Happy Birthday

So this weekend we put on a bit of a party to mark our first birthday and some good people of Colchester turned up to show us how it should be done.

Opening at 12noon on Friday with chilled old school roots and culture on the decks, our Ale Festival lasted right through to being the last ones standing (well dancing) at Dorian Kelly’s St. Botolph’s Big Sunday collaboration.

Week in, week out, the Waiting Room continues to attract some of the most beautifully creative minds and generous hearts… this weekend was no exception.

Long standing legends and the freshest up & coming talent side by side, contributing their time, gratis, to put on a kick arse experience for our home town. There are too many people to list and thank individually here, but you know who you are. From the Colchester CAMRA guys and the volunteers who pulled pints through the stonking list of 15 DJ’s who played back-to-back – a 10am Dansette wake up call through to a 12am Junglist night cap! (apologies to our neighbours 😉 )

On behalf of all our resident businesses and the Waiting Room team, thanks for coming. You ate every last crumb of our food and literally drank us dry, you smiled a lot and made it all worth while.

There is something very special brewing at the Waiting Room and it’s bigger than our four walls. A body of people who want and demand more from Colchester. St. Botolph’s is in a period of transition and if you want to have a say in how and where it moves, we’re open from Wednesday as usual - come and get involved.

50% of the bar profit is contributed back in the Waiting Room as a ‘more-than-profit’ community enterprise. Every beer, wine or cocktail you drink helps us continue to invest in our local talent, support more creative start-ups and organise more events like this weekend.

Image credit: gleaned from social media mentions inc Alan Wareham, Clare Marsh, Clare Martin, Faye Cruddace, Ness Bobby-Rose, Charlotte Lewis, Lisa Goddard, Paul Hagger, Mark Evel and Priscila Buschinelli,