Conspiracy Garden Cafe to host farewell gig after 19 years of music, art, poetry

Conspiracy Garden Cafe has bid farewell.

On Sunday, 31 July, many were shocked by the unexpected goodbye from Conspiracy Garden Cafe, fondly called "Conspi" by both artists and patrons alike, via Facebook Live.

Conspiracy first opened its gates on 8 December 2003. Founded by artists Gary Granada, Noel Cabangon, Bayang Barrios, Cooky Chua, Joey Ayala, and Cynthia Alexander, the quaint garden and cafe provided a safe space for all types of artists to hone their craft and share their art.

The venue is a known go-to for both up-and-coming and established poets, storytellers, visual artists, and musicians. Filipino folk siblings Cynthia Alexander and Joey Ayala, nine-piece folk-pop band Ben&Ben, and singer-songwriters Johnoy Danao, Bullet Dumas, and Ebe Dancel (collectively known as 3D) are some of the performers who have graced and shared the Conspi stage.

To express his gratitude, Dancel took to social media by posting one of his performances at Conspiracy on his Facebook page.

"The place has been a third space, aside from own home and office, especially to many millennials. We love especially the garden, and everyone agrees, it differentiates the place from other bars in the city." Conspiracy's managing director Raul Banzuela wrote in a Facebook post dated 1 August. "The place has many happy memories in it. Many of us have found friends there.

"But nothing lasts forever. It is, thus, with deep sadness that we announce the closing of operation of Conspiracy Garden Café at 59  Visayas Avenue, Quezon City. We were issued a notice to vacate last July 26, 2022 and given the month of August to transfer operation in another place."

In the same Facebook post, Banzuela shared that there will be a farewell concert party for the benefit of the venue will be held on Friday, 19 August 2022 from 3:00 PM to 12 midnight. On the same night, there would be a shareholders' meeting to determine if Conspiracy will continue to operate in another location.

(UPDATE 18/08): Conspi has provided more details for the 19 August farewell gig. The event starts at 7:00 PM, with performances from Noel Cabangon, Johnoy Danao, Ebe Dancel, The BugsLife and more. Tickets are available at PHP 300. Details on how to purchase are available on their Facebook page.