Mittenfest is an annual music festival in Washtenaw County, Michigan, that serves as a fundraiser for 826michigan as well as a good-time holiday get-together. It was founded in 2006 by Brandon Zwagerman as an addition to the backyard and campus shows he had been organizing while a student at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor.
Mittenfest is now in its 7th year, and has taken place in venues such as Corner Brewery, The Blind Pig, The Elbow Room, and Woodruff’s.
Mittenfest raised $21,280.00 for programming at 826 this past year (Mittenfest VI), and over $55,000 since we started.
Mittenfest VI featured 60 bands over 5 packed days of music and revelry, and at least 1,500 and perhaps upwards of 2,000 people attended over the course of the event (our best guess based on the numbers we have).
826michigan is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Our services are structured around our belief that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.
826michigan is part of a nationwide network of non-profits, started in San Francisco by famed writer and editor Dave Eggers (826 Valencia). Have you heard of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius or McSweeney’s? Well, he’s behind both. Anyway, a few years back he decided to start a non-profit organization that focused on mentoring kids in creative writing.
Founded by Ann Arbor writer Steven Gillis, 826michigan is a chapter of that national non-profit organization. Through afterschool, drop-in tutoring, field trips, workshops, writing rooms, and various other means, 826’s main goal is to inspire young people and foster their creativity. 826 takes kids very seriously in an often not-so-serious way. Programs are free of charge. We are not responsible for how overwhelmingly creative or thoughtfully energized any young person may be upon leaving 826. We should note that they are housed within the world-renowned Liberty Street Robot Supply & Repair.
