Digbeth Dining Club, the hugely successful UK street food pioneer, is to celebrate its 12th birthday with a special two-day party at its Hockley Social Club home in Birmingham on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September 2024.
Returning to the same format which attracted hundreds of thousands of food and culture fans from its inception in 2012, the groundbreaking dining experience will see St George’s Street outside its Jewellery Quarter base transformed into a culinary festival with 10 traders pitching up for the weekend. DDC’s famous street closures were instrumental in the original growth of the business in their formative years, with up to four thousand people descending on Lower Trinity Street in Digbeth once a month.
Traders such as Original Patty Men, Baked in Brick, Indian Streatery, Buddha Belly, and Meat Shack all began their street food careers with DDC going on to open up their own restaurants in Birmingham. After outgrowing their original home and armed with a desire to include more event spaces for DJ sets, live music, and other performances, DDC set up in a new location - a 10,000 sq ft former printworks in the historic post-industrial area of Hockley.
The 12th birthday celebrations will see the first DDC closure since January 2020, pre-Covid. Food traders confirmed for the event are Baked in Brick, Beef on the Block, Death Row Sandwiches, Feed, Hawker Dan, Leave it to Esmie, Shrimp Shack, Street Chef, Street Souvlaki, and Urban Cheesecake.
Reinforcing the ethos and passion for supporting independent creatives, the weekend event will feature live music from rising reggae royalty Young Culture and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire jazz graduates The Equinox Trio, as well as DJ sets from the acclaimed hip hop DJ Psychomantus and funk and soul selector Marcus B. Jack Brabant, co-founder-director of Digbeth Dining Club and Hockley Social Club, said: “Our journey from a few traders in a space under the arches in the back-streets Digbeth to touring nationally and developing a new expanded HQ which attracts world-famous orchestras, DJs, comedians and bands, has been extraordinary.
“We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who has been part of our growth to date, in particular our committed supporters and traders, and staff members who have worked over and above to ensure we continue to present the best food and culture experiences week in, week out. Over the past decade, we’ve also collaborated with venues and brands including Cheltenham Festivals, Aston Villa Football Club, DJ Mag, MADE Festival, Gymshark, Warwick Castle, Soho House, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Red Bull, and Jack Daniels, as well as hosting the British Street Food Awards.
“Given how important street closures were for us in our early years, enabling us to develop and learn as well as build up a loyal fanbase, it was a no-brainer to reprise the model and return to our roots. We look forward to celebrating our birthday with many people who helped us along the way.”
Digbeth Dining Club is currently halfway through the second part of its Summer Tour ‘24, with events taking place across the UK Midlands, including Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Warwickshire. Drawing on the experience of delivering thousands of events in Birmingham and across the Midlands over 12 years, the team of dedicated food, culture, drink, and hospitality professionals are based at their permanent home Hockley Social Club in the city’s historic Jewellery Quarter.
Hockley Social Club now employs around 80 professionals across its operation, as part of its commitment to ensuring further employment, job security, and skills development across the city’s arts, culture, food, hospitality, music and night time economies.
Listings:
06 September - The Waterfront, Brierley Hill
07 September - Bantock Park, Wolverhampton
08 September - Compton Verney, Warwickshire
08 September - Victoria Park, Stafford
14 September - QEII Arena, Telford
21 September - Kingsbury Water Park, Kingsbury
27 September - The Crown at Codsall, Codsall
27 September - Warwick Castle, Warwick
