24-hour club FOLD closed by Newham Council

Some very sad news for London’s nightlife has broken this morning: Canning Town club FOLD has had its licence suspended, with immediate effect.

In a post this morning, the venue – which opened in 2018 – stated that Newham Council had last night suspended its license to operate after ‘serious accusations were brought to us and the local licensing committee’. The venue was due to host a tenth birthday for nomadic rave crew, Cartulis, this weekend, and had a packed schedule from now until early 2020, including a blistering NYD helmed by Time Out favourite, Saorise.

Newham Council had generally been supportive of encouraging and developing nightlife initiatives like FOLD, which was previously a printworks. FOLD itself has been a real coup for London: mainly due to it having the option of a 24-hour license, but also its distinctive shutters that toy with the early morning light, and its generally fun and breezy vibe amongst ravers who value a safe place to work off their stamina. As ever when London's nightlife is threatened, the community of promoters, DJs and punters that keep the city dare we say 'fun' have quickly pulled together – offering solidarity to FOLD and calling on Night Czar Amy Lame to intervene. 

Despite today’s sudden news, FOLD have stated that they’re aiming to get their license back fast, claiming ‘We are currently appealing the suspension with the aim to maintain our operation for this weekend and events moving forward.'

We’ll obviously keep you updated as we learn more. Sign up here for more updates about London life.