Free Faire: A Facilitated Community Experience

Earlier this month, my neighborhood held its 5th Annual Free Faire.

What is a Free Faire?

The Free Faire is a magical few hours when everyone in my neighborhood puts along the curb all that stuff they’d like to get rid of — random household items, cool junk, extra indoor and outdoor plants, lightly loved clothes, baked goods and garden veggies to share, etc. — and then we wander our neighborhood streets finding and gathering new-to-us gems for FREE. Mostly, it’s a great chance to visit with and connect neighbors as we enter the warm-weather months.

How the Free Faire Got Started:

I organized the first Free Faire in my neighborhood in Spring 2021.

At the time a a few things were happening:  

• People were getting their first vaccines and feeling eager to be with others.
• My neighbors had cleaned out every corner of their house over the last 12 months and were posting *free* items on our neighborhood listserve almost every other day.
• I had gotten very close with neighbors during the pandemic due to being 200% an extrovert and having a deep love for living in community.
• I had just read Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering for the first time, and was eager to experiment with a creative gathering with a “Bold, sharp Purpose”.

From all this, the neighborhood Free Faire was born!

The Free Faire has become an annual event with broad and enthusiastic participation from across our neighborhood.

Each year I’m inspired by the creative set ups and items shared along our curbsides, the new and nourished connections with neighbors, and the fantastic new items we receive (ex: two years ago I picked up a Le Creuset Dutch Oven!!!). I love that there’s a mix of people who give and receive – it allows everyone to determine their own relevant form of participation.

Free Faire as a Facilitated Community Experience

As a facilitator, I think a lot about how I design invitations for participation that are accessible, purposeful and that encourage ownership and creativity (inspired by one of my favorite definitions of Facilitation from David Sibbet).

Using a facilitative approach and inspired by the culture of giving and sharing that already thriving in our neighborhood, I created an process that invited neighbors to participate in an accessible way, that was uniquely meaningful for them, and encouraged playful creativity.

The TWO facilitative keys to success for the Free Faire are:

• Creating simple and accessible structure for engagement with clear expectations for participation, yet that is flexible and provides opportunities for unique contributions and experience.

• Committing to modeling the type of participation and interactions you want to see during the Free Faire.

Free Faire “How To”:

My facilitative process of leading our group of neighbors through a Free Faire involves only a few simple steps:

• About 6-8 weeks beforehand, send out a “Save the Date” email with: a description of the Free Faire, a Rain Date, a list of FAQs (see below), and an invitation for at least one collaborator (because “Rule of Two” forever baby!)

• Connect with collaborator(s) to ask how they’re interested in contributing to the Free Faire. I often someone else to make the flyer because that’s not my skillset – and we have so many creative neighbors. These flyers each year have been BEAUTIFUL! I’ll prep some suggested content to get them started – but give them take full ownership over the design. (Note: Sometimes I just make a quick flyer on Canva with a free template).

• About 3-4 weeks before, send out another reminder email with the flyer, with the FAQs again.

• *If possible* The week before, print ½ sheet Black & White Free Faire flyers and hang them on all neighbors mailboxes. I’ll often ask some neighborhood walkers of neighbors with children to help me with different sections of the neighborhood. Don’t forget: You cannot touch people’s mailboxes, so please carefully locate them on the mailbox flag.

• A few days before, send out a reminder email inviting people to start sharing “Previews” of their items. As the events facilitator-organizer, I like to model a preview by sending a picture of one of the items that’ll be at my house. This year it was of a “two pandemic hobby fails” – a beer brewing kit and a pasta maker. Usually in the 2-3 days leading up to the event, many people will post pictures of the large and small items that will be available at their home. These preview emails are effective at building anticipation and enthusiasm for the big day!

• At the time the Free Faire begins, send a “Let the Free Faire begin!” email to remind people the time is NOW! Our Free Faire is scheduled annually on the first weekend of May from 10AM – 12PM on a Saturday (Rain date of Sunday).

• SHOW UP BIG at the event! I always like to do something extra special for our house – like baking hot cookies or bundling up herbs from our yard. Again modeling the type of behaviors you want to see, make sure to say hello to people on the street, introduce yourself, and engage them in a brief conversation about what they’ve acquired so far. Many of these brief interactions have blossomed into wonderful neighborhood friendships because they break the ice that can build up over time with people we see often but don’t have an obvious reason to get to know.

• Thank everyone afterwards! Make sure to emphasize that the event’s success is due to their willingness to participate and unique contributions.

Inspiring Other Free Faires!

After this year’s Free Faire, I received the sweetest email from a neighbor a few blocks down. She’s an elementary school teacher. She was excited to share about a ripple effect from our Free Faire —  that she had told her school’s social worker about our neighborhood’s Free Faire, and they’ve decided to do one at their school next year.

As my neighbor said:

Participating in the Free Faire in the neighborhood the last two years has been a great experience. My favorite finds are the gently used toys and games I can share with my niece and nephew or take to school for activities with my students.

We do a lot of equity work at school and I got to thinking about how beneficial the Free Faire is for everyone so I decided to take the idea to the school social worker. We have a wonderful little free pantry that was well responded to this year and have great coat drives. A Free Faire seems like a natural next step; especially at an elementary school when kids grow so quickly! Our hope is that this type of event will draw all families into the school community, build connections, and foster joy!

I was delighted to see how someone else adapted this concept of the Free Faire to their unique context. The same basic steps apply, with some tailoring to her school’s audience. I can’t wait to hear how it goes next year

Your Turn!

I’ll leave you all you community facilitators interested in experimenting with something like a Free Faire with a *final nugget*from emergent strategist and author adrienne maree brown. Which is to “trust the people and they become trustworthy.”

That is the essence of good community facilition. Create a process for participation and trust the people to contribute. I think you’ll be surprised by what emerges.

If you experiment with your community facilitation on a Free Faire or any type of project, I’d love to here about it in the comments below. 

*SAMPLE* Free Faire FAQs

How does one participate? All you have to do is put your stuff on the curb and/or walk around the neighborhood at that time and explore. We also would love for you to introduce yourself to neighbors you’ve never met before or who you maybe don’t know their name. Let’s build community!

Do I need to sign up to participate?

Nope! Just put your stuff out and/or walk around. 

What will happen to leftover items at the end of the Free Faire? 

Each household is responsible for cleaning up their own items at the end of the event. There will not be any form of trash collection. 

Can I sell anything during the Free Faire? 

People are encouraged to offer FREE items; however, if someone under the age of 12 wanted to sell some lemonade I don’t think anyone would be opposed to it 🙂 In other words — maybe wait to have your yard sale at another time 🙂

How creative can I get with this Free Faire thing? 

As creative as you want! We’ve had ideas of dressing up in renaissance faire, of creating a yard art installation, and offering front yard parties. Adams will be baking his famous cookies. The sky’s the limit!