A new daytime nightclub in the UK made headlines recently but sorry to burst your bubble England, Canberrans have been doing it for five months.

A crowd of thirty-somethings (and older) have been holding monthly “dayclubs” for non-nocturnal types during the far more respectable hours of 4pm and 10pm. Local DJs spin vinyl, the sound system is epic, and the dance floor is various grassy public spaces around Canberra.

One of the organisers behind this novel idea is Downer resident James Nichols, who has a two-year-old toddler Fabien, with his partner and co-organiser Nyssa, and as every new parent knows, sleep is of the utmost importance.

“Me and my partner just had a kid, and we just wanted to have a dance event that we could go to which meant wrapping up at 10pm,” James says. “And making it outdoors so we could bring our kids, it’s family-friendly. If you centre your event to ramp up at 8pm and it’s done by 10pm, you can have a great time – and have a beer – kind of perfect for us.”

The dayclubs in the UK are called “Day Fever” (a nod to the Bee Gees’ Night Fever).  The Canberra dayclub is dubbed Spangled Drongos, for no particular reason (it’s an actual bird native to Queensland) other than the fact that it’s just a really cool name.

At Spangled Drongos, there are no dress regulations, no minimum age and no cover charge (plus no bouncers). Just the natural bushland of Canberra and the incredible light show – sunset. The best part is that attendees are encouraged to come by bicycle – totally carbon neutral.

James tows a hefty sound system with large speakers each month on his electric bike. Members of the organising crew, who as a self-styled bureaucratic parody call themselves “The Executive Committee”, bring grills, turntables, drinks, and lights on their bikes.

The sound system is cobbled together from various bits including the old sub-woofers from the Woden Youth Centre band nights, paired with DIY amplifier circuitry, and is powered by EV batteries from a wrecked Mitsubishi Outlander.

James’ idea for “bike raves” stems from his time in Sydney when strict lockout laws were introduced between 2014 and 2020. The legislation required 1.30am lockouts for all nightclubs in the CBD and Kings Cross. Thus, the bike rave was born.

“When the lockouts in Kings Cross happened, it was a broader clamp-down on nightlife,” he says. “At the time, I was a bit younger and really into bikes and it was just impossible to organise the kinds of interesting gigs we wanted to do. The easiest way that I saw was to just do it on bikes.

“We could have it in parks and then move on to another location and do another hour and not annoy nearby residents. We’d evade the sound restrictions and we’d have low impact on people in general.”

Unlike the mobile bike raves in Sydney, Canberra’s Spangled Drongo is usually stationary but has the potential to ride on if necessary. Their latest event was held at the Spirit Levels (public artwork) on ANU grounds, near the National Museum of Australia.

“We still have the possibility to move if we have to,” James says. “ANU security sometimes roll by but when they see people in their mid-30s they say, oh, not a problem. We keep it clean, we make sure all the rubbish is picked up, we believe in caring for the land.”

First-timers to Spangled Drongos last Saturday were Alex and Simon Cox with their daughter Laura. They heard about the event via James’ sister (that’s Canberra’s one-degree of separation for you).

“The timing is ideal – after naptime, before bedtime,” Alex says. “For parents with little kids you can feel like you’re stuck at home a lot so having an event like this means we can still go out and see our friends – and the kids can come.”

When I arrived at my first Spangled Drongos around 6ish, there were picnic blankets spread out, bubble-machines for the kids, and chilled afternoon beats by DJ Max Haesler, who was warming up the crowd. Different DJs work the decks each month, taking it in turns to get people on the green dancefloor.

About 50 or 60 people are there, with more cyclists arriving as the sun starts to set. The chosen site is a natural amphitheatre sloping down towards the lake. Before the dancing gets underway, there’s an acknowledgement to the custodians of the land, and an introduction to newcomers: “the whole idea is to bring people together and break bread together – wholesome fun”.

“We’re potentially having a sound picnic,” James says. “A picnic at first, then sunset happens, music is playing and people start dancing. Because it’s centred around the sunset it’s really a light show basically – we’re letting nature do the work.”

As night falls, the music cranks up and drongos regular, Shanny, has brought some ‘70s funk and disco records. Other nights there may be some garage, house or techno music.

“It’s a mishmash but all fun dance music,” James says. “It’ll be eclectic and it’s run by the ‘Executive Committee’.  The best way to organise something I’ve found is to democratise it so that everyone’s invested.”

How very Canberran.

Spangled Drongos monthly public events are posted as public events on Facebook.