A coffeehouse is a

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

event, often held to raise funds for and/or generate

awareness In philosophy and psychology, awareness is the perception or knowledge of something. The concept is often synonymous with consciousness. However, one can be aware of something without being explicitly conscious of it, such as in the case of bli ...

of a social cause or other event. The name "coffeehouse" is derived from the limited menu which is typically available at the social event:

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

is usually the featured beverage, together with other non-alcoholic beverages such as soda, juice and

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

. Desserts and snack foods may round out the menu.

Folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

and other acoustic concerts are the primary activity at many coffeehouses. Other coffeehouses allow patrons to sing, dance, read poetry, perform stand-up comedy, or demonstrate other talents as entertainment during the event. Still other coffeehouses feature lectures and presentations to raise awareness about social issues such as

political oppression Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...

, food/

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

shortages, and/or outbreaks of

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...

in various countries. Some coffeehouses may facilitate other activities, such as a mass letter writing campaign or signing petitions. Some coffeehouses have free admission, but others require a small entrance fee. If money is collected as an entrance fee, it is often donated in whole or in part to the social cause, after covering expenses. Coffeehouses are often sponsored by a permanent, semicommercial

coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

venue, such as the well-known

Club Passim Club Passim is an American folk music club in the Harvard Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was opened by Joyce Kalina (now Chopra) and Paula Kelley in 1958, when it was known as Club 47 (based on its then address, 47 Mount Auburn Stre ...

and Caffe Lena. Churches, non-profits, school groups, and other private groups also sponsor coffee houses in church meeting rooms,

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

s, and

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

s. In particular, schools often sponsor coffeehouses to allow students to socialize in an explicitly non-alcoholic environment.

References

External links

Boston Area Coffeehouse Association (BACHA)

The University of the Streets Cafés
from

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

* , a short documentary film on 1960s coffeehouses Meetings Social events Coffee culture {{Music-event-stub

See also

References

External links