A new venue is coming to 221 Rideau St. later this March, replacing the old Mavericks location. The venue, named Gridwrks, was announced last Wednesday by the team behind City at Night and Afterlight.
“After we started City at Night in 2016 and renovated to launch Afterlife during the pandemic, we felt electronic music became more prominent and more popular within the city,” says Farid Dagher, one of the team members. “With the demand going up, we’ve found ourselves a bit limited with the space, and that’s why we started shopping for a new, bigger stage.”
Farid Dagher. Photo NPG Studio.
The team was looking to “create something that builds on the same values and mission of City at Night, while creating an opportunity for more events to emerge, and in bigger capacities.”
“City at Night’s capacity is half of what Gridwrks can be,” says Farid. “With a 300-person capacity, it allows us to work with bigger events and a larger pool of artists that would typically be too expensive or limited in a smaller space.”
The location played a big role in choosing this particular space. Farid says he believes that adding a venue on Rideau Street will be a valuable addition to the visibility of the nightlife community.
“Running City at Night has been challenging in some ways because it’s located in a corporate district. We have a great community that comes to visit us, but we hope to connect with them even more by bringing them a space in a neighbourhood that some consider a bit more vibrant,” says Farid. “This new, added location is not only good for us and our community but also for the promoters, DJs and artists who need a platform.”
Having an extra location and managing the programming of both Gridwrks and City at Night means the team and community can actively curate sounds that strengthen each other, says Farid.
“With the addition of Gridwrks, in a way, we feel like we’ve become our own competitor,” laughs Farid. “But we’d rather be our own competitor so we can curate as a whole, together with the community.”
“Often, artists have to be booked well in advance, and when you’re competing with different locations, audiences sometimes have to choose between events. When we curate both spaces, some of the programming might overlap, but some will be very distinct. For example, we could do a UK Garage and Jungle event playing at the same time as a deep progressive techno event, and both would cater to different crowds.”
Farid says that Night Commissioner Mathieu Grondin and the Nightlife Council at the City of Ottawa have been instrumental in shaping their plans.
“Mathieu acted as an amazing soundboard to City at Night when it comes to challenges and ideas. With his extensive experience, he’s facilitated many networking opportunities for us and advocates for the community, gathering information about what we want and need. That motivates us to take the extra steps, while we try to shift things that need to be shifted and challenge the status quo.”
Renovations at new Gridwrks venue are currently underway. Photo NPG Studio.
Farid says he hopes that Ottawa and the communities outside of the nightlife scene recognize the effort, passion, and hard work that go into creating places like Gridwrks.
“Some people expect nightclubs to be a certain way, and we’re often compared to other cities. We’re known as a smaller city, different from places like Montreal, Toronto, or New York. But we do have some really passionate people who are creative, dedicated, and ambitious.”
Farid says he hopes this could start a new chapter for Ottawa’s nightlife, where he likes to see people coming together with an open mind and building connections.
“Collaboration is important to us, and by doing that, I feel like we can reshape the scene here in Ottawa. I hope that resonates and echoes into a thriving Ottawa nightlife scene.”
Gridwrks will open its doors to the public for the first time during the weekends of March 21 and 28. Fridays will showcase different events, some familiar to Ottawa, and others featuring international artists. Saturdays will be club nights with resident DJ’s under the name ‘Off-grid Saturdays’.
Be sure to check out their Instagram and website for more information, updates, upcoming events, and tickets!
