Democrazy and VIERNULVIER will be the future operators of Music Club Wintercircus
The negotiations surrounding the operation of the Ghent Winter Circus have been successfully concluded. The building, located 100 meters from De Vooruit, will be given in long lease to the consortium TENT (Together for Entrepreneurship, Networking and Technology). This also gives the green light to the plans of VIERNULVIER and Democrazy to realize a music club in the Winter Circus.
Although Ghent is a city of music, it has long lacked a venue built out as a true music club in terms of infrastructure, equipment and appearance. Yet Ghent is recognized by Unesco as a creative city of music, top musicians, producers and composers graduate here every year, and we count nearly 2,500 people active in the music sector.
With the new music hall under the Winter Circus, with a capacity of 500 (standing audience), this will change. After more than 10 years of being involved in numerous plans, technical performances and financial exercises, Democrazy and VIERNULVIER - united in the vzw Muziekclub Wintercircus - will finally make this Ghent music club a reality. Together they will take charge of the operation: expect a program of concerts and nightlife events by Ghent, Belgian and international musicians and artists. This program will be put together with numerous other organizers.
Current public expectations are no longer comparable to those of ten years ago. Since Flanders does not get a new concert hall every year, we are taking this opportunity to equip the hall with the latest technology in terms of immersive sound and image - fully in line with the DNA of the entire Winter Circus. The round shape of the hall is a unique asset in this regard.
New technology only finds its way into the music business when there are well-versed musicians, technicians and producers. Democrazy and VIERNULVIER are working with higher arts education partners to get talent to create new projects for this technologically unique venue. We are also pursuing collaborations with gamers, developers and entrepreneurs working elsewhere in the Winter Circus. This research is ongoing. Once completed, it will be presented.
We will start with equipping the venue (with bars, counters, lockers and backstages) and technical equipment (sound, lighting, image projection, etc.). In November 2023, March 2024 and July 2024 we'll present a series of concerts and nightlife events in blocks of 10 days each. From September 2024 we will then start an annual program.
Democrazy hereby completes its search for a permanent location. After years of travelling around Ghent, the Winter Circus will be the place where they can realize a large part of their program. In addition, in cooperation with their partners, they continue to organize concerts at other venues. Their involvement in city-wide initiatives is also maintained.
What about the rest of the building?
Music Club Winter Circus was excavated under the Winter Circus' impressive center square. The entire building covers 13,000 m² and, in addition to the music club, it also houses office space, hospitality and stores.
TENT - a consortium of Voka, UGent, KU Leuven, IMEC, Internationale Jaarbeurs van Vlaanderen and 18 entrepreneurs - is developing the Winter Circus into a place where start-ups, scale-ups, researchers, creatives, developers, budding entrepreneurs and student self-employed people meet. The focus is on technology, health applications and interfaces with art and creativity.
TENT aims to open the building in March 2024, during the Flanders Technology & Innovation festival.