Head to Chinatown for ‘Cousins & Friends Fest’, Happening Sept. 23-25

There’s a pop-up happening at the Studio A-OK shop (436 Columbia St.) later this week, curated by local artist Stankdaddy and Toronto-based creative studio Born in the North. They’re calling it ‘Cousins & Friends Fest’, and you should definitely factor it into your end-of-week plans.

In addition to their own artwork and products, Stankdaddy and Born in the North will be showcasing a bunch of other cool stuff made by some equally rad and talented Indigenous folk, available to scope out and purchase. Another way to commemorate the occasion (and up the awesome factor of your autumn wardrobe) is by purchasing one of the specially designed event t-shirts pictured above, available for $40 a pop here. Bonus that proceeds from their sales are being donated towards Kilala Lelum (the Urban Indigenous Health and Healing Cooperative), a DTES based organization (find out more about what they do here.) The shirts are already live on the Studio A-OK website, with whatever doesn’t sell in advance being available at the pop-up. (Only a super small number of shirts were printed, though, so if you know you ‘need’ one, then don’t take the gamble!)

Cousins & Friends Fest is kicking off Friday, September 23rd from 11am-8pm, including an opening party from 5-8pm. The pop-up continues all weekend long, from Noon-6pm on the Saturday and Sunday. That’s plenty of time to make your way down to the Chinatown shop to take in the good vibes, support the local Indigenous creative community, and walk away with something special for yourself and/or someone else. Stay tuned here for more details and vendor announcements.