Whirligig Innovation Zone
Douglas Street is the “Whirligig Innovation Zone” of the Whirligig Festival!
“Get in the zone” by exploring everything happening on the street & in the Whirligig Repair & Conservation Headquarters!
What exactly is a whirligig and how does it whirl? Why do we celebrate whirligigs in Wilson?
Visit the Whirligig Repair & Conservation Headquarters on Douglas Street and find out! Here you will see Vollis’ whirligigs up-close and personal. Watch experts repair these whimsical works of art & engineering and learn more about Vollis Simpson, his kinetic sculptures, and the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park Project through Original Whirligig Exploration.
Experience the whirligigs “at night” in the Headlight Gallery.
Make an audio recording your memories of whirligigs for our audio archive at the Story Studio.
Watch a few short videos about whirligigs at the Whirligig Theatre.
Out in the street, you can express your own creativity – here’s how. Make your own invention with all sorts of spare parts at the Scrap Exchange.
Try out your creative hand by Sidewalk Chalking with Marvel Comic Book Artists.
Plus shop in the Downtown Merchant Area with our creative downtown shop booths!
All these things can be found on Douglas Street: 
Downtown Merchant Area: Downtown businesses sell their wares: On Douglas Street.
Scrap Exchange: Come make your own unique creations, sculptures, and inventions with all sorts of scrap materials, from metal, to buttons, to paper, to wood, to beads, and more – the sky is the limit: On Douglas Street.
Participatory Sidewalk Chalking: Help us decorate the pavement on Douglas Street with Marvel Comic Book artist Lewis Small & friends: On Douglas Street.
In the Whirligig Repair & Conservation Headquarters: (on the corner of Douglas & Barnes Streets):
· Original Whirligig Exploration: View various Vollis Simpson’s whirligigs up-close & personal, see how they work, watch them being repaired by experts, & go on a self guided tour of the headquarters
· Headlight Gallery: experience the whirligigs “at night” with their incredible reflective surfaces, as many visitors to Vollis’ farm have over the years
· Story Studio: Make an audio recording your memories of whirligigs for our audio archive or write down a memory on our story board
· Whirligig Theatre: Take a break and watch some short films on whirligigs, Vollis Simpson, & the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park Project
All these things are free & open to the public. Enjoy the spirit of the whirligigs!
