Join us at The Foundry in East Cambridge from Saturday, February 15 to Saturday, February 22 for our third annual Foundry Festival! Immerse yourself in a week of free public programming and create connections with diverse communities.

All ages and skill levels are welcome to participate in as many activities as you are excited about. This is a great chance to engage the family over the February school break!

This year's festival theme is Resilience. Resilience to us is celebrating how our stories, cultures, and communities continue to thrive. It is not just the act of survival, but creating strong communities that take care of each other. Many of our communities have been consistently forced to practice resilience due to systemic oppression. This year we want to take the time to uplift the ways in which we band together to not only survive but to create moments together where we can truly live. We invite you to our weeklong festival that celebrates who we are, who we want to be, and a vision for a future where resiliency can be a word that is not only a response to hardship but the way we interact with the world around us. This year we welcome you to cook with us, create with us, dance with us, and continue to grow together.

Schedule of Events:

10:00 am - 12:00 pm: The Compass of Belonging: A Somatic Mapping Experience - Belong Center

Shop 6 - Red Multi - Suggested for ages 13+

This workshop invites you on a journey to rediscover resilience and alignment through the wisdom of your body. Anchored in the four directions of the Compass of Belonging: North (Spirit), South (Earth), East (Service), and West (Lineage). This workshop explores how these elements shape your sense of identity, purpose, and connection.

10:00 am - 11:00 am: Circus Of Frustration: Building Self-Esteem With Silly Failure - Amara Shorts and Haus of Cirque Facilitators

STEAM Set - Performance Space - Suggested for ages 6+

Come get silly with us in an all-ages circus workshop! Ringmaster Amara Shorts (and her circus facilitator friends) will teach the basics of how to juggle and balance, and we promise that the initial frustration is all a part of the plan. We will explore physical comedy with props and improv and loosen up with creative movement exercises, but mostly we will learn that it's still valuable to fail at a new skill on the first try.

11:00 am - 1:00 pm: Wits and Giggles - Platforms Theatre Company

Shop 11 - Dance Studio - Suggested for ages 13+

Join Miles Wilder and Laura Charles for a very special Live Music Yoga Flow at the Foundry Festival! Laura guides you through a creative, slow flow practice accompanied by Miles' live improvised music. This is an all-levels class that will be focused on restorative body grounding and connection. Laura's teaching style is suitable for all levels of yoga experience, as she offers cues to follow your body's natural rhythms, strengths, and boundaries. We will move through a slow flow, and then complete our practice with gentle postures and stillness. Miles' music is live-composed using their unique multi-instrumental analog looping rig to create ambient soundscapes that support the important work happening in the room. Together Miles and Laura create an immersive experience that engages your outward senses while fostering a deep self-connection through guided movement and breath. This class usually happens monthly on the fourth Tuesday at the Substation in Roslindale. Miles and Laura are very excited to be able to present it here at The Foundry!

12:00 pm - 2:00 pm: How to Make the Perfect Empanada - Valientes Bakery

Shop 6 - Red Multi - Suggested for ages 13+

Join Valientes Bakery co-founders, Nahuel, and Adrienne Palomeque to learn the art of making and closing empanadas. Each participant will prepare a vegan empanada dough, select one of three vegetarian fillings, and then we'll practice closing the empanadas. We'll bake the empanadas and then get to taste them together! We'll also have mini beef empanada samples available for participants and other drop-in guests and a survey to select the crowd's favorite vegetarian filling to add to our menu.

12:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Practical Clothing Repairs 101 - Panethnic Pourovers (Wren and Marziel)

Shop 8 - Fiber Arts Workshop - Suggested for ages 13-34

Take mending into your own hands! Learn practical hand-sewing skills to repair clothing and other fabric items, and leave with your own fabric repair kit. Participants should bring clothing or other fabric items in need of mending, as exact content will be tailored to specific mending needs.

12:00 pm - 5:00 pm: Foundry Vendor Market - Foundry Consortium - Drop-in program

STEAM Set - Performance Space and Community Hall

Join us for the first day of our 2025 Festival and our newest Foundry-led vendor fair. Experience live art and purchase items from local artists, makers, and our very own art studio and maker space members. No cover charge to attend! Other free programs will be happening at this time. Scroll through our agenda to find out more.

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm: Build a Vending Machine - Amy Chiu

Shop 6 - Red Multi - Suggested for ages 6-12

Sounds simple, right? What if we could station vending machines in the well-loved nooks and crannies of Cambridge? But, there's a catch - these machines accept anything BUT cash! What would you trade? What's one simple way we can better our city today? Whether you're intrigued by the design mechanics, the potential economic impact on our city, or the possibilities of all the interesting storylines that could take place - join us in building a new kind of vending machine using cardboard and recycled materials. Hosted by a Harvard Ed school x UC Berkeley alum and creative workshop facilitator. Ages 6-12. Zero prep or experience needed. Just show up!

