Phew. It’s been an unbelievably hectic few months at the C&M office. We’ve opened our second venue, celebrated half a decade of our first, and we’ve barely had time for the dust to settle on either before we’ve started thinking about Christmas, New Year’s Eve and all the big plans we’ve got for 2024.
For now, we wanted to run you through what the typical week at both C&M venue will look like going forward. The short version is this: the weekends and themed Wednesday evenings you know and love aren’t going anywhere. These will remain as the only regularly scheduled paid ticketed events in our calendar.
Elsewhere, we’ve got a few exciting new things to bring in during the week, which will be free to book via our usual system. Read on for more details on how each day will look.
Weekends
The lifeblood of C&M, our weekends are when the Cult of Machine gathers to indulge in its shared passion. You’ll be pleased to hear that absolutely nothing will change with the way these work at either venue – they’ll still be bookable in three-hour long timeslots, and you’ll still get half of your ticket price back on food and drink.
We’re aiming to have a theme and/or a collaborating partner for every other weekend, with old-school, anything-goes weekends in between. Of course, even if you don’t own something that’s on brand for a themed weekend, you’re still more than welcome to join us – the themes just influence what we park front of house, and who we work with for that given weekend.
In terms of themes, we’ll be releasing a full calendar very soon, but we’ve got some awesome things lined up like another Daikoku Weekend, the seasonally-appropriate return of Winter Weapons and a couple of collabs we’re incredibly excited to tell you about. These will be the same across both venues wherever possible.
Weekends at The Hill Weekends at The Bowl
Monday and Tuesday evenings from 5pm
Monday and Tuesday evenings have, for a while, been all about car clubs at C&M, but we’re going to expand on that a little. On evenings with no prior club bookings, we’re dropping in what we call C&M Yard Meets. Each of these will highlight a particular manufacturer, iconic model or type of car, and will be completely free to book into.
As always with our events, everything and anything will be welcome, but our team will be prioritising giving front of house parking to whatever make, model or genre is under the spotlight on that given evening.
Wherever possible, these will happen simultaneously at both The Hill and The Bowl, but in instances where we have an existing club booking at one venue, they’ll just take place at one or the other. The first Monday of the month will also continue to play host to ‘I Love You, Man’ at The Hill.
This also means we’re having a pause on taking any more private club bookings for the rest of 2023, but if you’d like to discuss hosting one next year, don’t hesitate to reach out to events@caffeineandmachine.com.
C&M Yard Meets kick off with BMW at both sites on 31 October, then Mini and Porsche at The Bowl on 6 and 7 November respectively.
Wednesday evenings from 5pm
C&M’s Wednesday evenings are a staple of the UK car calendar at this point, so we’ve no plans to mess with the formula. Every Wednesday evening from 5pm, one of our rotating themes will be the focal point of both Yards simultaneously.
Throughout autumn and winter, that run rate will see the always popular Daikoku Nights and Strassenkultur stay omnipresent on the first and third Wednesday evenings of the month, respectively. Over autumn and winter, we’re bringing back Honour the Uplifted on the second Wednesday of the month, and, after a spectacularly popular one-off in summer, Rally Tracks will fill in the fourth slot.
When we roll back round to spring and the roads are in a better state, Notti Italiane will return on the second Wednesday evening of the month, and Air-Cooled Appreciation Society on the fourth. Oh, and any months with a fifth Wednesday? We’ll drop something new in there, or bring back an old favourite.
Thursday evenings from 5pm
For that not-quite-the-end-of-the-week feeling, we’re introducing a rotating roster of brand-new, free-to-book events on Thursday evenings. Some of these will differ from venue to venue, so make sure you take a look below to see what’s happening where, and when.
- Gaming Nights (first Thursday of the month at The Hill; third Thursday of the month at The Bowl)*: If you’re under a certain age, then your first experiences driving a car probably didn’t come behind a steering wheel and a set of pedals, but with a game controller in your hands. For lots of us, video games were not only an outlet for the frustration of being too young to drive for real, but perhaps our gateway into car enthusiasm in the first place. From the most party-friendly kart racers to the most realistic, hardcore sims, our monthly gaming nights will be relaxed, open and sociable evenings where everyone can come enjoy some good old-fashioned virtual competition in a brilliant setting. We’ll also have some board games, Top Trumps, Lego and more for if you’re not in the mood for looking at a screen or they’re all occupied.
- Quiz Nights (second Thursday of the month at The Hill; third Thursday of the month at The Bowl): Caffeine&Machine Quiz Nights: they’re like pub quizzes, but the questions are about cars. Each month, the nerdiest brains in the C&M team are getting together to come up with questions that range from easy to ‘really, you should get outside more’. Get a team of up to five together, head down to the Yard, and come prepared to trawl the depths of your trivia knowledge. There’ll be some awesome Caffeine&Machine prizes on offer for the winning team.
- Inside the Machine (third Thursday of the month at The Hill; first Thursday of the month at The Bowl)*: Inside the Machine is all about getting the inside track on all corners of the car and bike world. Whether it’s a tech deep-dive with the engineer of something fascinating, a look into shooting or writing about cars with respected journalists and photographers, or a lively debate on a hot automotive topic, each month a different guest will be taking to the mic to bring us Inside the Machine.
- Bike Night (fourth Thursday of the month at both venues): Nothing can quite compare to the sensations that two wheels provide. From nipping around a city on a café racer to tackling a favourite B-road on a superbike, and from backroad expeditions on adventure bikes to cruising around on a chopper, biking is one of the most freeing, social and exhilarating mechanical pursuits there is. That’s why the fourth Thursday evening of every month, at both C&M sites, will play host to our dedicated, free-to-book Bike Night, where two-wheeled machinery of every kind will take over the Yard. As always, you’re welcome to attend on four wheels too, but our team will be prioritising giving front of house parking to bikes. Because two wheels good.
*Gaming Nights and Inside the Machine will begin regularly from December 2023.
Friday evenings from 5pm
For the most part, Friday evenings will remain just that – Friday evenings, a chance to unwind and come enjoy the beverage of your choice and some great food and drink while surrounded by awesome machinery. It’s the perfect way to celebrate the end of the working week – no booking required.
The exception to the rule will be the first four Friday evenings of December, where both sites will play host to our Shared Christmas Parties – you can find more info here, but during these periods, the sites will be ticketed.
And that’s about it. As always, we’ll be keeping the What’s on pages for both The Hill and The Bowl updated with more in-depth run-downs of everything that’s going on, but that’s the overview of our upcoming events calendar. Don’t forget that during the week, we’re still open from 9am every day at both sites if you just want to drop in for a coffee and some lunch. We’ll catch you in the Yards very soon.