One of Cork’s most iconic cafés is turning 24 and they’re having a dance party, natch
Warning: This might make you feel old.
For nearly a quarter of a century, Diva Boutique Bakery and Café has been serving coffee, cakes and community spirit in West Cork.
And this weekend, the much-loved Ballinspittle café is throwing it back to 2002 to celebrate 24 years in business — with nostalgic tunes, good vibes and plenty of baked treats along the way.
Owner Shannen Keane has lined up a DJ set packed with hits from the early 2000s for Sunday, May 17th, running from 11am to 3pm as customers old and new are invited to join the celebrations.
“Waaayyyyy back in 2002 I took a huge leap of faith and opened a little coffee house on Main Street in Kinsale.” Shannen shared on Instagram, remembering the original café in the space is now occupied by Kinsale Leather.
“At the time the sitcom Friends was wildly popular and my cafe was referred to the Friends cafe, also the Pink cafe… the walls and couch were all pink..plus we were very LGBTQ inclusive. The space offered, cakes, coffee, salads, sandwiches, good music and free pour over refills.
View this post on Instagram
“We were also a space for backpackers to meet up, friends to chat and people even came in just to take their photographs in our lounge area… this was well before social media hit! Imagine we didn’t have WiFi back then, there were magazines, newspapers and actual conversations.”
Since then, there have been many incarnations of this beloved business, all of which will be remembered by visitors this weekend.
“Help us celebrate… there will be a DJ in the bakery sending out the good vibes, some music harkening back to 2002, cake, chats, dancing maybe some Bloody Mary shots … who knows.” added Shannen.
Say less, Shannen. See you there.
