Eat Play Bike invites all to see South Madison

The chilly June weather and slight drizzle of rain did not deter a sizable crowd from attending South Madison’s first of four community carnivals in June, called Eat Play Bike, Thursday.

Several local groups, such as Sustain Dane, the Urban League of Greater Madison, Planet Bike, the South Metropolitan Planning Council and Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation, partnered together to create an event surrounding the idea of “placemaking.”

Hedi Rudd, Eat Play Bike project manager, said “placemaking” is the idea of transforming and re-creating a space that would ordinarily not be used for the community, such as a commercial parking lot.

“[Placemaking is] looking at places that are normally not considered community spaces and basically repurposing those spaces, so they become something the community can own,” Rudd said.

The community carnival event will continue each Thursday in June from 4 to 9 p.m.

As a result of four weeks of community planning sessions, food vendors, music groups, giant chalkboards and kids racing around on bikes filled the parking lot at 2200 S. Park St.

“The way that we’re coordinating [Eat Play Bike] is truly grassroots,” Rudd said. “It’s the community bringing its skills, talents and abilities to a space.”

Urban League President and CEO Kaleem Caire spoke about bringing the community back together before the musical group Black Star Drumline performed.

“The goal...is to really create an opportunity in South Madison, a place where we can all get together and have a good time and bring back some of that nostalgia of how we used to get together in South Madison, but do it even bigger than we have before,” Caire said.

Eat Play Bike not only provides a fun environment for community members of all ages to enjoy, it also is an opportunity to stimulate local businesses, according to local community member Rockameem, who contributed to the event with his drumming. Various food and clothing vendors set up in the parking lot for carnival-goers to check out.

Rockameem said Eat Play Bike is a chance to “first of all, socialize in a peaceful manner and stimulate their own economy by being a vendor.”

Word about the carnivals is starting to spread beyond South Madison.

“The publicity so far seems to be very targeted toward this community, which is great,” Eat Play Bike visitor and Middleton resident Gerry Campbell said. “It’s their space; it’s the local space, but I hope other people come in because it’s important to all of us.”

Rudd said she hopes Eat Play Bike will assist in making South Madison a destination for all Madison residents.

“And that is really our hope,” Rudd said. “That South Madison is as much a destination as the east side, west side and downtown, that people see it as a place to go.”