UK club season 2026: the underground parties to book

Every September I do the same thing. I open Resident Advisor to check one date, and an hour later I've got fourteen tabs open, a group chat arguing about whether Glasgow is "too far" (it isn't) and still no tickets. If that's you right now, this is me doing the sorting so you don't have to.

Here's where I'd start: South Bermondsey Festival, The White Hotel's final autumn, Homobloc and Tech Couture at FOLD. Then I'd look properly at Bristol's jungle and bass parties, a new three-room club in Leeds and Animal Farm's techno run in Glasgow, because this autumn there are real reasons to get off the usual London–Manchester loop.

What makes this season is how specific the bookings are. Blawan and Bitter Babe doing live shows. Honey Dijon going back-to-back with Derrick Carter. Call Super getting fourteen hours. Rupture putting a theatre piece in front of a jungle night. Those aren't just names on a poster. They're the kind of thing you build a whole weekend around.

We checked every date and listing on 21 September 2026. It's all announced parties between September and December, across six cities. I've leaned on RA Picks, Mixmag and the promoters' own listings, but a party being on RA doesn't mean RA's editors are vouching for it, so I've said when something is an actual Pick. And "big" doesn't only mean a warehouse with a monster bill. Sometimes it means a night that matters to its scene.

The shortlist, if you just want dates

Below, each one gets the direct listing, something to listen to and my reasoning. Where tickets go through Resident AdvisorResident AdvisorAn electronic-music publication and ticketing platform with event listings, venue guides and promoter ticket sales.Buying guide · View store → or Headfirst BristolHeadfirst BristolA Bristol-focused event discovery and ticketing platform covering club nights, live music, arts and workshops.Buying guide · View store →, our store guide explains that platform's buyer terms, but you still want to buy from the exact event page. The embedded sets are old recordings, there to give you a feel for the artists, and each caption says where it's from. The September dates are basically on top of us, so check entry conditions and whether there's anything left before you book a train.

London: South Bermondsey, FOLD and fabric's whole birthday

If you want to come home with three new favourite DJs, South Bermondsey Festival on 26 September is my first pick. RA's editors have made it a Pick. It's the fifth edition, and it ties together Avalon Cafe, M.O.T and Ormside Projects, with an outdoor daytime stage before the rooms carry on into the morning. Iration Steppas, Shackleton live, Rezzett live, DJ Plead, re:ni, Jerome Hill and Angel D’lite is the kind of lineup that punishes you for standing in one spot all day. My plan would be to pick a few sets to hang the day on and leave the gaps for wandering. The lineup and stage times are on RA.

If re:ni is a new name to you, this back-to-back with Ploy is a good way in before you start digging through the rest of the bill.

The night before, AVA London x RA25 puts Blawan live, Mala, Bitter Babe live AV with Koch.a, and AliA in Outernet. What sells me is the format. You get live electronic performance next to a dubstep set, instead of one DJ slot after another. Worth knowing: RA is co-promoting this one as part of its anniversary tour, so read its enthusiasm with that in mind. It's on 25 September, 22:00–03:00.

Never heard Blawan? This is an early DJ set from his archive. Outernet is a live show, so treat this as an introduction rather than a preview.

For a proper long techno session, it's Tech Couture at FOLD on 3 October. Blasha & Allatt, Lacchesi, Mac Declos and Nina Pixina are on a main-room bill that also has Voicedrone b2b James Newmarch. Anabel Arroyo has the Steam Room all night. The listed finish is noon on Sunday, so this is less a night out and more a shift. If you're planning to settle in, a second room with one DJ going all night is a nice thing to have up your sleeve. Check the full bill and the door policy.

Blasha & Allatt put this recording of their HÖR debut up on their own SoundCloud, and it's a decent taster for the FOLD booking.

fabric's birthday kicks off with a serious bass night. Mixmag's announcement flagged FABRICLIVE as well as the main birthday party. On 16 October, the current official programme has Girls Don’t Sync, Skee Mask, MANTRA b2b Beatrice M., Oneman and Tailor Jae. If bass and broken beat are more your thing than a multi-day techno endurance test, Friday's your night. Here's Mixmag's announcement and here's the current programme.

