In a city where music venues and local pubs are closing their doors, a new London-born grassroots music collective celebrated its first birthday.
At Brixton Jamm, the Juubi collective celebrated the continuation of their mission to keep grassroots music and nightlife alive in London.
Under the tagline ‘enjoyment is your birthright’, this group of 11 friends has developed an idea into a reality and have enjoyed seeing the event blossom.
Busayo Adeniran, a founding member of Juubi, said: “The fact that we’ve managed to get to a year despite the setbacks and the limited venues is amazing.
“Plus, we’ve grown such a great community who are behind us – it’s not just a party, it’s a community.
“It’s really hard right now for people to stay afloat.
“People are broke, and it’s an honour that people want to spend their money and come to a Juubi event.”
Juubi provides an eclectic and musically diverse offering, not stipulating music genres to DJs for their sets, instead choosing DJs they trust and letting them ‘bring the vibes,’ according to Adeniran.
A Juubi attendee, Kia Valentiné, 24, said: “This is my second Juubi event, so I knew there was going to be good vibes, good people, and I knew the music was going to be insane”.
Adeniran also called for greater investment into the arts from the UK government, into music venues, theatre, youth clubs and places for arts education.
In London, 45 venues have shut down in 2025 alone.
More than 40% of the UK’s grassroots music venues operated at a loss in 2024, with 125 closing their doors, a rate of two per week, according to findings in the Music Venue Trust’s (MVT) 2024 Annual Report.
According to the MVT, an average of two independent music venues closed down each week in 2023.
Siana Bifield, part of Juubi’s venue team, said: “The importance of grassroots music collectives can’t be understated.
“It’s a tough atmosphere we’re in, but putting on these nights, even if it’s just for one night, it does help.
“Partying is more than just being frivolous; the dancefloor has always been a place of healing, and it’s one of the best tools for uniting people.
“On the dance floor, everybody is equal. “
Juubi prides itself on being an open, inclusive space where everyone is welcome and everyone can be themselves.
Katrina Ifejika, 29, Juubi, said: “A lot of us are in situations where we have to mask a lot of ourselves and hide our true personality, but the dance floor allows us to be free and be ourselves and be around like-minded people.
“With music venues closing down, the responsibility is falling on promoters these days to put on events, and I don’t know how many promoters at their heart are doing this for the love of music, for the love of freedom, and for the love of the dance floor.
“What makes Juubi different is that at an event, we’re actually on the dance floor, we’re not event promoters that are behind the scenes and invisible, we’re out on the dance floor with you.”
Ifejika expressed her hopes of putting on a Juubi festival in the future, with the brand becoming a hub for those who want to get into music events.
Juubi’s next event will be a New Year’s Eve celebration at The Glove that Fits in Hackney.
Juubi operates a zero-tolerance policy on any behaviour that will make people uncomfortable, and there has ‘only been one incident in our six events’, according to Bifield.
In contrast, a 2017 Drinkaware survey revealed that two-thirds (63%) of female respondents aged 18–24 have experienced sexual harassment in pubs and clubs, along with a quarter (26%) of males.
Valentiné said: “Juubi is safe, everyone is here to dance and have a good time, no one wants drama.
“There’s not a single person at the event that I wouldn’t want to hang out with.”
In this shrinking musical space, Juubi is a rare spark of hope for the future, that independent music in London is not a thing of the past.
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Featured image credit: Danny Weller
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