A Tiny House Festival Is Coming to Concord

The Tiny Studio, Haruko, and Aubergine are all houses open for tours at the festival. / Photos provided by Miranda Aisling

There’s a lot more to the tiny house movement than just living small, and this weekend, the second BIG Tiny House Festival is coming to Concord to prove it.

Organized by Miranda Aisling of the soon-to-be community art hotel called Miranda’s Hearth, the Tiny House Festival will attempt to encourage visitors to “think intentionally about how we live and why we live that way.” The festival has been dubbed the only event of its kind in New England since the first festival kicked off in Somerville in September 2014.

Aisling says she’s excited to propel tiny house movement forward in New England, referencing proposed tiny house legislation in towns like Hadley, Nantucket, and Greenfield.

“I think the state is really bringing the conversation to the next level” says Aisling. “Events like these are bringing (tiny houses) into the public consciousness in an accessible way…they’re not just cute things people see on TV.”

The festival schedule is chock full of tiny house-themed events. Visitors can tour six locally made houses, enter a raffle to win a night in a tiny house courtesy of startup Getaway, meet tiny house experts who’ll share their tiny house experiences, and check out local businesses that value tiny house ideals: sustainability, minimalism, and economic responsibility.

A purple house called the Aubergine will anchor the festival. The Aubergine was constructed over the course of a year on the lawn of the Umbrella Community Arts Center, where this year’s festival is being held. It was completed this June, and will soon become the first room in Miranda’s Hearth. The community art hotel plans to feature furniture, food, and art made by members of the community. While the hotel is still in progress, the idea is that visitors will have the opportunity to buy what they use during their stay or take a class to learn how to make it.

Aisling says the festival is two-pronged: it seeks to highlight the tiny house culture overall and to act as a culmination of the public art building project of Aubergine.

BIG Tiny House Festival, Saturday, July 16, 12-6 p.m., the Umbrella Community Arts Center, 40 Stow St., Concord, mirandashearth.com.

Photo provided by Miranda Aisling