But it still needs help to secure its long-term future
The Crofters Rights on Stokes Croft(Image: Zoe Glascow)
A beloved Bristol music venue has issued an update on its plans to reopen almost a year after closing. In a post to Instagram on Wednesday (July 9) The Croft, formerly the Crofters Rights, shared a message thanking fans for their support and reminding followers that “it isn’t over yet”.
The update read: “We’re incredibly happy to announce that we’ve reached a short term deal with the current landlord which allows us to obtain the keys ahead of our planned open date – September 12.
“We need to make this very clear – we are not done yet. We still do not have the sufficient funds raised to buy the building outright, and this will need to happen for us to secure the building for the long term.
“So please, continue investing, continue donating, and continue sharing the fundraiser. Together, we can save The Croft.”
This latest update comes just a couple of months after BristolLive reported that the iconic music venue in Stokes Croft was set to reopen as part of a nationwide initiative which sees communities investing in grassroots music venues across the UK.
The Crofters Rights, which closed its doors in July 2024, will reopen under its former name, The Croft, as part of new plans.
The Croft is one of seven venues in the country to be part of the Own Our Venues initiative, led by Music Venue Properties. This is described as focusing on ‘removing grassroots music venues from vulnerable commercial leases by placing them into community ownership’, with the aim of ‘providing long-term stability to venues that are essential for fostering local talent and providing cultural value to existing, local infrastructure’.
Strange signs appeared on The Crofters Rights building back in May(Image: Ellie Kendall/BristolLive)
Between May 15 and July 31, music lovers and locals can invest via a Crowdfunder, which has a target of £1m to go towards these venues – the much loved Stokes Croft venue being one of them.
The Croft, which was established in 2000, was a hugely popular live music venue in the city, known and loved for its intimate 110-capacity live room and 250-capacity club space.
Some of the biggest names in the world of music played the venue early on in their careers, including the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Bastille, Ed Sheeran, Idles, and Bring Me The Horizon.
It later began operating as The Crofters Rights until what was initially said to be a ‘temporary closure’ that was only supposed to last through the month of August 2024 – but its reopening never came.
Marc Griffiths, the man behind Bristol independent company World Famous Dive Bars (and the figure behind some of the city’s best loved venues) said: “We are really excited to be working with Music Venue Properties and the team at Exchange to bring The Croft back to Bristol.
“The team at World Famous Dive Bars are made up of musicians, promoters and music fans and we all see that a huge hole has been left in the Bristol grassroots music ecosystem since The Crofters Rights closed.
“We are honoured to be part of the effort to bring back this vital, and quite frankly legendary, grassroots music venue through community ownership.”