London's Village Underground is celebrating its 15th anniversary with VU15, a month-long series of events running throughout September.
The programme includes Gwenno, Salute, DJ Nobu, Paula Temple and many others, with collaborations too from the likes of Eat Your Own Ears, Jazz Cafe, Loud & Quiet and Touching Bass.
Amelie Snyers, managing director, said: "The one good thing about the pandemic is that it forced us to slow down and spend some time thinking about what Village Underground had achieved by then – the good and the bad – and what needed to change. A lot of these changes are reflected in the VU15 programme – it also offers clues to what is coming next: more diverse and engaged programmes, making the most of our independent status, working with all sorts of interesting, fun, new promoters, collectives and artists and finding ways to support each other as we all slowly recover from Covid.
"Ultimately, we want VU to be for everyone and this won't just be about our audiences and who is on stage, but also who we work with, how we work together and how we treat each other."
Ian Crawford, live programmer, and Neil Ellis, club programmer, added: "Village Underground has been cultivating London's next generation of creatives for 15 years, to continue doing this we need to keep the door open for new audiences, relationships and innovation.
"For us, VU is a concept that is still in its early form, there is still so much to do and refine with our programming but we want to use our positions to promote a more diverse, equitable and fair industry through putting on the best events London has to offer. Within VU's walls, people are inspired on a weekly basis, ideas are shared, memories are made and creativity blossoms – the creativity that allows culture to be the catalyst for change that it has always been."
