Ocean Wednesdays have made a comeback with tickets selling out in under 30 seconds.
The events, across four days and hosted at Waterfront Bar, were organised by Get Wavy and all tickets sold out almost immediately.
Students from Nottingham Trent University were able to attend on May 19 and May 26; those attending the University of Nottingham, meanwhile, could join the popular night out on May 21 and May 28.
The event was planned to accommodate 299 people, but the Waterfront’s venue capacity was reduced to 200 the day before the first Ocean Wednesday was set to take place.
Get Wavy broke the news of this situation on their Instagram page: “We are sorry for any inconvenience caused and still want to run the events socially distanced for 200 people.
“We are trying to do our best by adapting to run events during a pandemic in uncertain times as we feel students deserve to be able to go out in the best capacity possible.”
Indoor hospitality and entertainment facilities reopened in England on May 17, following the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown.
Steve Hodgkinson, 44, also known as DJ Vimto, is a regular DJ at Ocean and played at the Ocean X Waterfront Get Wavy event.
He said: “It was surreal at first but as soon as ’22’ by Taylor Swift kicked in it was like I’d never been away, I recognised a few regulars too who gave me a wave.
“Obviously it was not the same vibe as Ocean but it was good fun, the management who I’d never met before was really great.
“I’m looking forward to having no tables but also not be restricted as a DJ; the party needs to be on the dance floor.”
The first Ocean night back sold out within 30 seconds of the tickets being released on the Fatsoma website after the nightclub was forced to close in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jack Thubbron, 25, a Live & Technical Events NTU student who attended the event, said: “It was definitely different to your usual club night, especially being restricted to one table and not being able to socialise with other people which is a big part of Ocean normally.
“Despite the restrictions, there was still a good atmosphere having one of the Ocean DJ’s there playing the Ocean anthems and singalongs, not forgetting the famous Trent Army chanting!”
Nightclubs are set to reopen on June 21 if the number of coronavirus cases does not rise.
More than 58,000 people took part in pilot events to test the possibility of Covid-19 transmission within large crowds, with no masks or social distancing measures being in place.
After only 15 people tested positive, the trial suggested that large events like concerts and clubbing pose no more danger than going shopping, and therefore, we could be back at Ocean sooner than we think.
Lead image: Shannon Samecki