august 5th through september
Say Yes Fest is a conveyor of chances to say YES! A month of Happenings and Art to solve everything, end war and cure anxiety FOREVER!
All are invited to “say yes” to fearlessly expressing their creativity through a variety of mediums and playful civic discourse during a celebratory and revelatory month dedicated to exploring ways to create a society based on Love rather than Profit.
It’s time for over-the-top realness to stir the conscience of our nation—time to strain the anger from our story and drain the disappointment; grief into gasoline and rage into revo-love-ution.
Say Yes Fest is a chance to megaphone the margins & gently shake society from our collective slumber, safely taking us outside our comforts, beyond the binary, into a non-linear cosmic dressing room with unlimited opportunities to unzip our spines and step out; to recast the movie & edit the scripts of our lives.
CultureVerse + Express Your Yes Foundation + NOW Studios + RE:CLAIM + Petals Sandcastle are pleased to invite you to an enchanting, provocative evening of dreams & drama... art, ideas, & possibility !
In a world at siege ––divided into brutally savage us-versus-them binaries -–community, creativity, love, laughter, peace, play, justice, authentic connection, music, dancing, drag queens, and maybe a few cocktails –– are needed now more than ever!
We're rolling so much YES into one evening - so let's break it down!
1) Closing Party for Say Yes Fest and the multimodal immersive exhibition of Petals Sandcastle at CultureVerse! Learn more at cultureverse.org.
2) AfterGlow for RE:CLAIM project– a groundbreaking collaboration between Youth Arts Alliance, Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice, Washtenaw My Brother's Keeper, Amplify Project, Title Track and a collective of over 100 artists, advocates, and movement builders that seek to honor the complexity and diversity of the community through an immersive exhibition and performance series taking over the Washtenaw County Trial Courthouse. The collective momentum of RE:CLAIM seeks to honor creative visions for community wellness while acknowledging the impact the criminal legal system has on all of us. Learn more and get tickets!
3) Silent Disco Takeover Of Main Street! Come shake your tail feathers in community with friends, family, and strangers as we dance through the night thanks to Quiet Coyote!
Something to chew on...
What if we were ALL free? All empowered and safe and seen? Loved and looked after? What if we truly were One Nation, Undivided? Is this possible? Do we even want it? How do we shingle a single roof above our overlapping dreams and persecution?
Say Yes Fest was birthed in a desire to make fabulous, provocative FREE events and space for our community to play and dream and learn and build and connect and really see and feel and hear each other in order to engage in a collectively cultivated, creative-centric community conversation.
maybe LOVE WINS! maybe creation is war's kryptonite! it's time to transmute the grief into gasoline! come play!
Come spend a Sunday afternoon at NOW studios and create with Kate! All art mediums welcome. Some art supplies provided, as well as snacks and beverages. Bring what you will!
WARNING: Karaoke with DJ Nevermind is so much more than karaoke. Past events have included dance numbers, group singalongs, collaborative painting, and lots of makeouts. Please ask your doctor to confirm that karaoke with DJ Nevermind is good for your soul (the answer will be yes, but we just want to do our due diligence).
The critics have raved! "Karaoke with DJ Nevermind was cheaper than therapy and more effective than church!"
Now YOU too can join in the chaotic fun therapeutic creative madness. Bring something to drink, a fabulous outfit, and a song in your heart. ❤
We're back! The people have spoken: "We Want More!" & More We Shall All Get — join us for a Main Street Silent Disco Takeover!
We’ll have 300 headsets provided by Quiet Coyote Silent Events and DJs from Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Detroit spinning for your attention across three channels and several cosmic planes. We'll also have a big Community Canvas paint project set up on the street !
Feel free to dress in your wildest duds! Bring flow toys! Bring your best moves! Bring your vibes and bring your friends!
Are you between 13 and 18? Are you interested in artivism (art + activism), tech, VR/AR/AI, political theatre, environments & the environment, leveraging resources to megaphone youth voices, and telling good stories? Then join us!
Refreshments, inspiration, and tech demos provided.
Come spend a Sunday afternoon at NOW studios and create with Kate! All art mediums welcome. Some art supplies provided, as well as snacks and beverages. Bring what you will!
Come spend a Sunday afternoon at NOW studios and create with Kate! All art mediums welcome. Some art supplies provided, as well as snacks and beverages. Bring what you will!
The People’s Parade, in conjunction with Planet Parade and Action Network, aims to bring together multiple social movements and grassroots organizations, as well as the local community, for a raucous rally and march, in an attempt to shingle a single roof above our overlapping dreams and persecution so we may scheme and dream together! Attendees are encouraged to bring signs, dress in costumes, and pets are welcome. There will be speakers and performance artists before and after the parade. Invite a friend!
Trying to Stabilize your mental health in this world feels impossible.
Beat your Anxiety! Fear No Bully! F*ck the stigma!
Let me show you how to THRIVE IN YOUR MIND
Vibe with live music from Where She Creep and many more local artists.
Visually Stimulate your mind with Jordan Nik Art.
Focus, Emote, Comfort Clothes, and Art to escape.
By Emotional Comfort Wear & Art Care Shop. Tantalize your mental taste buds, with Mentally relaxing foods and beverages. Breathwork Guide & Space Holder Mosaic Ypsi....
... & Much more
We're back back back again! The people have spoken: "We Want More!" & More We Shall All Get ! Join us for another Main Street Silent Disco Takeover!
We’ll have 300 headsets provided by Quiet Coyote Silent Events and DJs from Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Detroit spinning for your attention across three channels and several cosmic planes. We'll also have a big Community Canvas paint project set up on the street !
Feel free to dress in your wildest duds! Bring flow toys! Bring your best moves! Bring your vibes and bring your friends!
Karaoke night, but more chaotic. Bring a beverage of your choice, do some vocal warmups, dress in your flamboyant finest, and be prepared for the possibility of your song turning into a group singalong/dance number/performance art piece/etc.
A playful, empowering space to unzip our spines and step out. Recast the movie, edit the script of our lives—perhaps starting with a fabulous costume and British accent.
Live and online script reading of upcoming feature film being shot in A2. Q&A w/ Director Christina Morales Hemenway and select actors following the reading.
The theme will be "Getting Real”. Guests will be invited to paint on a community wall about what “getting real” means to them as well as speak on camera or anonymously on an audio recording in a confessional booth.
There will also be a petition to sign to get the film incentive program back in Michigan!
We’ll have 300 headsets provided by Quiet Coyote Silent Events and DJs from Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Detroit spinning for your attention across three channels and several cosmic planes.
Monthly Networking Event at Cahoots, a Tech Co-working space, featuring Say Yes Fest art table exploring the theme: What is the civic and political role of tech in shaping the future?
The People’s Parade, in conjunction with Planet Parade and Action Network, aims to bring together multiple social movements and grassroots organizations, as well as the local community, for a raucous rally and march, in an attempt to shingle a single roof above our overlapping dreams and persecution so we may scheme and dream together! Attendees are encouraged to bring signs, dress in costumes, and pets are welcome. There will be speakers and performance artists before and after the parade. Invite a friend!
Live music, silent disco, games, flow toys, hula hoops, paint party on a giant community canvas, protest sign-making for Sunday’s People’s Parade!
ART, fabulous people, VR experience, live painting, live music, drama, drag, surprises, art auction, vegan food, libations, dripping possibilities. . .
