Fishies or Friday night pottery: Are Cambridge students embracing a new drinking culture?

Gen Z are commonly reported as a group of changed social habits, with students drinking less frequently, and embracing sobriety more-so than generations gone by.

This falls alongside a pattern of night club closures in uni towns across the country as venues face rising costs, in addition to difficulties of recovering post-Covid, making late-night options more limited than they once were.

In student spaces, alternative choices for socialising seem to be becoming more and more popular. Yet some students and staff report a reversing of habits and a renewed nightlife scene. With a new cohort of freshers, it’s time to re-examine: Have Cam students embraced a generationally changed social culture?

Students and porters spoke to The Cambridge Tab to share their opinions.  

 A night in over a night out

Alpaca feeding at Emmanuel College

Students are moving away from a drink-centred social scene. More are choosing to embrace other sides of Freshers’ and first-term life.

College porters describe witnessing a clear fall after the Pandemic, reporting evening traffic as never reaching the amount before, and a nightlife revival never fully manifesting.

In fact, as many as 21 per cent of under 25-year-olds fall in the non-drinking camp, according to a 2023 Drinkaware study. A massive 50 per cent increase in seven years.

The trend has been picked up on amongst the university community. College JCR’s and societies are increasingly making sure to put on a range of activities during Freshers’ Week. A brightly coloured, Michaelmas term card can expect to find an option for every non-drinker, with everything from coffee chats to pizza nights, to craft evenings. One college even turned to Alpaca feeding during last year’s exam term.

Many students are happy with these changes, speaking positively of the wider choice of options for socialising and making friends without the pressures of being a big drinker or party animal.

And the demand is there. One college’s pottery evening found spots filled up days in advance, demonstrating a want by some students to socialise over a calming crafting station rather than the excitement of a crowded smoking area conversation followed by a late-night Trailer of Life trip.

A Generational change?

Although attuned to these changes, porters remain in speculation over their origins. The pandemic, rising venue costs, and smaller profit margins make up a part of the picture.

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However, social media trends have also likely contributed to this changing student culture. Videos romanticising a quiet night in, bath bomb, candles, cup of tea and all, celebrate the embracing of a homebody-ness and an appreciation for the quieter sides of life.

Many creators joke of being in their twenties yet already embracing a “granny life,” whether opening up about their struggles with social anxiety, or simply choosing to follow their genuine wants over the activities expected of their life-stage.

Other students report feeling little choice in the matter. Faced with a seemingly ever harsher job market, they highlight struggling to find time to complete their work, with internships and grad schemes applications consuming many of their free hours. Ask any student and they are sure to be able to name a slightly crazed “LinkedIn warrior”… or many.

A Recent Revival?

Despite this decline, the winds of change are not all sober. Where other unis have seen club closures, Cambridge’s remain standing.

A recent competition for Vodka Revolution’s Wednesday evening slot, saw Woo pushed out in favour of Fishies. Expanding across the country, they display a confidence in student desire to go out, even if their aqua-themed promotions and Inbetweener’s cameo left much to be desired for some members of the student community.

And while statistics point to decline in the number of drinkers, a recent UCL Longitudinal study has shown the trend may be more complex. Substance usage and the number of students consuming six plus drinks in a night have increased in recent years, suggesting Gen Z culture to not be a clear-cut as once thought.

As observed by one porter of four years, this year’s freshers may even be the most socially active she’s seen.

For many societies a social drinking culture successfully slots in alongside other activities. Clare Cellars and Iris Bar have hosted hordes of freshers these past weeks, with band nights, film showings, and magazine launches, alongside general visitors. Others speak of embracing a sober night out, making memories alongside friends, even if not participating in drinking themselves.  

Cambridge students don’t seem to have retreated entirely from the party lifestyle, yet a greater variety of social choices now seem possible to embrace. Cambridge Gen Z are changing, but the student rite of passage of letting loose is far from dying out.

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