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    Bit to Do

    How to enjoy the How-To Festival at the Louisville Free Public Library
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    On Saturday, May 10, the Main Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library at 4th and York plays host to its third How-To Festival from 10am to 3pm. The original idea involved giving the community a chance to learn 50 things in 5 hours. Even in year one, the gathering ballooned to about 80 topics. It’s more than 50 this year, too.

    The library thinks of it as “an experiment in high intensity community-based interactive learning.” For the general public that means you can finally explore interests that you otherwise might not think you had time for. Perhaps you wanted to use mass transit but didn’t know how. TARC will be on site to show you. Or maybe you wanted to be able to do some hip hop dancing to keep up with the youngsters. Safiyyah Rasool will be around to show you a few steps.

    The How-To Festival uses multiple rooms on each floor of the the Main Library at. The stairs will be your friend as you move from one seminar to another on multiple floors. Most of the learning opportunities come in :15, :30 and :45 minute increments with a few all day attractions as well. One of the more popular all day events is called “How to make cotton candy” in the kid’s tent. Blame Steve Rose if you can’t tear your children away from that.

    Not to be outdone, the Derby City Smokers will occupy the BBQ tent all day for “How to barbecue brisket, ribs and chicken with recipes and techniques from the champs.” Your kids may have a tinge of dismay as they try to pull you away.

    The varied instructors will leave you with a more eclectic knowledge base. Some of the class titles include:

    • How to play Texas Hold ‘Em
    • How to yarn bomb a tree: the art of knit and graffiti crochet
    • How to grind your own corn meal
    • How to make simple electrical repairs in your home
    • How to hula hoop your way to fitness
    • How to shoot with a bow and arrow

    Once you arrive at the Main Library, you may find yourself hoofing it to get to the subjects your want to learn. A program will be invaluable once you’re on site. You can see a PDF version here. That should help figure out the when and where of the places you want to go.

    Photo by: Charles Knowles/Shutterstock.com

    Tim Girton's picture

    About Tim Girton

    Tim Girton writes about University of Louisville sports here at Louisville.com and his love for Louisville continues on his photoblog, called This Is Louisville.

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