It seems some big "Thank you"s are in order for all those who came out for our Grand Opening, 'Festaval! As a memorial to all the fun of that weekend, we're offering you a recap here, on our blog:
'Festaval: Day One
The weekend kicked off with an inspiring discussion panel about Beauty & Wellness, featuring Cory, a friend and owner of the restaurant Nido, Danielle from Holy Sponge, Rachel from Fat and the Moon, and our very own Lindsay. One of our favorite parts of the talk was when one woman in the audience related her experience of going through menopause to some of the ideas about wellness that were being discussed.
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| Photo Credit: Darling Dear Photography |
We also had the pleasure of hearing from Feleciai from Skincare by Feleciai about the obscurities surrounding beauty products within the African American community.
It was awesome seeing more people show up throughout the day, some to get a hand massage from our Aveda representative, Shayla, and others to browse some of our vendors, which included the lovely ladies from Holy Sponge, Lisa Hsia, offering ink and watercolor portraits, Susan Mills, Manifesta's business strategist and owner of Well Connected Partners, and Samantha Busa, Manifesta's copywriter and social media person. Tasty refreshments were provided throughout the day by Woop Woop Fine Foods (with their brand new Manifesta Mint cookie!), Natalie from Natty Cakes, Tania and Senet providing natural juices and smoothies from Earthlings Superfoods, and Jeremy and Darren sampling their yummy sandwiches from Big Dipper's Sandwiches.
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| Woop Woop Fine Foods |
Meanwhile, Mindy Dillard treated our ears to her singing and banjo playing.
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| Mindy Dillard on Banjo |
Next up, Lisa Hsia gave a wonderful talk about the intersection of art and beauty. She definitely talked about stuff we can all relate to, such as how you look at a person differently when you see them on the street versus when you are trying to paint, draw, or recreate them in an artistic endeavor.
Shortly after, we hosted a Hair & Identity discussion panel featuring Kevin from Massive, Destiny, a friend and jazz musician, Darshan, a local educator and activist, and our very own Ben. It was seriously cool hearing about such diverse and unique experiences from everyone on this panel, such as when Destiny shared that she went into barbering partly so that she could learn more about men. We finished off the day with an exciting barbering battle with the barbers from Massive. There were so many participants! Everyone left the barbering battle looking hella fly, and we had a blast watching it happen!
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| Photo Credit: Darling Dear Photography |
'Festaval: Day Two
As you know, our second day of 'Festaval was dedicated to Local Business & Community. We were very lucky to have all female entrepreneurs and business owners from the neighborhood come and speak on a morning panel with Susan. We're so proud to be amongst these incredible women! We also loved seeing so many of you shopping for products from our 'Festa partners. On day two, this included Fat and the Moon, Holy Sponge, Fluffy Co, Natty Cakes, Earthlings Superfoods, and more lunches from Big Dipper's Sandwiches.
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| Holy Sponge |
If you weren't out running the Manifesta Mile, you may have also caught the fabulous Joanna Mack serenading us all with her sitar skills. The day continued on peacefully until the second panel brought some serious excitement. First, we heard from Marguerite Young about the importance of water conservation right here, right now in Oakland as our urban water consumption continues to pose threats to the community.
Finally, the big moment had arrived for the Oakland mayoral candidates Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, Mayor-Elect Libby Schaaf, and Mayor Jean Quan to speak with us about their plans for the community. Darshan started off the panel with a fun meet-and-greet icebreaker before asking the candidates to speak their stances on important topics for small business owners in Oakland.
If you were following us on Twitter, you may have seen that we tweeted all of the questions audience members wrote down for the mayoral candidates.
We sincerely thank everyone who attended and participated in 'Festaval, and we hope all of you were as blown away as we were by this amazing and diverse community. We also want to give a special thank you to John and Marita Dorenbecher, who helped us promote and prepare for this whole event, and to William Lutes, who impressed us once again with his craftsmanship by building the 'Festaval stage.
Lindsay shared that her favorite part of 'Festaval was "seeing people interact who wouldn't have otherwise met." We can all agree with that, and if you find yourself interested in 'Festa, we hope you'll email us at festa.oak@gmail.com.
Meet Our New Stylist
Aside from 'Festaval, we've also been busy adding a new member to our salon team! Please join us in welcoming our new stylist Amy! Here is what we'd like you to know about this awesome lady, in her own words:
"I first moved to Oakland to earn my MFA in art. I worked for 12 years as an educator -sculpting art and minds- before beginning my second career as a hair stylist six years ago. It was through my experiences as an artist and teacher that I found 2 essential callings:
1. I need to do hands-on creative work with excellence.
2. I need to connect with people.
I love the experience of providing a nurturing environment where people feel listened to...cared for...even transformed. The funny thing is that I also get to be transformed in that same process. Sometimes I don't know who benefits more- me or the client (but hopefully it's the client since they end up paying!). I feel grateful to do something that brings me joy. The reward of doing hair is that I get to help people look and feel renewed all day, every day...in such a simple and personal way."
Stop By for Plaid Friday
We are proud to announce that the salon will be open for Plaid Friday, November 28th, from noon until 6pm. Conceptualized in Oakland, Plaid Friday is a fun, carefree alternative to Black Friday that celebrates local, independent businesses. The name "Plaid Friday" actually comes from the imagery of plaid, the idea being that the threads of small businesses work together to create the strong fabric of a diverse community. Look for the plaid placard in our window and come enjoy refreshments as you shop the locally made products of our 'Festa partners and other local artisans. We encourage you to stop in our neighbors' shops as well!
Destiny Muhammad's 5th Annual Concert
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| Destiny Muhammad |
Lastly, we hope that many of you attended Destiny Muhammad's 5th Annual Concert this past Sunday! Destiny is an incredible jazz musician and an even more incredible woman! If you didn't catch her speaking at 'Festaval about her experience getting to know men as a barber, we encourage you to keep up with her on Twitter or Facebook. Support your local artists!
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