Students Rave about St Andrews’s Rise in Soft Clubbing

The Stand’s coverage of Espress’o'clock a few weeks ago marks the rise of a new era in party culture. It goes by many names: soft clubbing, daytime clubbing, dayclubbing. Pick your poison (or in this case, choose your coffee).

Rewinding back to the stressful times of university applications, there are many factors which determine which university a prospective student may go to: student satisfaction rates; courses that are available to study; quality of teaching; but perhaps most of all, the nightlife and clubbing scene that the university has to offer.

Back when I was in school, many of my classmates received offers to attend the University of St Andrews but didn’t accept them as they wanted to live and study in the big, bustling city. This was understandable; we were all people who lived in either small towns or the countryside. To move from one small bubble to another didn’t appeal that much to my peers.

And let’s be honest, they had a point. Amongst university culture, St Andrews often gets dragged for its lack of clubs and options for students to have a good night out. Although, I would refute that claim by stating St Andrews does have its own unique kind of nightlife – one that combines pubs, weekly club nights at the union, house parties and annual balls. I would go as far to say that our nightlife is much more on the cosy side - but don’t take my word for it, for I am but a humble homebody who has never attended a single ball in her life. St Andrews is more about pints of lager than rows of shots. Either that, or late nights grinding away at the Main Library, especially now that deadline season is fast approaching.

In today’s day and age, health is the new wealth, particularly with Gen Z. We’re statistically drinking less, and partying less too. We’re hanging up our ancestor’s (millennials) skinny jeans, peplum tops and oversized blazers, and spending our youth creating the social experiences we want.

Soft clubbing is exactly what the name suggests, a type of clubbing that is not as full-on as the kind of clubbing that we grew up watching on The Bling Ring (2013) or listening to in 2010s Pop songs. In fact, it is quite the opposite. As Vice put it in their own article on this new cultural movement, ‘soft clubbing is a form of social outing that [is] centred more around health and wellness than on alcohol and drugs. Instead of damaging your body, you’re actually fuelling it.’

Credit: Pinterest

With this new approach to socialising has come an influx of events and experiences that are more tailored towards accessibility, economic awareness and genuine social connection. In terms of accessibility, it means that events are being moved towards earlier times, ones that can have you in bed by 10pm rather than just leaving the house. In the wake of the cost-of-living crisis, a night out can, for some, simply be unaffordable due to the high prices of alcoholic beverages (I’m looking at you, St Andrews pubs), alongside buying tickets for the event itself, so soft clubbing eases these financial pressures by prioritising more affordable means to socialise.

Photo courtesy of Alex Askew-Renaut

Our generation is redefining what it means to go out, and St Andrews is one of the perfect places to bring this new way of life, one that feeds our bodies rather than harms them. And who is to say that soft clubbing hasn’t already found itself amongst our cobbled streets? We’ve now got Espress'o'clock, providing mid-morning jazz with exceptional coffee. We had Spoiled Life’s After Hours event which saw the enjoyment of sweet treats with great early evening beats. Many of our student societies are also offering events that align with the soft clubbing criteria: wholesome picnics in St Mary’s Quad; daytime crafting sessions in the union, early evening socials. It seems that we’re putting the days (or should I say nights?) of drunken-dancing and donner-kebab-munching behind us in favour of coffee-sipping, daytime-discoing revelry.