Red Gate Update, October 2021

Like the cicadas awakening from their 17 year slumber the Red Gate is beginning to stir after many long months of inactivity. And like every other music or entertainment venue in BC we have been waiting and wondering day by day when the current public health restrictions will finally be lifted. These are the "phase 3" restrictions which came into effect July 1st and unfortunately crashed into the "4th wave", which has left us stuck indefinitely with trying to operate at 50% capacity, with pre-assigned and fixed seating only, indoor masks and social distancing, and no dancing! We had hoped that the vaccine passport system would lead to a situation in which fully vaccinated people would be able to resume pre-covid activities but we are still waiting. Despite all that, we're going ahead with a limited events schedule. (Please note: extremely limited capacity until further notice, apologies in advance!)

We're also making some changes to how we operate, which we have been considering for several years, the most significant of which is to transition to a members only venue. Our initial reason for wanting to take this step had to do with our somewhat strained relationship with various bureaucratic entities, to improve our negotiating position by being able to present ourselves as a large community as opposed to a small collective. Since the Red Gate has always been first and foremost a community space this is really a matter of formalizing what we already were in principle. But it's the seemingly endless pandemic that has finally convinced us to take this step.

We've heard some concerns about creating more financial hardships for our already strained community, by adding to the expense of a night out. We are asking a yearly membership fee of $10 to attend events, but as with the regular attendance fees, it is and will remain on the basis of Pay What You Can, No One Turned Away For Lack Of Funds! The fundraising aspect of this is secondary to the convenience aspect of only having to check the 'vaccine passport' the first time and never again after that, and also to provide us with a contact list of email addresses so that we can notify people of any potential exposures or outbreaks. A contact list will also allow us to bypass the corporate social media platforms to let our community know about upcoming events etc, so it's a win all around!

We're also continuing to develop our in-house streaming platform at redgate.tv, still at the experimental stage but up and running 24/7 with a variety of programming. We're still working on our upcoming schedule for that but all of our live events will be sent out on that channel so tune in if you can't make it to the shows!

Donate! Major Credit Cards Accepted!

Note: All advance tickets are "will call" - your name will be on a list at the door, you can skip the line if there is one!

Advance tickets for Kamikaze Nurse, Jo Passed, Yep, Elliot's Live Karaoke Experience, Saturday Dec.4, $10.00