By Angela McQuillan, Little Berlin

On September 22^nd 2012, Little Berlin hosted the EverNever Night Market, a pop-up interactive art space held for one night only at the Little Berlin Fairgrounds. The EverNever Night Market was organized and curated by Kathryn Sclavi and Melinda Essig, and consisted of art, performance and culinary exhibitions held inside of box trucks and vans, and included one bicycle! To be a guest at the event felt like attending a secret, magical night-time carnival. The EverNever Night Market was not announced publically, the invitations were spread by word of mouth with the location given only 24 hours before the event, so it was an exciting secret that many of the guests stumbled upon by chance.  The concept of the Night Market is a product of New York event producers Mark Krawczuk & Kevin Balktick.  Their original Lost Horizons Night Market has been wildly successful and reproduced in other cities such as Boston, San Francisco, and Detroit.  The EverNever Night Market at Little Berlin was the first time that such an event has been organized in Philadelphia, and was an amazing success!  Despite the rainy weather, there were approximately 150 people in attendance, including many of the kids from the surrounding neighborhood.

Heidi Kay and Rachel Brennesholtz promised the “Happiest Day of your Life“, a box truck that featured a collection of over 10 different wedding dresses for participants to try on, model for glamour photos in their favorite dress, and celebrate with wedding cake.

EverNever night market curators Kathryn Sclavi and Melinda Essig, enjoying the “happiest day of their lives” in the wedding dress truck created by Heidi Kay and Rachel Brennesholtz.

Lance Pawling and Messopotamia Lefae set up a mini-van-theater puppet show that included characters made out of recycled materials with elaborate set changes and costumes. Isaac Seidman and Scott Cumpstonecreated the “Outside-In Picnic Truck“, creating a lovely outdoor picnic atmosphere inside the truck using faux grass and pillows to sit on, guests were invited to  relax in a picturesque world with blue skies, green grass, and rolling hills. Chef Scott served up some amazing noodle soup and Banh Mi for everyone to enjoy!  Ana Vizcarra-Rankin and Danielle Payne created a unique visual experience by projecting a video onto a painting inside of a truck, which was being filmed and projected on a screen outside. Alex Ciambrello created a giant spin-art machine, and encouraged participants to create their own beautiful works of art powered by the pedals of his bicycle. Laura Deutch of “messages in motion” offered a comfort station inside of a van where participants were able to record video messages that would be emailed to themselves or someone else at a future date of their choice.

Gus Depenbrock created a kite flying truck where participants could fly their own kite in a grassy field with the wind created by a giant fans inside of a truck. Angela McQuillan transformed a truck into a life-size kaleidoscope that participants could sit inside and create their own psychedelic experience among glowing orbs and neon objects.  Nicole Connor made “Peace and Politics”, a truck divided in half, one section decorated with peaceful imagery where people were invited to light candles, pray and reflect, while the other half was decorated with political imagery where participants were encouraged to vent their frustrations.  Scott Beibin, Lizzie Cole, Edward “Azi” Cragg, and Rikke Rasmussen created the “Groucho Fractal Mobile” which featured 3D printing and 3 varieties of Kombucha Tea.

The EverNever Night Market lasted for 4 hours, and throughout the evening a diverse crowd of people came through.  The most fun was watching the neighborhood kids experience the magic of the exhibition.  The video above sums up the experience in a nut-shell.