Bogotá club Baum has closed

Bogotá club Baum, one of the city's most renowned, has closed its doors for good, bowing out after some seven years in the Colombian capital with a 36-hour party last weekend. 

Since opening, the venue has come under increasing pressure from residential development in the area, with more than 800 flats being built during that time. Homegrown heroes such as Owldisco, Sonico and Baum's resident and CEO Hernán Cayetano played the closing marathon, alongside emergents like Apolonic, Hall Guillen and Otalora. In the past, names like Carl Craig, Ben UFO, Juan Atkins and Marcel Dettmann have graced the booth. 

According to reports, a shift in focus from small clubs to large festivals and one-off events has also been cited as a cause of the closure, although the crew will still continue to host raves and other gatherings at various new locations. Currently the team is behind Baum Festival, also in Bogotá, and Baum Park in Medellin — both of which will continue. 

Despite this sad news, techno and house music are making serious in-roads in Colombia, inspiring a new generation of producers such as those on the 2019 compilation released to raise money for causes in the country, 'Place: Colombia'. Meanwhile, Latin America as a whole is now one of the world's most dominant music markets, hence Spotify opting to host its first awards show in Mexico City, which is home to more users of the streaming service than anywhere else on the planet.