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm: Crafting Resilience: Exploring Art as a Path to Inner Strength - Richi Childhood Cancer Foundation

Shop 6 - Red Multi - Suggested for ages 13-17

Discover the power of creativity in building resilience in this engaging and hands-on arts and crafts workshop. Designed to inspire self-expression and emotional growth, participants will explore a variety of crafting techniques, including collage-making, painting, and upcycling, while reflecting on personal challenges and triumphs.

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm: Kathak Dance Demo and Workshop - Anjali Nath - Drop-in program

Shop 11 - Dance Studio - Suggested for ages 6+

Get ready to move and be moved from your eyebrows to your toes! Come experience for yourself the vibrant, fun, and mathematically intricate rhythms and music, the powerful and graceful movements, and subtle to dramatic expression that all leaves together to tell stories through dance.  Come, stomp, count, clap, and vibe with us!  Kathak is an ancient Dance form from northern India that is an amazing vehicle for self-awareness, holistic health, and service to society.  Come experience it for yourself! All ages and abilities are welcome!

3:30 pm - 5:30 pm: CARE NOT COERCION: Anti-Carceral Mental Health Crisis Response - S, Cambridge HEART Responder

When we recognize that someone is experiencing mental distress, we are taught to rely on carceral responses - calling 911 for a wellness check, forcing them into a hospital, or coercing them to do things that they don't want to do. Although these responses are often second-nature, some alternatives do not rely on carceral systems or coercion. In this workshop, we'll explore what these alternatives can look like, and how we can better show up for ourselves and those we are in community with.

5:30 pm - 6:30 pm: Yoga for Inner Strength - All levels - Kat Anderson - Drop-in program

Take stock of your emotional and physical body during this all-levels flow. We will start with a brief warm-up with some intentional breathwork, moving through the flow to cultivate inner fire through longer holds and meditation. Sometimes, you may find that the biggest resistance you face is held within the mind. Other times, you may notice physical resistance leading you to a different posture. In this flow, you are encouraged to let go of the ideas that hold you hostage and simply be present within your mind and body. Modifications will be offered throughout the practice so that everyone can participate safely. Participants should bring their own yoga mat and blocks and dress in comfortable clothing for movement.

6:30 pm - 8:00 pm: Striking the Spring Ox! - Wn Yu, Tao Zheang, and Ava

Shop 6 - Red Multi - Suggested for ages 6+

Celebrate the arrival of spring with Lichun: Exploring the 24 Solar Terms, a hands-on cultural experience that brings ancient wisdom to life! Discover the scientific insights, seasonal customs, and historical tales behind the 24 Solar Terms, one of Chinese civilization's most remarkable inventions. Immerse yourself in the spirit of renewal and creativity with a fun, interactive activity inspired by the 3,000-year-old tradition of "Da Chun Niu" (Striking the Spring Ox)-no real oxen involved! Participants will craft their playful spring ox from yarn, creating a tappable toy to cherish while learning about this timeless cultural treasure.

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: The Ride Ahead Screening - Boston Center for Independent Living

STEAM Set - Performance Space- Suggested for ages 6+

Come join us for a screening of the film "The Ride Ahead"! Sam Habib, a 20-year-old disabled college student, documents his transition into adulthood while asking important questions to figures such as Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and important disability advocates like Judith Heumann. There are two versions of the movie, PG and R-rated (rated R for discussions of sex), so come join the one that you're most comfortable with! There will be time after for independent living vision boarding -- all ages are welcome to create their own vision boards/road maps for their futures! Staff from BCIL will be there to help and answer any questions about Boston Center for Independent Living.

7:30 pm - 8:30 pm: Poetry Games: Creation Through Community Collaboration - Christopher Ryerson

Community Hall - Suggested for ages 6-54

Poetry comes from many places and can serve many uses. But for many simply starting a poem is daunting to the point of feeling impossible. Join the Fabville writing team to play a generative game that will utilize community collaboration to break through the hesitation. We create connections with each other's words and react to these creations to create poetry snippets. You may walk out with the perfect start to your next poem, or simply with a mind well practiced in the art of finding poetry in the world around us! We will run one set of this workshop at the start, and then if everyone feels like they have a handle on the flow, we will make breakout groups who can play as many times as time allows. The resulting words, connections, and responses will be collected into a document for all participants to have after the workshop.