enjoy an evening of entertainment
Come out and enjoy an evening of entertainment and community socializing at the historic Barnhartvale Hall located in Barnhartvale, Kamloops, BC.
Enjoy premium coffee, beverages and homemade, freshly baked goodies, and be entertained by stars of the present and future.
Meet your community. Residents from all areas are welcome.
The Barnhartvale Coffee House 2012-13 season is over, and we wish you a wonderful, music-filled summer. Maybe we'll see you at one of the free "Music in the Park" concerts held every evening during July and August in Kamloops at Riverside Park? Check out the website closer to July.
Meanwhile, mark your calendars for our 2013-14 season (feature acts TBA):
- 19 October 2013
- 16 November 2013
- (no coffee houses December or January)
- 15 February 2014
- 15 March 2014
- 19 April 2014
our evening venue
Doors open at 7:00 pm and music begins exactly at 7:30 pm.
Admission just $5.00 at the door. Open Mic entertainers and children under 12 are admitted free.
Carol Balas
Carol Balas
We would like to add our condolences to the sad news of Carols Balas passing and to publish a message sent out from a good friend.
Dear Friends of Carol
My name is Leo Levasseur, and I am the administrator of Carol's web page. It is with tremendous sadness that I report that Carol passed away this morning peacefully in her sleep after a long and courageous battle with breast cancer. If you purchased her latest cd, Swan Song, cherish it.
She was a dear friend of mine, and her music will continue to inspire me, as I hope it will for you.
Baked goods and beverages are $1.00 each.
Seating is limited by the size of the hall, so come early.
Each evening is divided into three parts: open mic, intermission and feature act.
open mic - entertainers who have signed in on our white board at the door are called up in the same order on the stage and perform two or three selections, depending on the time constraints.
Poetry, comedy, music, solos, duos and groups... the genre is wide open! The Open Mic section is followed by an intermission to allow the Feature Act to set up and perform sound checks etc.
feature acts - a brief intermission follows the open mic session, to allow for equipment setup and sound checks for the feature act. The audience gets a chance to visit with neighbours, stretch their legs, refill their cups and plates, purchase CD’s, and support the maintenance of the Hall by purchasing 50/50 tickets.
The feature act normally plays for an hour to complete the evening. The feature acts have been interesting and varied: Vancouver's Joanna Chapman-Smith, Sorrento's Chris Stevens, Tom Coles, Blu & Kelly Hopkins of Silver Creek, Kelowna's Jane Eamon and Gord Brush, and lots of locals including John Clinch, Art Pruce, Trevor Caswell, Wiley, Kelly Winders, Kelly Spencer & Jon Treichel, Chris Doherty and Gary Nielsen, and others too numerous to mention
when?
Our Coffee House evenings run approximately five times a year... normally on the third Saturday of any given month except in months when statutory holidays might conflict. Be sure to register for email reminders. You’ll receive an email reminder about upcoming coffee houses one week before and again on the day of each event.
history to date
The Barnhartvale Coffee House was started in 1999 by a local performer, Rosemary Ash, who ran it for 3 years. In 2002 she moved back to her home province of Newfoundland for personal reasons for 6 months. Well, 6 months turned into 6 years, during which Rosemary started and ran 5 coffee houses. During Rosemary’s absence, Donna and Paul Bradbury volunteered to help administer the Barnhartvale Coffee House, Jim Frid manned the soundboard, and 'Blue Moon' kept the open mic going. In 2005 a new group of women who called themselves 'guitar friends' took over the volunteer administration and “(wo)manned” the Coffee House until 2012, when Rosemary Ash returned to Kamloops, but unfortunately she needed to return to Newfoundland again for personal reasons after the September 2012 Coffee House. A volunteer crew ran the October and November 2012 events, and in January 2013 a new volunteer crew took over the reins until the anticipated return of Rosemary Ash, hopefully early in summer 2013.
Audience support for the Barnhartvale Coffee House continues to grow, as does the open mic participation. We now routinely have 100+ audience and many open mic performers.
the barnhartvale coffee house (bch) mandate
"The Barnhartvale Coffee House's mandate is to work with emerging amateur and professional artists from all areas of entertainment engaging audiences with traditional and contemporary works that not only entertain, but inspire creativity and an enthusiasm for the development of the performing arts in our local communities."
A big thank you to all the volunteers who help make the Coffee House a success. Your support as a volunteer would be greatly appreciated; please click on the contact us link/tab if you are willing to volunteer. All proceeds from our events are used to improve the Barnhartvale Coffee House experience. The BCH applauds the efforts of the Barnhartvale Community Association to maintain and improve the Barnhartvale Hall, and the BCH endeavours to support their efforts through its events. Visit www.barnhartvale.com for more information. Or ‘Like’ us on our facebook page for up-to-the minute news about coffee house