State-Based Tiny House Celebrations Are Growing In Popularity

The real fight is at the local level. You have to go to your local politicians and petition them; petition their rules. That has been the unsung song for some time now when it comes to legalizing tiny houses in most municipalities. So why would it be any different when it comes to celebrating the beauty and practicality so many of us see in these small dwellings on wheels?

I don’t remember the first tiny house festival I went to. I feel like it was before the incredible Tiny House Jamboree in 2016. I feel like I went to something before that. But who knows? 2015 was so long ago and the Jamboree was so epic. For the first time ever….WAIT! I remember now. There was something prior to the Jamboree. In June 2015 I met a few other tiny house folks as well as 3 other houses (the premiere of the Morrison 24′ by EcoCabins, coincidentally) in Dayton, Ohio, for a home show that Darin Zaruba (now of National Tiny House Jamboree fame) was taking part in. He was doing something so unusual by gathering together a few tiny house on wheels and displaying them as if they were normal homes. He also brought in a few folks like myself to talk about tiny houses: their history and their future. And then it happened. 35,000+ tiny house advocates, fans, owners, builders, etc. gathered together in one place in Colorado Springs over the course of one weekend, to live out a sort of fanboy dream. It was tiny on tiny! But that was then and this is now.

Two years later now the thirst for tiny houses in general has more or less been quenched by an array of media. But a new thirst prevails. People now want to know what is happening on a more local level. People are curious as to how tiny houses are being treated in their own state. We are entering the era of the local festival.

With people like Ryan Mitchell, John Kernohan, and William Johnston, sponsoring festivals that focus on more regional and even local venues, it seems that the general public is enjoying the attention their own little Mayberry can get in the tiny house community. Consider Pink Hill, North Carolina and the 2017 TinyHouseNC Street Festival.

A town of normally just 1700 people (and one stoplight!), Pink Hill is a quiet, picturesque town in the southeastern corridor of North Carolina, that is hosting what could be one of the nation’s biggest regional events of the year. Hosted by Andrew Odom (one of the original founders of TinyHouseNC) the street festival is a more academic approach to presenting tiny house on wheels, tiny houses, alternative houses, etc. to the mainstream, and keeping a focus on how they can alter the American architectural landscape. With over 12 tiny houses on display, 10 vendors, 16 nationally recognize speakers, 6 food trucks, a children’s area, and more, the 2017 TinyHouseNC Street Festival is expecting more than 4,000 curious attendees the weekend of April 21 – 23, 2017. Sponsored by nationally recognized and LEED Gold certified Mother Earth Brewery, Chef & the Farmer restaurant, the home base of PBS superstar chef Vivian Howard, and local success story Pink Hill Pharmacy, the festival is playing a key role in pushing regions and smaller municipalities to dig in deep to their own communities and raise awareness of non-traditional homes.

Of course events like the National Tiny House Jamboree will always be the mecca of mini, there is a marked growth in popularity for the regional and local events that allow tiny houses to make a big impact!

What do you think? Do you appreciate the regional and local flavors becoming popular in the tiny house scene? Let us know in the comments below.

By Andrew M. Odom for the [Tiny House Blog]