Then there's the 17–19 October party. Craig Richards, Ricardo Villalobos, Jane Fitz, DJ Masda, Freddy K, PARAMIDA and Zip are among the guests, and the current advertised hours are Saturday 23:00 to Monday 05:00. Unless you're made of stronger stuff than me, you're not doing all of that, so pick your session around the running order and the ticket conditions. Friday and the main birthday are separate listings, so make sure you're buying the one you want. fabric's dates and tickets are here.

Manchester and Salford: a goodbye and some massive queer bills

The White Hotel's last autumn is the reason to get to Salford now, not "next year". RA reports the venue is heading into its final autumn before closing at the end of 2026, citing flooding and redevelopment pressure. If you've always meant to go, this is your deadline. Call Super's 26 September Arpo session is billed for fourteen hours, and on 23 October Theo Parrish has the whole night. The 9 October Trilogy Tapes party, with Josey Rebelle, mi-el, Max Ball and Will Bankhead, is another I'd seriously think about. The 27 November High Hoops finale is announced, but RA's report still has its lineup as TBA. RA's report links to each listing.

Call Super streamed this mix from home. It's a good introduction to one of the people The White Hotel is handing a very long night.

Homobloc on 26 September is the one for the big room. Honey Dijon b2b Derrick Carter, S.A.S.S. (Saoirse, Moxie, Peach and Shanti Celeste), Palms Trax, Horse Meat Disco, BASHKKA, I. JORDAN and LSDXOXO are among the names at Depot Mayfield. The queer focus runs right through the programming, with performers and local crews alongside the headliners. If you're wrangling a big group who can't agree on anything musically, this is the one I'd book, because that bill covers a lot of corners of club music. Have a look at the full bill.

Honey Dijon's Sugar Mountain set is a good way to put a sound, and a dancefloor, to the Homobloc bill.

Overmono's WHP night on 30 October has pairings I'd happily cross the country for. James Blake b2b Joy Orbison is on the Depot bill. Concourse has Moodymann, Blawan and Helena Hauff b2b DJ Bone. And HAIN's programme in Archive has Lee Gamble b2b Nkisi and Space Afrika. Don't stop at the top line of the poster: each room is a genuinely different night. WHP's room-by-room breakdown is here.

Here's Overmono playing live at an earlier Manchester Boiler Room with The Warehouse Project.

Eat Your Own Ears on 21 November has Four Tet, Ben UFO, HAAi and Chaos In The CBD, plus Brodinski b2b Slikback and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith live. If you can only stretch to one WHP night, I'd choose by asking which back-to-back or live set you'd be gutted to miss. The November programme is here.

Bristol: jungle, grime and nights that won't sit still

Bristol's bass music deserves top billing, so here it is. On 25 September, 10 Years of NM at Clock Factory has Sir Spyro b2b Plastician alongside Footsie, Killa P and Mez. If your autumn revolves around grime, that's your first weekend sorted. See the anniversary lineup.

On 26 September, RA picks Intaception at The Croft, where Krust is playing a 1993–1996 selection. I love a tight brief like that. It's a night spent inside one particular chapter of jungle, not a greatest-hits run-through. The Intaception listing is on RA.

Talk to Strangers brings Simo Cell and Forest Drive West to Strange Brew on 17 October. Simo Cell, Forest Drive West and nahda: three artists, that's it. If the huge programmes elsewhere on this list make your head spin, start here. Before you go, put on Forest Drive West's Apparitions and Simo Cell's YES.DJ. Between them you've got techno, dub, jungle and fractured bass rhythms to get your ears round. It runs 22:30–04:00.

Try Simo Cell's Dekmantel set and see whether Strange Brew sounds like your kind of night.

