By Jon Palmer, News Correspondent and Anna Marden, News Staff
The Allston DIY Festival is not only a completely free event, but cost nearly the same amount to put on – organizer Chris Longenecker says the $11 he spent to fax some forms a few days ago was the first money spent on the festival. The celebration will showcase local music and art, skill sharing, educational workshops, a free market and many surprises. It will be held in Ringer Park on Allston Street, Saturday, July 23 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“This is an anti-corporate, anti-capitalist festival,” said Longenecker, 24, a 2009 Suffolk University graduate. “You won’t see a single dollar sign anywhere in that park all day long.”
The day-long event was started last year by a group of Allston residents to provide a networking opportunity for the various elements of local DIY culture in the neighborhood, and to celebrate that culture.
The festival will feature a line-up of amplified bands, as well as acoustic acts and a jam session in which anyone can participate. The electric stage will run on alternative power.
“I’m really excited … the amplified stage is gonna be bike generated,” said Gary Indjian, a junior music industry major. “People will be pedaling.”
Indjian, who is active in planning and attending underground shows in Allston, attended last year’s festival after hearing about it through word of mouth. He said he enjoys going because it is a reflection of all the things he likes about Allston’s underground community.
The festival will also host a number of skillshares – sessions where people teach attendees special abilities – and workshops, where volunteers will be teaching alternative or DIY knowledge.
“Last year didn’t really have that component, and that’s why we wanted to organize this part,” Longenecker said. “Honestly, the non-musical parts of the festival are probably most important. The vision is to link together the arts and music scene with the radical politics movement and community in Boston.”
Examples of skillshares and workshops taking place include “fix-a-flat,” “radical self
defense training,” “home brewing” and “self-care in the toxic age.”
Representatives from local groups will also be attending to share their messages and spread awareness, including Food Not Bombs, the Commonwheels Bicycle Co-op and the Lucy Parsons Center.
Allston DIY Festival will also host a free market with a “gift economy” system – they can bring items to donate and take what they want, free of charge.
Clay Adamczyk, 24, a 2010 Suffolk University graduate and fellow organizer, said that in a city where nothing is really free, it is nice to have an event that is.
“Seeing shows at a club always costs at least $7,” Adamczyk said, “but the goal is that this is a celebration, and who wants to pay to celebrate?”
After seeing how successful the celebration was last year, Longenecker sought to improve it by making it larger.
“This year we wanted to create more of an infrastructure,” he said. “There was much more prep work this year.”
Longenecker booked the bands, got in touch with many of the organizations and helped promote the festival. Though he was one of the main forces behind the event, he stressed that the non-hierarchical organization was one of the most important aspects in the development of the fest.
“Although I was one of the primary organizers, I had no official role,” Longenecker said, “and my voice was equal to anyone else’s.”
The idea behind the festival has been collaborative since it’s inception in 2010. Adamczyk said he was already involved in the Allston community DIY scene when he got the idea to create the DIY Fest shortly after he worked for an electronic music festival.
“After I got the idea, I called a couple friends, hopped on my bike and rode to all the collective houses and spaces I knew in the area and talked to them about my idea,” Adamczyk said. “Then it was in everyone’s hands, it wasn’t just me anymore.”
