Good ideas are meant to be shared. That and a lot of good fun is what HullabaZOO is all about.
The DIY event gets rolling at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 14, at the Kalamazoo Peace Center, 2101 Wilbur Ave. and the coordinators say they hope it will inspire others to look differently at what they have and what they can create for themselves.
Event coordinators Kasey, who goes by the name Kasey Chaos, and Nola Wiersma have been pulling it together since last fall. Kasey says the event will be about restoring power to the individual through making things yourself or repurposing things you have or find.
The two women started with their friends and their friends in turn invited people they knew as the event planning came together. They also tracked down local merchants on Etsy to invite them to participate.
Fourteen vendors will have booths where leather, wood and forged items will be among the offerings.
Activities planned include workshops in screenprinting, tye-dying, bike maintenance with T.O.A.D. Bicycle Cooperative, community organizing and zine making. Lori of Sprout Anarchist Collective will offer a workshop titled "D.I.Y. Till We Die: How and Why we Create Alternatives to Mainstream Culture."
At least six musical groups also have been invited to perform live acoustic music throughout the event.
And a Really, Really Free Market, where you take what you can use and bring what you don't need or want anymore, will be set up.
Kasey says she was inspired to initiate the event after attending a similar one in Grand Rapids called the SassFest. She came away inspired by what she learned there and wanted to create something equally inspiring for those in Kalamazoo.
"You can repurpose, make something yourself, or rely on a friend to do it, not a huge corporation," Kasey says. "And you can do it for a lot less."
Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave
Source: Kasey Chaos, HullabaZOO
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.