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Hippie Christmas Fest Turns Waste Day Into a Celebration of Housing Justice

Friday, August 15, 2025

3:00 PM – 8:00 PM

James Madison Park

RAIN DATE: August 22, 2025 (same time and location)

This August, as Madison braces for the annual chaos of student move-outs and mass apartment turnovers, Hippie Christmas Fest is a creative strategy session, community festival, and mutual aid hub that brings Madison together to share resources.

WHO

• Madison Tenant Power

• Art Lit Lab

• Occupy Madison

• Heidi Wegleitner

• Francesca Hong

• Housing activists, college students, and unhoused neighbors

MUTUAL AID - housing resources, water, and snacks for movers - with Madison Mutual Aid Network, Madison Anarchist League, and 50501-Madison.

WORKSHOPS - Fun sessions on tenant defense, mover rights, and how to plug in to local groups - with Madison Tenant Power, Disability Pride Madison, Trans Resistance Action Committee, and Dane County Homeless Justice Initiative.

MUSIC & CULTURE - Live bands, upcycled art and fiber art - with Occupy Madison, Slower Drawings, and musical acts Sapsucker, THE MOONBOOT, Blasfemme.

“Hippie Christmas” is what locals call the mad scramble of lease turnovers on August 15, when furniture piles up on the curb and student renters are displaced. 

In a city where August 15 marks a peak in housing precarity (what students call the “day of homelessness”), we are drawing attention to the waste created by Madison’s annual rental churn.

Bring the joy through free resources, hands-on workshops, and radical cultural programming!

Moving Day was hot, but we kept spirits up with kettle corn and a new Madison Tenant Power banner. We passed out cold water, chips, and  fruit to movers and unhoused neighbors. We taught our neighbors some classic tenant songs and chants. 

August 15th, Madison’s so-called “Day of Homelessness,” forces tens of thousands of tenants to move at once. This creates extreme competition for housing, which gives landlords unchecked power over tenants. 

Madison tenants used to have more rights: pre-Scott Walker protections capped security deposits and limited late fees. But we still have plenty of rights as renters to defend and protect.

To break this cycle of instability, we need to work together, connect with neighbors, educate ourselves on our rights, control our land, and put as much energy into the community as ourselves.

PROGRAM

3 pm strategic brainstorm + banner and art making

4 pm introduction + housing chant workshop

Blasfemme (introduced by Madison Tenant Power)

5 pm “How Scott Walker Stole Our Tenant Rights”

Sapsucker (introduced by Heidi Wegleitner)

6 pm - organizational roll call

THE MOONBOOT (introduced by Francesca Hong)

7 pm - final brainstorm + call to action

Email mtp@madisontenantpower.org for more info.

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