THE HOUSE blend x breakout foundation:

Ceremony

Builder Fund Project

The House Blend: Ceremony was a community gathering produced by The House Blend with support from Breakout Foundation’s Builder Fund. The activation combined a traditional Ethiopian Buna coffee ceremony, house music, and facilitated social interaction to create an environment for cultural exchange and relationship-building.

Partners: Breakout Foundation, Walia Ethiopian Restaurant, Project For Empty Space, Song Leader, and FORSA!

PES Studios
Newark, New Jersey

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN RITUAL BECOMES THE FRAMEWORK FOR GATHERING?

CONTEXT

The House Blend developed Ceremony as an intimate cultural gathering centered on an existing communal ritual rather than a conventional event format.

The project brought together creatives, entrepreneurs, educators, arts and culture professionals and community members in Newark. The traditional Ethiopian Buna coffee ceremony served as the central structure of the gathering.

The project was supported through Breakout Foundation’s Builder Fund microgrant program.

OBJECTIVE
The project was designed to test whether a small-scale cultural gathering could:

  • create meaningful interaction across different professional and social networks;

  • introduce participants to Ethiopian coffee culture through direct participation;

  • use ritual and music as tools for sustained engagement;

  • support a local cultural and food-business partner;

  • demonstrate a replicable model for future House Blend programming.

PROGRAM FORMAT

The activation centered on a traditional Ethiopian Buna coffee ceremony led by Walia Ethiopian Restaurant.

Participants experienced the full preparation process, including the roasting, brewing and serving of coffee. The ceremony unfolded over three rounds of coffee, creating natural intervals for conversation and interaction.

The program combined:

  • cultural practice;

  • food and beverage;

  • music;

  • informal conversation;

  • intentional spatial design.

CULTURAL PARTNER

Walia Ethiopian Restaurant

Walia Ethiopian Restaurant led the Buna coffee ceremony and provided the cultural expertise and preparation process at the center of the activation.

The House Blend’s role was to develop the overall concept, curate the environment, organize the gathering and integrate music and community participation around the ceremony.

This partnership model allowed the cultural practice to remain led by a practitioner connected to the tradition.