Fresno Nightcrawler Fest is something I've been wanting to do for many years ever since I learned about the silly little cryptid found in my backyard. I imagined this festival to eventually be something like how West Virginia celebrates Mothman, but I always felt unqualified to do anything given that I didn't really know the first thing about putting together an event, and so I put off ever bringing this idea to life.

But I shared this idea with a friend of mine back in August and she encouraged me to go for it. Living under the idiotic, unqualified, imbecilic people that make up our current administration here in the United States has shown me that I am far more qualified—and capable—to do anything I want compared to any of those less-than-mediocre people in charge. So I said "fuck it", ran the idea by my friend Priscilla who owns Sour Milk, and we decided to bring Fresno Nightcrawler Fest to life.

Here's a look at the Fresno Nightcrawler group show at Sour Milk!
This was one of my favourite art shows I've seen and participated in, and I really love seeing everyone's different interpretations of such a simple little creature.

I want the people of Fresno to have something to be proud of about their city;
I want to nurture a local culture that loves, supports, and appreciates not only their local artists but art in general; and I want to take a physical stand against AI technology.

So I was incredibly intentional with the kind of vendors I wanted participating in the festival.
We had nearly 100 vendor applications, and I chose specific artists because they made art with their hands and heart, they had the quality I was looking for and was work I would want to see at a festival, and I felt that I could trust them to whip up something Nightcrawler related that had a good level of quality within such a short time frame.

I wasn't able to take many pictures throughout the night, but here are some quick pics from when the festival began—

Fresno Nightcrawler Fest was born out of genuine love and passion for something silly and I'm so proud of what we were able to do this year. It was greatly supported by the community and seemed to resonate with everyone, and I think people can tell when something is done out of love, care, and intention.

It takes a village, they say, and I'm so thankful for the vendors who took a leap of faith in this event and participated, Priscilla for helping host the event at her store, Naomi for doing an incredible job with the graphic design and branding work, the neighbouring businesses of Van Ness Village who were able to join in, and everyone else who helped in small ways.

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It’s a drum I regularly bang on, but I believe that being creative and artistic is innate to being human and is a core part of our human nature. And I want to live in a world where everyone can be creative and make art without having to worry about how they're going to pay the bills. I want other people to make a living off of their artwork, but the way I got to where I am today does not exist anymore, so I cannot simply give other artists advice and my roadmap to follow.
Instead, I can use my skills and connections to help create new opportunities and paths for those behind me. And I believe that we need to begin adapting away from relying so much on online platforms we have little to no control over, and instead nurture opportunities, support, and community in-person.

It probably was not the wisest choice to put together a last minute festival on the heels of my solo show.
But it was something that needed to be done for the people of Fresno, and it needed to be done now instead of me sitting on the idea for yet another year.

A philosophy I follow in my life is to leave things better than how I found them—whether that be people or places. I want to have a positive impact on Fresno. And should I leave Fresno—whether through death or migration—I want to leave the city a little bit better than how I found it. I can't change everything that's awful about the world, but I can try to do little things here and there in my little corner that will hopefully grow into making a positive impact.

As a little extra to the post, I wanted to give the vendors who participated a little shoutout here on the blog!