Learn From Your Neighbors at Learnapalooza 2013

Learnapalooza 2013, an all-day free skillsharing event, will kick off for the year Saturday June 15 in Wicker Park. The event, which consists of free classes for adults, teens, and families, will take place this summer across three Chicago neighborhoods: Wicker Park on June 15, Lakeview on July 20 and Logan Square on September 22.

The mission of the event, organizers say, is to foster "free, creative exploration by providing Chicago neighbors the opportunity to exchange skills."

Classes are lead by volunteers and hosted by local businesses. Previous Learnapalooza offerings have included: bee-keeping, dancing, culinary arts, jewelry-making, Hebrew, backgammon, web design, yoga, wine-making, and guitar.

While classes are geared toward adults, many families do attend with their children. Classes with age restrictions or those geared specifically toward children are noted in the event schedule.

Learnapalooza began in 2009, when co-founders Maggie Schutz and Sarah Press discovered similar projects in other cities and decided to bring the same type of event to Chicago.

Planning commitee member Katie Leiblein says some of the most popular offerings at Learnapalooza have been dance and movement classes.

"Every year we have different classes, so we see different (and sometimes surprising) favorites," Leiblein explains. "Our most suprising sell-out class was Excel Basics... Everyone loves to try their hand at a new dance or yoga class! My personal favorites (and often well attended), have been bee keeping, worm composting and urban chicken keeping."