On 14 November, 20 Years of Rupture takes over Trinity Centre. It opens with Ferry to the Underworld, a standing theatre piece about Black culture's contribution to jungle and drum & bass, with Double O scoring it live. The rave follows from 23:00 until 05:00. A play and then a rave is a brilliant way to mark twenty years, and it's the most unusual anniversary on this list. The listing we checked doesn't name the full DJ bill, so don't buy a ticket banking on a particular DJ. Read the programme before you pick a ticket.

If Double O is new to you, his guest mix for the Everyday Junglist Podcast is a good place to start.

Glasgow: the techno dates I'd plan around

Slam's Return To Source at Clydeside Halls on 26 September is an RA Pick and part of Soma's 35th-anniversary celebrations. It's an open-to-close set, so the duo get the whole evening. The listed hours are 19:00–midnight, which I'm quietly into: a proper warehouse session, and you're still in bed at a respectable hour. Venue and entry details are here.

Here's Slam at an earlier Soma celebration in Glasgow, if you want a feel for them before Return To Source.

Animal Farm has three more dates worth building a trip around. MARRØN plays with Quail and AXION at Sub Club on 30 October. LICHTRAUM on 28 November brings Stephanie Sykes and Cirkle live to Argyle Arcade for ten hours. Then on 28 December it's Animal Farm's 22nd birthday at Sub Club, with Philippa Pacho and Red Rooms. RA reported the season on 21 September, and the point is that Glasgow has a run going right into winter, not just one weekend. If one date doesn't work for you, another might. RA's season announcement links to each event.

Leeds and Liverpool: a brand-new club and some smaller rooms

Mint XL opens on 25 September with one of the best house and minimal bills of the autumn. system. has all three rooms, with Craig Richards, Fumiya Tanaka, Sonja Moonear, Francesco Del Garda, Prosumer and Enzo Siragusa among the guests, and RA has made it a Pick. If house and minimal are your thing, a few of those names would be worth the train fare on their own. The fact it's an opening night just makes it feel more like an occasion. The full Mint XL lineup is here.

Not sure where to start with that bill? Put on this set from one of the guests, Prosumer.

The next day, Distrikt x Toasted Records has Cap b2b E.LINA, Edward, Hamish & Toby. RA picks this one too and describes it as free, but check the listing's current entry arrangements before you turn up, because "free" doesn't always mean you can just stroll in. Here's the 26 September event and RA's Leeds picks.

Over in Liverpool, Paul Street Sounds at Kapsule on 25 September has tINI, Cadence, Kayleigh Maria and Mudz. It's another RA Pick, and it's my smaller-room choice if your weekend is about minimal, house and breaks. A shorter bill means you can actually follow the night, instead of spending it doing laps trying to work out which room you should be in. See the Kapsule listing.

Right, so which would I actually book?

The quick version: SBF if you want to discover someone new; Homobloc for the big, broad queer bill; The White Hotel while it's still standing; FOLD or Animal Farm for techno that just keeps going; Rupture for jungle with a play attached; Mint XL for the opening-night lineup. Those are my calls, based on the programmes above.

While the group chat argues about which WHP date to go for, stick on a Hessle Audio session from Rinse FM. Go through fabric's recordings if you want longer sets, then look up the residents and the smaller names on whichever night you land on. Honestly, the support slots are half the reason to get there early.

Where to crash after the party

Pick the venue first, then the hotel. The comparisons below are TravelodgeTravelodgeA UK budget hotel chain with direct property booking pages and room-rate conditions that vary by date and rate type.Buying guide · View store → and Holiday InnHoliday InnIHG's full-service hotel brand, with direct property pages and rate-specific cancellation conditions.Buying guide · View store → options for Strange Brew / The Love Inn, Depot Mayfield and fabric respectively. For FOLD, South Bermondsey, The White Hotel and Trinity, you'll need to check the route separately. A hotel name you recognise in the city centre tells you nothing about how grim the journey back is going to be.

For Glasgow, Leeds and Liverpool, use the address on the event listing to decide where to stay. Compare the full room price, the cancellation terms and the checkout time. The one that catches people out: a Friday party that ends on Saturday morning normally means booking Friday night's room. A Saturday booking generally doesn't start until afternoon check-in, which is a very long time to sit in a Greggs. FOLD finishes at noon, so think hard about which nights you book and when you have to check out.

