Pub Awards: Best Live Entertainment finalist - Blues Bar, Harrogate

A shop window hides a small and intimate downstairs café-bar and an equally cosy upstairs dining area has been transformed into late-night speakeasy-style venue.

The year-on-year growth, with turnover up £30,000 on last year to £507,000, continues to amaze owner Simon Colgan, especially considering the small operational area.

A downstairs café-bar serves quality coffee, drinks and food during the day but come evening it morphs into a vibrant live music venue, with the raised area in the window becoming the stage.

Passion

Colgan’s passion for researching and attracting the best blues and jazz artists over the past 17 years has made the Blues Bar famous across the world with quality performers wanting to play at the venue. It’s renowned as an great intimate venue (max 120 people). Demand from bands/artists to play means there is a successful live music offer seven nights week with three live acts on Sundays. As a result, 80% of revenue is driven by music.

However, Colgan only allows bands two gigs a year (unless they have a residency), then a year off before coming back again to play, so the pool of quality artists Colgan has is impressive. Many artists now aspire to play at the Blues Bar and will not until they feel they are good enough, that’s how respected the venue (and Colgan) are in the jazz/blues music scene.

With downstairs literally rocking, innovation has taken place upstairs, creating a ‘speakeasy’ feel to the dining room, with new booth seating, an improved food offer, a new bar with an excellent drinks menu, notably spirits, and weekend late-night latin/salsa DJs. The increased appeal and capacity has proved very successful, keeping people at the bar after the bands, adding £1,000 a week.