Blyth - Blyth Memorial Community Hall

There are plenty of places where you can go to see a concert, but there is something special about attending one at Blyth Memorial Community Hall.

For more than a century, this grand old building on Queen Street has been a place where people come together, to remember, to celebrate, to laugh, to sing and, occasionally, to make a little history of their own.

The story began in the aftermath of the First World War. Blyth had long needed a proper hall for concerts and community gatherings, but it was the loss of local young men during the war that gave the idea a deeper purpose. Rather than simply erecting a monument, members of the Blyth Women’s Institute and others in the community wanted something that would remain useful, a “living cenotaph” where people could gather.

It was an ambitious undertaking for a small rural community.

Land was purchased by the Women’s Institute and, through donations and a remarkable amount of community effort, $25,000 was raised to build the hall. A fundraising day in June 1919 even featured airplane rides, helping add another $2,000 to the memorial fund. The cornerstone was laid on July 28, 1920, and the completed building opened on June 5, 1921. Some 1,500 people turned out for the occasion, followed by three evenings of entertainment.

From the beginning, entertainment was part of the hall’s purpose. The 500-seat auditorium hosted concerts, community musicals, travelling performers and large local productions. Downstairs were meeting rooms and, originally, even the village fire hall. There were banquets, dances, weddings and meetings, while the old Chautauqua circuit brought travelling entertainment to town and inspired a few community cantatas.

Like many rural community halls, its fortunes changed with the times. By the 1970s, television and changing entertainment habits had left the upstairs auditorium largely unused. Then a group of volunteers decided it was time to give the old building some attention. Their seemingly simple plan to clean and paint uncovered a long list of expensive problems, including an inadequate fire escape and a roof that needed replacing.

Once again, Blyth rallied around its hall. Rather than let the building disappear, residents found ways to save it. The renovations were completed in 1974, ensuring that this living memorial would continue serving the community.

And today, the hall is still doing exactly what its founders envisioned: bringing people together.

While the building is perhaps best known for its long association with the Blyth Festival, its life extends well beyond theatre. The fall and winter calendar brings touring entertainers, musicians and performers to this historic space.

Coming up this fall is comedian Ron James, whose The View From Here arrives Saturday, October 3 at 7:30 p.m. Then, on Saturday, October 17, The Lightfoot Band takes the stage at 7:30 p.m., featuring original band members associated with Gordon Lightfoot’s recordings.

And there’s already something to look forward to in the spring: Pearl: A Janis Joplin Experience is scheduled for April 24, 2027.

So when you settle into a seat at Memorial Hall for an evening of music or comedy, you are doing more than attending a show.

You are taking part in a tradition that began more than 100 years ago, when a rural community decided that the best way to remember its fallen was to build a place where life could continue.

The music has changed. The performers have changed. The building has changed. But the reason for gathering remains remarkably the same. www.blythmemorialcommunityhall.ca 431 Queen St., Blyth 

Visit the Blyth Festival’s website at blythfestival.com or the hall’s site at blythmemorialcommunityhall.ca.