A worker-owned community event space
Located at 48 Commerce Street
Open 10am to 11pm every day
When we started Firestorm Cafe in early 2008, one of our primary motivations was the lack of meeting and event space in downtown Asheville. Many of us had experience with local community groups and had witnessed the struggle that such programs often face when looking for a home. For this reason, we are pleased to make space available throughout the week for meetings, classes, workshops, fundraisers, author events, acoustic music performance, film screenings, etc.
To reserve our back room or the entire cafe, please call us at (828) 255-8115.
Each event must be sponsored by a worker-owner who will act as a liaison for your event. We will assist you in finding a sponsor - this process typically takes 48 hours, so please contact us as early as possible!
In order to cover our overhead costs, we charge a nominal fee for commercial space reservation and request a sliding scale contribution for noncommercial reservation. Of course, you are welcome to come in and use our cafe whenever you like at no cost, but we cannot guarantee the availability of space without a reservation.
Additionally, having a reservation will get you access to our sound system and a digital projector. Please let us know if you will be utilizing these tools so that your sponsor is prepared to assist you.
Back roomOur back room is separated from the main cafe area by a heavy curtain, providing a reasonable level of privacy for most events.
We ask for a $5-15 sliding scale contribution from noncommercial groups who wish to reserve this room for an hour. If you are interested in using the space on an ongoing basis, we can reserve space for you at a reduced cost. For commercial use, we will gladly make the back room available for 25% of an event's proceeds.
Entire cafeReserving the entire cafe will give you access to all of the space from our point of sale to the back wall.
We ask for $50 to reserve the cafe when events are charging admission and $20 when they are free. If this cost is prohibitive to you or your group, please let us know - we may be able to work with you. We ask for these fees in advance to secure your reservation. If your event is cancelled, we will refund your money unless your reservation is less than two weeks away.
Although we may include your event on our calendar, it is entirely your responsibility to promote events that you schedule at our cafe.