both events did not disappoint.
Each day the canal side courtyard was filled with the very best of Birmingham street food from Low’n’Slow, Baked in Brick, Buddha Belly, Caribou Poutine & more whilst market stalls from vintage to local food producers lined the canal basin creating a scene similar to south East Asian night markets. The centre-piece was a huge green bus in aid of Off The Scale vintage clothing and The Big Issue.
A selection of specialised bars offered a wide variety of drinks, from apple and syrup cocktails to tasty cider, catering for all tastes.
Despite the bitter cold, the food stalls and markets were busy and just right for a mooch, the Austin Mini with a kebab grill in place of the engine was inspired, this was most definitely Digbeth at its best!
Inside the large lofty warehouse the crowds danced in harmony to some up tempo house, funk and soul. Norman Jay packed out the Saturday night with a friendly knowledgeable crowd, and a family friendly Sunday brought reggae DJ legend Don Letts to the festival. For those who can remember, it was reminiscent of those early Medicine Bar days.
I caught up with Adam Regan of Leftfoot music events for a quick Q&A:
Adam Regan Q&A
The Night and Day Festival was a great success last weekend, where did the concept come from and who is behind it?
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! We’d been DJing at the Seasonal Markets for a while (held on Saturday afternoon’s at The Bond) and Jen & Des asked if we’d be interested in collaborating on a Night Market. After a few meetings, we decided to try a 2 day event with headliners each day.
How do you feel it went, what, if anything would you have changed?
We had 1200 people over the two days and fantastic feedback from customers, stall-holders and artists so we couldn’t be happier really. It was a bit of a gamble launching a new event when the weather’s so cold but I’m glad to say it paid off.
It felt as though the setting was meticulously thought out and planned, both inside and out, is this a fair comment or did it just come together naturally as people set up stalls and stage?
I think the space itself is amazing so that obviously gives you a great framework to build on. All the markets and food stalls bring their own individual style and the Off The Scale Bus looked fantastic by the canal. Urban Audio Productions and Stax Creations both did an incredible job so it looked and sounded fantastic in the venue. And all the different bars seemed to flow nicely too so hats off to Stefan Edwards and all the staff for being so organised.
Will Digbeth see another Night and Day Markets or was this just a one off?
We are already planning the next one so look out for the announcement soon!
Review by Nick Byng for Grapevine Birmingham.