ShareFests: Celebrating an Economy for the People in a City Near You

By Thomas Llewellyn, originally published by Shareable

June 2, 2014

Society
NOTE: Images in this archived article have been removed.

Image RemovedWhen Shareable and Center for a New American Dream decided to launch the ShareFest initiative, we had very modest expectations that 5-10 cities would step up to host an event. Amazingly, communities from around the world in the Sharing Cities Network have hit it out of the park with 40 ShareFests – some with several thousand participants (Belgium), one with over 40 activities (Porto Alegre) and one month-long ShareFest of 30+ events in Oakland! And many, many more sharing events happening this #SharingSpring. We wanted you to see for yourself what the fuss is all about, so we made this ShareFest Video.

 

ShareFests are the perfect opportunity to celebrate the city commons and to connect activists excited to create a sharing city together. For newbies just becoming aware of sharing, gifting, cooperatives and solidarity economics, a ShareFest is a great introduction – it’s one thing to read about it, and another to experience how empowering a new economy and how rich living it can be first hand.
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If your city is well on its way to becoming a sharing city, a jumpin’ ShareFest demonstrates that we are part of a bigger movement and we aren’t alone! ShareFests all over the world are organizing, connecting and supporting the growth of local projects like timebanks, tool libraries, free stores, shared community resource mapping and much more.
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Detroit ShareFest
Want to get in on the #SharingSpring? Find a ShareFest near you below or use a complete toolkit to host one in your community. It doesn’t have to be a huge production (but it sure can be if you want!) and we are here to help.
Interested in participating in an upcoming ShareFest already scheduled in your community?
Need some inspiration? Check out highlights from a selection of ShareFests that already happened this Spring:

This article is cross posted with permission from Shareable.net.

Thomas Llewellyn

Tags: Building Community, shareable economy, ShareFest

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