What is Learnapalooza?

Learnapalooza is a free, day-long neighborhood learning festival happening on June 19, 2010 from 10am to 5pm in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. Community members will share their skills by leading free workshops in various Wicker Park spaces that everyone can attend.

Anyone who has something to share – and basically we all do – can offer a class. Current classes include: yoga, salsa making, self defense, photoshop, beer tasting, Zumba, poker, and more! It's a fun and free way to share your passions and learn new skills.

Explore our website to see the list of classes or offer to teach something. And check out our partner project CommuniTeach to see how you can meet with neighbors to share your passions and learn new skills for free throughout the year!

Thanks so much to everyone who came out for Learnapalooza last weekend. We had over 17 host venues, 60 teachers, and over 300 attendees. All and all, it was a fantastic day.

Had a good time? Got suggestions for ways we can improve the festival? Let us know in the comments section of this blog post!

Thanks again. You all rule.

Wooo hoo! Come one, come all to Wicker Park damen/milwaukee/north intersection. There will be people in blue Learnapalooza shirts to direct you to classes and answer questions.

If you’ve already signed up for classes, that’s great. If you didn’t sign up for classes, that’s ok too. Come to the class of your choice a few minutes early, and if it isn’t over capacity at start time the volunteer stationed there will add you to the list!

And come join us at Nick’s Beer Garden at 1516 N Milwaukee at 5pm after the fest for our After School Specials happy. There will be dollar off domestic bottles and well drinks for all Learnapalooza attendees, and 10% of all revenue goes towards Learnapalooza 2011! It should be a great time.

We hope to see you today!

Wow. This is really exciting.

Thanks you so much to all the the hardworking volunteers, accommodating hosts, generous donors, and awesome teachers that have contributed to help organize this amazing event.

We have closed down RSVPs for classes that have reached capacity by removing them from the bottom of the form. But many great classes still remain, such as a fun and free tap class, a combination of aerobics and swordfighting called Fit Cut (Aerobic Sword) and a great class in personal style taught by fantastic clothing label (and festival sponsor!) Crescendo.

There are still a few great kid friendly classes available, including The Musical Zoo for 1-4 year olds, Mini Menagerie, Family Zumba, Off the Barre Ballet for 5-8 year olds, and more. Bring the family and spread the word to your friends with kids.

Just wanted to quickly mention a few other great writeups we received!

Our Urban Times is a community newsletter that shares local news and happenings in the Bucktown, East Village, Noble Square, Ukrainian Village, West Town, and Wicker Park areas. They have written about Learnapalooza not once, but twice (!),  first as an event writeup, and a then to share an interview with fellow co-founder Maggie Schutz.

Gozamos is modern online magazine and community for young Latinos in Chicago that does a fantastic job covering events (like Learnapalooza) that are relevant to the full Chicago community. Check out their writeup on our event here!

Free Chicago posts about all things in Chicago that are fun and free, including Learnapalooza. They summarize us here, and you should also see the other free things going on in subsequent weekends!

Please let me know if there are any other writeups I’ve missed. Thanks again to everyone for helping spread the word about this great event!

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to take a moment to recognize some of the great press Learnapalooza has been receiving! We’ll be capturing these mentions and more on our about us page, as well as our Facebook fan page (198 fans! Help us hit 200!) and twitter account

As of 4:46 today Learnapalooza is…

• A popular event on Yelp with over 34 people interested in our event.
• On the front page of the Windy Citizen — Shoutout to Andy Angelos for adding us and everyone who has liked our page!
• Featured on the blog of Scalewell, a fantastic micro-seed fund for local entrepreneurs and supporter of our partner project CommuniTeach
• Interviewed by the super cool Alisa Hauser for the great Wicker Park e-newsletter Pipeline – you should sign up to her newsletter here!
• Listed as something free on Broke Hipster and something awesome on Chicago Now.
• The subject of great writeups by most excellent Learnapalooza hosts Dance Spa and Quimby’s (who wrote about it on their adorably named Quimblog, as well as the excellent and crafty Renegade Homemade
• And, last but not least, had a great blog writeup by Jack, a rockin’ Wicker Park resident who ran into a few members of the Learnapalooza team at Filter during our teacher meetup on Sunday.

Thanks so much to everyone for supporting our event! We’re thrilled that you are as excited about our day of free learning as well are!

Love and learning,
The Learnapalooza Team

We noticed a discrepancy between the PDF and the online RSVP form for only a few classes (“Getting money for college,” “Tai Chi”, and “Musical Zoo.”)  If you previously RSVPed for any of these classes, please look at the current schedule and double check our day.  Sorry for the confusion.

Also, we now have the previously to-be-determined Hapkido classes are now in!  There is a full slate of martial arts including Women’s self defense, Hapkido, and Aerobic Sword (how awesome does that sound?)

This should be the final lineup.  If looking at the new listings you want to change anything, simply fill out a new RSVP form and check the “edit my schedule” box at the bottom.

Thanks!  Classes are filling up fast!

We need volunteers to help us day of. Sign up today and you’ll be able to pick your top two venues (aka the classes you like the most) you want to help out at. Extra bonus you will get a cool Learnapalooza t-shirt and button.

The schedule is set!  Check out the amazing lineup of workshops here:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Learnapalooza 2010(PDF download, updated 4pm, June 11th).<<<<<<<<<

The RSVP system is having its last few kinks worked out, but should be live by the end of today (Friday, June 11th), but now you can start deciding on your classes and spreading the word.

Click on “Learn” to find the RSVP system when it is live.

Note: There are a few classes with are still pending final confirmation.  Class times and locations are subject to change, but we will try hard to avoid this, and will notify you when it does happen.

As Learnapalooza approaches (9 more days!), we wanted to help you get to know some of the fantastic hosts who have helped make it happen. First on the docket: Dance Spa.

What is Dance Spa? An awesome new Bucktown dance studio that offers Zumba Fitness for adults and children, Bollywood, Tap and all kinds of dance lessons to fit your dancing needs. Their owner Christa is super friendly – I met her during their grand opening a few months ago – and a  rockin teacher according to Yelp.  Stop by 1890 N Milwaukee and meet her!

Dance Spa will be teaching workshops in Family Zumba, Family Bollywood dancing, and Intro to Tap/Soft Shoe on June 19th. They will also be teaching a free 9am Zumba class on Saturday…a perfect warm-up to your Learna-Day that will get you up and energetic for the festival. Sign up for Dance Spa’s Learnapalooza workshops today! and email Christa at dancespasouth@gmail.com for the 9am class.

Want to help?  We are still in need of volunteers! See a few classes in one place that intrigue you or have some time available?  Sign up to be a volunteer.  Go to our Volunteer Page now.

• Each volunteer will help with a morning or afternoon shift at one venue.
• You will greet and sign in learners, welcome and direct teachers, keep the staff updated, and inform people about other classes going on throughout the day.
• Volunteers are welcome and encouraged to participate in the classes at their venue, simply keeping an eye on the door to help any stragglers wandering in.
• Every volunteer gets a free Learnapalooza T-shirt!