Fluff Festival turns 21 with music, vendors and road closures
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration courtesy of the City of Somerville.
It's a special year for Somerville's "What the Fluff?" Festival as it returns to Union Square on Saturday.
Why it matters: If the annual celebration of the marshmallow topping were a person, the 21-year-old festival could legally drink.
- It's this Saturday from 1-5pm.
State of play: The free festival honoring the local invention of Fluff has grown into a signature Somerville community event, drawing an estimated 30,000 attendees and shutting down a chunk of Union Square for the day.
Zoom in: This year's theme, leaning into the milestone anniversary, is "Legally Fluff: A Toast to Union Square."
- Somerville Mayor Jake Wilson credits local businesses, artists and volunteers for keeping the event fresh and fluffy for over two decades.
Flashback: The invention story is stickier than the festival name suggests.
- Somerville confectioner Archibald Query sold his marshmallow spread door-to-door starting around 1917, then sold the recipe for $500 in 1920.
- Durkee-Mower built it into today's iconic brand — from a factory in Lynn, not Somerville.
There will be two stages: the Shenanigans Stage with Fluff Musical Chairs, Fluff Limbo and a Fluff Hairdo Contest.
- The Fluff'N Jam Stage has live sets from Magnificent Danger, Camelia Latin Dance Band, Solmaría and Dom the Composer.
More than 100 vendors will sell Fluff-themed food, art and merchandise.
- That includes official fest gear designed by artist Jen Gubicza.
- Free activities include boardwalk-style games, a parkour course, robotics demos at Somernova's Innovation Alley and a community mural led by artist Nate Devarie.
- There's no word if Fluff is a suitable substance to land safely in after messing up your parkour.
The big picture: Organizers will honor Angela Hsuan Chen for her multilingual outreach on the Union Square Farmers Market's SNAP Match program.
Getting there: The fest takes place on Somerville Avenue and Bow Street between Church Street and Union Square, plus the Union Square Municipal Lot.
- This area will be closed to traffic from 10am-7pm.
- Parking restrictions run 9am-7pm along the same stretch, and MBTA buses will detour for the day.
- Organizers want attendees to walk, bike or take transit. There's a free bike valet service available at two Somerville Avenue locations.
What's next: A bad weather backup date is set for Sunday, Sept. 20.
- Attendees can text FLUFF26 to 888777 for day-of alerts.
The bottom line: Fluff Fest is without a doubt one of the area's most unique and enjoyable annual occasions.
- Full festival details, including a vendor map and road closure list, are at flufffestival.com.