There are towns that go quiet after nine. Gibsons used to be one of them. Then Scott Collison showed up with a microphone, a trivia sheet, and an idea that the Sunshine Coast deserved a proper night out.
Scott Collison is not a professional entertainer by training. He is, by trade, a contractor — the kind of person who builds things, fixes things, shows up on time, and gets it done. For years, that was the shape of his life on the Sunshine Coast: work, community, the rhythms of a small town where everyone knows your truck. And then, somewhere along the way, he picked up a microphone and discovered that he was very, very good at filling a room.
Today, Scott Collison is what you might call a near-local celebrity — a phrase that fits perfectly because it captures both the scale and the sincerity of what he does. He is not famous in the way that requires a publicist. He is famous in the way that matters: people in Gibsons, Sechelt, Roberts Creek, and across the Sunshine Coast know his name, know his events, and show up for them. Consistently. Enthusiastically. Week after week.
Through his company Coastal Hosts Entertainment, Scott runs a rotating calendar of events that has become the social backbone of the Sunshine Coast's younger adult scene — a demographic that, in a town not historically known for its nightlife, had few options and fewer reasons to stay local on a Friday night. Scott changed that.
Scott & Faye · Coastal Hosts Entertainment · Gibsons, BC
"He doesn't just host an event. He hosts the room."
— Just Gerald
Scott runs Coastal Hosts alongside his partner Faye, and the operation has the quality of something built by people who genuinely love what they do. The events are well-run, well-promoted, and well-attended — but what makes them work is not logistics. It is Scotty himself.
He has the rare gift of making a room feel like it was already having a good time before he arrived — and then making it better. That is not a skill you can teach. It is a personality, and he has it in abundance.
What a Coastal Hosts Night Looks Like
The Coastal Hosts calendar runs across multiple venues and multiple formats. On any given week, you might find Scott hosting a trivia night at the Gibsons Legion, a Rock 'n' Roll Bingo session at Tapworks Brewing, a paint-and-sip event at a local lounge, or a themed game night that pulls in a crowd that spans every age group the Sunshine Coast has to offer.
The trivia nights are a particular point of pride. Scott writes his own questions — or curates them with the care of someone who understands that a good trivia night is not just about facts, it is about pacing, about the moment when a table erupts because they got the answer right, about the gentle humiliation of the team that was absolutely certain about something they were absolutely wrong about. He gets all of that. The nights run tight, the energy stays high, and people come back.
"Rock 'n' Roll Bingo is not bingo. It is a music quiz disguised as bingo, and it is considerably more fun than either."
— Just Gerald
Rock 'n' Roll Bingo deserves its own paragraph. The format is simple: instead of numbers, you are matching song clips. Instead of a quiet hall, you have a pub full of people singing along, arguing about whether that was Fleetwood Mac or Heart, and discovering that the person at the next table has exactly the same taste in 1980s arena rock as they do. Scott hosts it with the ease of someone who has done this a hundred times and still finds it genuinely funny when someone shouts "BINGO!" on the wrong song.
The paint-and-sip events, run under the Coastal Hosts banner, bring a different crowd — often couples, groups of friends, people who have never held a paintbrush since grade school and are delightfully surprised to discover they can produce something worth hanging on a wall. Scott and Faye guide the room through the process with the right balance of instruction and permission to just have fun with it.
Part of what makes Scott's operation work is his relationship with the venues. He is not a promoter who parachutes in and leaves. He is a local who understands that when his events do well, the bar does well, and that alignment of interests is the foundation of every good partnership. The pubs and lounges on the Sunshine Coast know that booking Scotty means a fuller room, a livelier night, and a tab that reflects it.
The Gibsons Legion is one of his regular homes — a venue with history and character, the kind of room that has seen a lot of nights and knows the difference between a good one and a great one. When Scott is there, it is a great one. Tapworks Brewing, Gibsons' craft beer destination, provides a different energy — younger, louder, the kind of crowd that came for the beer and stayed for the bingo.
He moves between venues with the ease of someone who is genuinely comfortable anywhere. That adaptability is part of the skill. A trivia night at the Legion has a different rhythm than a paint party at a lounge, and Scott reads the room and adjusts accordingly. The format changes. The energy does not.
Gibsons Legion · One of Scott's regular venues on the Sunshine Coast
Why This Matters for Gibsons
The Sunshine Coast is a place people move to for the quiet. The ocean, the trees, the ferry crossing that puts a deliberate distance between you and the city. But quiet, over time, can become isolation — particularly for young adults who want a social life that does not require a two-hour commute to Vancouver.
Scott Collison identified that gap and filled it with something genuinely good. His events are not a consolation prize for people who cannot afford to go to the city. They are a reason to stay. A reason to go out on a Wednesday. A reason to meet the people who live three streets over and have never had occasion to talk.
That is community building, even if Scott would never use that phrase. He would just say he is running a good night. But the effect is the same: a town that is a little more connected, a little more alive, and a little more likely to have a story to tell the next morning.
The Contractor Who Became the Host
There is something worth noting about the trajectory here. Scott did not leave contracting behind — he built something alongside it. The same qualities that make a good contractor make a good host: reliability, attention to detail, the ability to read a situation and respond to what it actually needs rather than what you planned for. He showed up, he built something, and it works.
Coastal Hosts has grown steadily since its founding, adding events, adding venues, and adding the kind of reputation that spreads by word of mouth in a small community. When someone asks what to do on a Friday night in Gibsons, Scott Collison's name comes up. That is not an accident. That is the result of showing up, consistently, and being genuinely good at something that matters to people.
He is, in the best sense of the phrase, a local institution — one that is still growing, still surprising people, and still making the Sunshine Coast a better place to spend a night out.
Tapworks Brewing · Gibsons, BC · A Coastal Hosts regular venue
Scott Collison is the best reason to go out on a weeknight on the Sunshine Coast. Full stop.
Energy in the Room
Community Connection
Originality of Format
The Scotty Factor
Best Night Out on the Coast
Find Scott Collison
Coastal Hosts events run weekly across Gibsons and the Sunshine Coast. Check the Coastal Hosts Facebook page or ask any bartender in Gibsons — they will know the schedule.
I went to a Coastal Hosts trivia night on a Tuesday. I did not plan to stay for the whole thing. I stayed for the whole thing. The team at the next table was insufferably good at 1990s pop music and we lost by one point, which is the correct amount to lose by. Scott wrapped the night with a bit that had the whole room laughing, thanked everyone by name, and was already setting up for the next event before most people had finished their drinks.
That is the thing about a Best Day Ever. Sometimes it is a mountain summit or a château in France. And sometimes it is a Tuesday night in Gibsons, with a bad team name and a cold pint, and a guy with a microphone who makes the whole room feel like they are exactly where they are supposed to be.
