I recently started university and when choosing where I wanted to study not surprisingly my first priority wasn’t to be in a big city with an amazing nightlife. I decided purely on the strength of how the course came across. What I noticed after choosing it is that many people are geographically impaired when it comes to Chichester (my university). After having replied to “Where are you going to uni?” their usual response would be “Where’s that then?” Which is not to say that I had a clue where it was initially either. For those of you who don’t know,  it’s somewhere between better known Portsmouth and Brighton. It’s one of those cities that you can’t select as your nearest city in a questionnaire.

Chichester or “Chi” (pronounced Cheye not Chee) as referred to by the locals is an unusual city, unusual in the sense that it is incredibly small, so small that on many occasions I have referred to it as a town. Calling Chichester a town would not be unfair  by any means if you were perhaps just strolling through and had not noticed the comparably small Cathedral. However, the locals (who have an unjustified reputation for being somewhat unfriendly) are proud of their city and will be quite vocal in voicing their disapproval should you relegate it to the level of “town” in conversation.

But there is no contesting that as a city Chichester is an unconventional one. For one thing, it certainly doesn’t have the nightlife one might  expect in the larger urban centres that are also cities. Although there are a fair number of pubs and bars, the nearest night club is “Thursdays” some way into the Chichester outskirts.

Students rely heavily on the Student Union to provide them with various theme nights such as “School Discos” “Super hero fancy dress” “Cowboys and Indians” and the like. However, many students and most of the partying locals migrate to Bognor Regis to “Club Vision” which is still referred to mostly as Sheikhs (the former name around five years ago) and The Mud Club.

The music scene in Chichester hasn’t suffered too much from these defections. There are a handful of places that play live music, such as La Havana, a chic and pleasant underground tunnelled bar, with weekly Wednesday open mic nights which display the local talent. Open mic truly is a free for all. You will witness everything in between amazing musicianship and “well,  that doesn’t quite work…” in the form of some experimental improvisation. Participants are usually students from the University’s Music course, as well as some older veteran musicians from around the town.

Also in La Havana on Fridays the promotion “This Charming Sound” has a weekly showcase for up and coming local artists as well as touring bands playing in Chichester around their London schedule.

Other locations include the Chichester Inn. Fridays at the Students Union (for students only) are worth a look in.