Historic city prepares for drum and bass bike rave

Fans of a cycling DJ are gearing up for another drum and bass rave in Oxford on Sunday.

Dom Whiting, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, is also known as the DJ On The Bike as he rides through various cities and towns on a bicycle modified with speakers and decks.

Drum & Bass On The Bike starts at 14:00 GMT from the Clarendon Building on Broad Street.

Cowley resident Alex Harding, who plans to join the crowds, said the event created "quite a unique contrast" with the old city.

The streets of Oxford were among the first places for the DJ to perform when he started his initiative in 2021.

"It's mainly because it was a cycling city, I thought 'Well, it made sense to maybe ride around a cycling city'," he said.

Whiting said he enjoyed seeing the old buildings as he looks back at videos from the event.

"Cowley Road's obviously quite a buzz, but going through the actual town centre where the old market used to be, it's just got such good architecture still.

"That's definitely one of the things that are cool about it."

To Whiting, "every city has its energy" and his playlist in Oxford "will be a bit of everything".

"It's a cycling city, so I think it's more appealing not just to people who listen to music, it's also appealing to people who are just going out on bikes.

"They might not necessarily be avid music fans or they listen to classical music, but because they like cycling, they will listen to drum bass for that day."

Harding, who is a personal trainer, said he found the genre "super exciting".

"I've always found when I go raving the community have always been incredibly accepting, so I like to think that the people in Oxford will feel accepted when they listen to the music."

He said he had discovered Whiting two years ago and thought "This is definitely a bit of me".

Now, he even listens to drum and bass with his clients and described the rave in April 2025 as "absolutely incredible".

"It's nice to see what [Whiting] is doing on the decks and how he combines the cycling around the city with actually playing the music as well - I think it's crazy how he works both skills together."

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