Digbeth Dining Club brings street food, symphonies and new talent to Birmingham

It is hard to imagine Birmingham's food scene without Digbeth Dining Club. Since 2012 the street food pioneer has helped launch restaurants, drawn hungry crowds and given independent traders a stage.

It all began with a few traders "under the arches in the back-streets Digbeth", as co-founder and director Jack Brabant puts it. Its monthly street closures on Lower Trinity Street grew to attract up to 4,000 people, and eventually the club outgrew the site, moving to Hockley Social Club, a 10,000 sq ft former printworks in Hockley that employs around 80 people.

Its influence on the city is easy to see. Traders who started out at DDC events have gone on to open their own Birmingham restaurants, including Original Patty Men, Baked in Brick, Indian Streatery, Buddha Belly and Meat Shack. The club has also hosted the British Street Food Awards and worked with partners such as Birmingham Royal Ballet, Warwick Castle and Gymshark.

Milestones have been marked in style. For its tenth anniversary in 2022 the club toured the Midlands, including a waterfront event at Merry Hill. For its 12th birthday in September 2024 it returned to its roots with a two-day street party outside its Jewellery Quarter base, the first DDC street closure since January 2020.

Today the club describes itself as "Where the Midlands Comes to Eat", with a motto of good food, good vibes and good people. Its venues include Herberts Yard, which can host up to 1,500 people, and the new Dockworks Waterfront. This October, Herberts Yard hosts two CBSO Symphonic Sessions Halloween events on 27 October, one of them a family takeover, followed by a Bingo Bab Halloween Special on 28 October.

Traders on the current line-up include South Birmingham Curry Club, Mrs Patels, Urban Cheesecake, Beef on the Block and Only Jerkin.

The club is also helping the next generation. It is promoting the WMCA Street Food Incubator, which offers free mentoring, training and trading opportunities for people who dream of starting their own street food business.

Event listings, venue hire details and news of the incubator are on the Digbeth Dining Club website.