The collectively owned, volunteer run, Forest Cafe is a hub for free community events, arts, workshops, and activism.
The organisation behind the Forest Cafe encourages open participation and involvement with a freewheeling programme that includes everything from singer-songwriter performances to yoga, poetry recitals to monster-bike-making.
The Cafe serves vegetarian and vegan cuisine, and during the day has live, free music.
History
From October 2003, Forest occupied the former Seventh Day Adventist Church building at 3 Bristo Place in the Edinburgh University area. Spread over three floors of the listed, red stone building, the co-operatively run Forest Cafe established itself as a hub for Edinburgh's activists, artists, and free-thinkers.
The venue had a thriving cafe on the ground floor with wholesome veggie food, its own beer and berry wines.
The future of the Forest was put in serious doubt after the building's owner, the Edinburgh University Settlement, went into administration on 27 October 2010.
After a lively Fringe 2011 programme of free music, art and theatre over the three floors of the building, the Forest Cafe building had to leave the building when it was announced it would be sold.
A campaign to raise funds to buy the venue raised £30,000 - well below the property's expected sale price but sufficient to give the Forest a lease of life in a new venue.
The Forest Cafe has been based at its Lauriston/Tollcross glass-fronted venue since August 2012.