Second global Fixfest – a massive success

Runder Tisch Reparatur (German Repair Round Table) ran such an inspiring event in Berlin in late September. Check out photos and documentation on the event website.

The event embodied everything that the first Fixfest did: DIY spirit, free programme and space for exchange, thought-provoking keynote speakers, and “fringe” events (the Climate Strike march and a repair data dive).

The creators of Fixfest were inspired by past global gatherings of farmers and bloggers that they’d helped to organise. These created a new space, allowing people who were engaged in production in their own local context to link with others and get inspired, share common experiences and come away ready for more.

Meeting people from six continents, and people from the German repair initiatives network itself, the second Fixfest met and exceeded expectations.

After all of this, plus breaking bread, drinking beer and marching together, we left Berlin absolutely convinced more than ever of what The Restart Project put to participants at the beginning of the gathering:

In the end, we have what the companies and marketers will never have and cannot buy. We have social ties, authenticity, care for each other.

Watch this space for a more sustainable, permanent arrangement to promote global and national Fixfests, and one that links with the global coordination around International Repair Day and global collaboration on repair open data.