Community at heart of Red Bird Brewing’s success

Have you checked out Red Bird yet?

It’s a question now commonly volleyed between friends in Kelowna, and it’s no wonder why.

The North End craft brewery has risen over the past 12 months from an intimate tasting room (now known as Little Bird among the staff) to a premiere venue wholly embraced by the community.

“It’s humbling,” owner Adam Semeniuk told Kelowna10.

Red Bird Brewing will mark its sixth year in business this fall, and Semeniuk has worked to keep the brewery connected to the pulse of Kelowna ever since launch.

The name is rooted in the city’s past, pulled from a historical boat in the regatta.

“On the day I decided I was going to open up a brewery, I went to the museum and just read and looked at everything in there,” he said.

While browsing, one photo stood out, and it now hangs proudly on the wall in the centre of the brewery.

The image captures a quality-built boat used in the early regattas. In it sits a collection of finely dressed men and women – sporting brimmed hats, ties, parasols, and fancy dress -- leisurely floating to shore.

Strewn across the side: Red Bird of Kelowna.

“Everything tied together with community,” he added.

Semeniuk’s early vision of a brewery always involved a facility the size and scale it is now.

But he quickly found the massive endeavour unattainable out of the gate, and pledged a commitment to start small and organically scale up.

He and his team began brewing small batches, outsourcing some work to help keep up with the immediate demand.

Four years later, when the opportunity arose to take hold of the building next door, he gathered the necessary partners and launched into the expansion.

“It’s been more than we could have ever imagined,” he said.

Through it all, community has remained at the heart of Red Bird, through the physical and figurative.

For example, there are no individual tables inside, only massive communal seating. Semeniuk said this supports the idea of Red Bird being a community hub - a place to sit with and learn about your neighbours.

“If there are two seats open and it is a packed night, you can grab those two open seats, and you end chatting with the people beside you, and end up learning more about the people in your community,” he explained.

The walls contain no televisions, further emphasising connecting with people.

Outside, the location boasts turf, picnic tables, fire tables, and a Sea-Can backdropped stage – which now plays host to a multitude of gigs, both local and touring.

The space has quickly filled a void in Kelowna.

And ironically, Semeniuk said, music was an afterthought, born from an attempt to help draw customers during slow winter nights.

But the popularity of those evenings, plus the one-off parking lot parties, forced a redesign of the entire brewery before opening.

“We added the indoor and outdoor stage because we could see it was a need in the community,” he said.

With the disappearance of several legacy venues in the city, Semeniuk believes Red Bird has unofficially grabbed and carried on the torch, thankful of the opportunity to provide a space for the city’s bustling music scene to flourish.

“I feel so lucky that we tried it, and it worked,” he said. “We are as much a music venue as we are a brewery, in a sense.”

And there is more to come.

Red Bird has applied to permanently allow temporary spillover into the parking lot, expanding capacity to around 900 to accommodate major acts.

Currently, Red Bird has to approach the city each time it wants to temporarily add space – a lengthy approval process, he said.

March 25 will mark one year since the expansion, and Red Bird plans to host a North End Appreciation Party to celebrate the thriving neighbourhood.

And with the first year under his belt, Semeniuk said the brewery can start to direct efforts to other avenues for growth, be it more canning or pushing into additional restaurants.

“We went from a staff of 4 or 5 to, like, 45, so it’s been quite the learning curve,” he laughed.