For getting between cities, compare National Rail and National ExpressNational ExpressA UK scheduled coach operator selling intercity journeys, airport services and route-specific ticket types.Buying guide · View store →. For getting back locally, put the actual finishing time into your journey planner, not the time you'd like to leave. Before paying for travel, recheck the lineup, last entry, age restrictions, access information and whether official tickets are still available. And for the December parties, check the holiday timetables, because nothing kills the glow of Animal Farm's birthday like a rail replacement bus.

Sources

• The White Hotel unveils its final autumn programme — Resident Advisor
• South Bermondsey Festival 2026 — Promoters via Resident Advisor
• AVA London x RA25 — AVA / Resident Advisor
• Homobloc 2026 — The Warehouse Project via Resident Advisor
• Tech Couture: A Family Affair at FOLD — Tech Couture via Resident Advisor
• system. presents Mint XL Opening Party — Mint XL via Resident Advisor
• Distrikt x Toasted Records — Promoter via Resident Advisor
• RA Picks in Leeds — Resident Advisor
• Slam: Return To Source, Warehouse Edition — Slam Events via Resident Advisor
• Animal Farm confirms its latest season — Resident Advisor
• Intaception: At The Croft Part 3 — Promoter via Resident Advisor
• 10 Years of NM at Clock Factory — Promoter via Resident Advisor
• Paul Street Sounds at Kapsule — Promoter via Resident Advisor
• 20 Years of Rupture at Trinity Centre — Rupture via Headfirst Bristol
• fabric shares line-up for birthday celebrations — Mixmag
• Talk to Strangers: Simo Cell, Forest Drive West and nahda — Talk to Strangers via Headfirst Bristol
• WHP 2026 season calendar — The Warehouse Project
• fabric: What's On — fabric London
• Travelodge Bristol Central Mitchell Lane — Travelodge
• Holiday Inn Bristol City Centre — Holiday Inn
• Travelodge Manchester Piccadilly — Travelodge
• Holiday Inn Manchester City Centre — Holiday Inn
• Travelodge London Farringdon — Travelodge
• Holiday Inn London Bloomsbury — Holiday Inn
• Travelodge Best Price Finder — Travelodge
• Forest Drive West — Forest Drive West
• Hessle Audio on Rinse FM — Rinse FM
• Rinse FM — Rinse FM
• National Rail — National Rail
• National Express — National Express
• Forest Drive West — Apparitions — Forest Drive West / Livity Sound
• Simo Cell — YES.DJ — Simo Cell / TEMET
• Ploy b2b re:ni — Boiler Room Amsterdam 2022 (archive DJ set) — Boiler Room
• Blawan — Boiler Room London 2012 (archive DJ set) — Boiler Room
• Blasha & Allatt — HÖR, April 2022 (archive DJ set) — Blasha & Allatt
• Call Super — Boiler Room, Streaming From Isolation 2020 (archive DJ set) — Boiler Room
• Honey Dijon — Boiler Room x Sugar Mountain 2018 (archive DJ set) — Boiler Room
• Overmono — Boiler Room Manchester 2023 (archive live performance) — Boiler Room
• Simo Cell — Boiler Room x Dekmantel 2019 (archive DJ set) — Boiler Room
• Double O — Everyday Junglist Podcast, episode 318 (archive mix) — Everyday Junglist Podcast
• Slam — Boiler Room Glasgow 2017 (archive DJ set) — Boiler Room
• Prosumer — Boiler Room London 2017 (archive DJ set) — Boiler Room

Artists, brands and places

• fabric · Verified profiles: Profile 1, Profile 2
• Strange Brew
• The Love Inn
• Simo Cell
• Forest Drive West
• Overmono
• Four Tet
• HAAi
• Chaos In The CBD
• Rinse FM
• National Rail
• National Express
• Travelodge
• Holiday Inn

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