Open Decks: a free DJ night in Chapel Allerton, Leeds, where everyone is welcome

EventsMusicOpen Decks: Free DJ Night in Chapel Allerton
Written By Becky Harris

Open Decks is a free DJ night at Chapel Allerton Arts Centre on the third Friday of every month, 6.30pm to 11pm, with ten local DJs taking turns on the decks in our North Art Gallery and cafe bar. Anyone can come along to listen, dance and have a drink, and anyone can have a go on the decks by booking a slot at opendecks.co.uk from 8pm on the Sunday before.

Music and art in the same room, Photos courtesy of Open Decks North.

What is Open Decks?

Once a month our gallery turns into a friendly little club night. Open Decks is run by Open Decks North, and the idea could not be simpler: the decks are set up, the bar is open, and ten DJs each get a 25 minute set, one after another, from 6.45pm until the end of the night. Some have DJ’d for years. Some are bedroom DJs who love the opportunity to play to a crowd.

You will hear house, disco, funk, soul, Motown, hip hop and drum and bass, on vinyl and digital. Because the line up changes every half hour, the music never sits still for long, and that is half the fun.

You really don't have to be a DJ

This is the part we most want people to know. Most of the people in the room on an Open Decks night are not there to play. They are there to listen, to catch up with friends, to dance a little (or a lot), and to cheer on whoever is behind the decks. Open Decks North happily welcome non DJs, or as they put it on their website, civilians.

Entry is free and there is no pressure to stay all night. Pop in for one drink after work, or stay until 11pm. Our cafe bar is open, the room is relaxed and you will find people of all ages. Bring your friends, or come on your own and you will soon be chatting to someone about a record you have never heard before.

Come for one drink or stay all night. Photos courtesy of Open Decks North.

Fancy a go on the decks yourself?

DJ slots go online at 8pm on the Sunday before each event at opendecks.co.uk, first come, first served, so set a reminder. Slots cannot be booked in advance, which keeps it fair for everyone. Keep an eye on Open Decks North on Instagram for the call.

The set up is two direct drive turntables and a Pioneer XDJ all in one console, so you can bring vinyl or bring your music prepared in Rekordbox on a USB stick. Headphones are provided, though you are welcome to bring your own. The music leans towards dance and electronic sounds that mix well, with hip hop, funk, disco, Motown and drum and bass all welcome. Just leave the chart pop at home!

If you have never played to a room before, this is a gentle place to start. The crowd is friendly, the sets are short, and everyone in the room is on your side.

Part of a movement that is happening all over the world

Open decks nights are nothing new, but they are having a real moment. Record shops were among the first to do it. DJ Mag has written about Lion Vibes in Brixton, where people write their names on a sheet and play 15 minutes of reggae, and Planet Wax in New Cross, where one duo who played its open decks went on to land a monthly residency.

The same article shows how open decks can open doors for people who have often felt shut out of DJing. Gut Level in Sheffield runs open decks that put marginalised genders and LGBTQ+ DJs first, L.A.D.S (Ladies Open Decks and Social) brings women together around the decks in Newcastle, and here in Leeds, Sheaf St. has invited women, people of colour and LGBTQ+ people to sign up, with tuition for complete beginners. Above its DJ booth is painted a line we love: "You're not God, you're a DJ."

It has gone national too. In October 2025 BBC Introducing ran open decks events for emerging DJs in nine cities, including Bradford, Manchester and Newcastle. Further afield, OpenDecks.net lists sessions from Berlin, Copenhagen and Lisbon to Brooklyn, Detroit and Ho Chi Minh City. In New Orleans, bars like Poor Boys run weekly open decks with 20 minute slots, and in Sydney there is a weekly open decks night for the city's LGBTQIA+ scene.

It also fits a wider change in how people like to go out. Many of us now prefer an earlier, friendlier night with good music and good company over a 3am finish, a trend the Yorkshire Evening Post calls soft clubbing. And as Pioneer DJ points out, with so many UK nightclubs lost in recent years, more and more music is finding a home in venues that are cafes, studios and galleries by day. That sounds a lot like us.

Vinyl and digital both welcome, in a friendly gallery and cafe bar. Photos courtesy of Open Decks North.

Why we love hosting Open Decks

At Chapel Allerton Arts Centre we want to support all kinds of music and the arts in the widest sense of the word. That means paintings on the walls and life drawing on a Tuesday, but it also means jazz on a Sunday morning, live music with The Circle Social, and a room full of people dancing to a DJ who was practising in their bedroom last week. We don't think there is a right or wrong kind of art, and we don't think you need to be an expert to enjoy it.

More than anything, we want this building to bring people together. A friendly place where you can turn up on your own and leave having made a new friend. Where neighbours who have never met end up talking at the bar. Where students, parents and people who were clubbing in the nineties all share the same dance floor. Open Decks does all of that, once a month, for free, and we are proud to be its home.

Quick questions

Is Open Decks free?

Yes. Entry is free for everyone, and it is free to play too but you have to sign up in advance on their website to actually DJ - and it fills up fast!

When is it?

Typically it’s the third Friday of every month, 6.30pm to 11pm, with DJs on from 6.45pm - dates can sometimes shift so keep an eye out on socials.

Do I have to be a DJ to come?

Not at all. Most people come to listen, dance, have a drink and hang out.

How do I book a DJ slot?

Slots go online at 8pm on the Sunday before each event at opendecks.co.uk, first come, first served.

What music will I hear?

Mostly house, disco, funk, soul, Motown, hip hop and drum and bass, on vinyl and digital.

Is there a bar?

Yes, our licensed cafe bar is open all evening until 11pm serving a variety of soft and alcoholic drinks.

Where are you?

Chapel Allerton Arts Centre, 31 Potternewton Lane, Chapel Allerton, Leeds LS7 3LW. Find us here.

The details

Want to run your own night here?

If you have an idea for a music night, a party, a gig or a workshop, we would love to hear from you. Our gallery, conservatory and cafe bar make a friendly, characterful space for all kinds of events, in a building with plenty of history (you may know it as the old Shoulder of Mutton pub). Find out more about hiring Chapel Allerton Arts Centre for your event. Everyone is welcome here.

Becky Harris
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