Around 80 people attended the soft launch of a brand new live music venue, art space and bar in the heart of Acomb, York, last night (Wednesday).
Rise at the Bluebird Bakery on Acomb Road is the four-night a week cultural, food and drink evening.
The brainchild of bakery owners Nicky and Al Kippax, Rise will open to the public tomorrow (Thursday, 13 July), complete with a DJ set, tasty nibbles and local beers and spirits.
The soft launch saw traders, wholesalers, regular customers, friends and family try out the concept for the first time. “It went really well,” said Nicky.
“Our bar staff were fantastic – unflappable.”
She said they have a couple of small things to ‘iron out’ before Rise opens to the public tomorrow at 6pm.
Then it will open every Wednesday to Saturday from 6pm to 11pm.
“It seemed popular,” Nicky said. “Acomb’s been waiting for something like this, where you can come and enjoy art, cultural life, music, food – without having to go into town.
“We’ve had so much community support behind us, it’s really great.
“I really want to thank local businesses and customers for giving our new project so much support.”
Spoken word, theatre and art
The food at Rise will be ‘nibbles’, she said – local cheeses (coming soon), fabulous bread from the Bluebird Bakery including spinach and chickpea focaccia, olives, pickles and the like.
The bottle bar stocks a range of local beers, ales and ciders, and there’s a range of Yorkshire spirits too.
Tomorrow’s opening night features Rob Wilson, from York band The Mothers, with his Superbad DJ set.
More music follows this Friday and Saturday night, with a whole range of cultural offerings coming down the line.
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You can check out all the updates on the Rise Facebook page here.
“We’ve been in talks with the programmers at York Theatre Royal,” Nicky told YorkMix.
“They are hopefully pushing some smaller touring shows our way.
“We’re also hoping to do spoken word poetry evenings.”
And the bakery’s “great big walls” are perfect for hosting exhibitions of abstract art, put together with Jo Walton from the Rogues Atelier Studios in York.
On Rise evenings, Bluebird Bakery is a “24-hour operation. There’s always someone on site, serving customers – or playing music!”
You don’t need a ticket to go to Rise – just turn up!
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