Trash Landing

All it took was a hammer and nails and a recycled pallet to convince Kenny Fischer to start the urban DIY-upcycling celebration PalletFest, an innovative new street festival. “I live in the San Luis Valley. Life is a little slower out there,” he says. “And one day, while I was building a chicken coop out of pallets, it occurred to me that if I can do that or even make a wine rack or a chair out of a pallet, why not build a whole festival?” Every year, he points out, two million pallets end up in landfills, where they’re not doing anyone a whole lot of good.

One successful Kickstarter later, Fischer will launch PalletFest this weekend in the Sculpture Park at the Denver Performing Arts Complex — with the blessing of Denver Arts & Venues and other sponsors. The event features a maze and a performance stage built from used pallets, as well as an obstacle course where parkour athletes will be “running, jumping and flying off pallets,” Fischer says. There will also be trash fashion, vendors hawking everything upcycled and recyclable, pallet-craft demos and even a children’s area where kids can make their own musical instruments out of the world’s flotsam and jetsam.

“This is really all about how we can provide for our needs and have fun,” Fischer says. “And how, with a little creativity, we can do that without sending money halfway around the world for a table or a chair.”

Learn the nuts and bolts of creative upcycling from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow at Sculpture Park; admission is free. For more information, visit palletfest.com.

Sat., Oct. 11, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sun., Oct. 12, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 2014