Community Calendar

Each year, a growing number of talented Kalamazoo filmmakers, both amateur and professional, take on the challenge of participating in the Kazoo 48-Hour Film Festival. Assigned a genre, prop, character quirk, location, and line of dialogue to use within a short film, participants have just 48 hours to bring their visions to life.

The winning films for 2026, selected in multiple categories, were announced during a public screening at the GQT Kalamazoo 10 Theater on April 23.

During this celebratory event at the KIA, watch the winning films and hear from the filmmakers themselves about their experiences and personal highlights from the festival!

Please note that this event will not be livestreamed or posted on YouTube.

May 1 - May 31 / Join us for a month-long celebration of new vegan dishes all over Kalamazoo!

Back by popular demand for the fourth year in a row, businesses across Kalamazoo will showcase exciting special vegan menu items for an entire month, giving everyone the opportunity to explore creative plant-based dishes crafted by talented local chefs.

How It Works:

1- Visit participating restaurants across Kalamazoo.
2- Try their exclusive vegan offerings.
3- Share your experience: Rate and review the dishes you try, comment, post photos of your favorite meals, and tag us at @KalamazooVeganChefChallenge.

This event is open to everyone, not just vegans! It’s about bringing our community together to celebrate incredible food and support our area's chefs.

Get Involved: Looking for ways to connect? Volunteer with us! We’re seeking passionate individuals to help with outreach, event promotion, and community building throughout the month. It's a great way to meet like-minded people and make a difference! Volunteer using this link: TinyURL.com/VOLVCC.

Join us in making Kalamazoo an even more inclusive, vibrant, and compassionate community. For details on participating businesses, menus, partners, and more, visit our website at veganchefchallenge.org/Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo Vegan Chef Challenge is hosted by Vegan Outreach and in collaboration with Vegan Kalamazoo.

Help bring back the floral beauty we look forward to seeing on our summer walks, drives, and events in downtown Kalamazoo. There are numerous planting days throughout May in which the community is invited to participate.

Start time is 9:00 am, but volunteers are welcome to come for an early shift to help us take flats of flowers to the beds. Each planting day ends around Noon. Volunteer for any amount of time you can give. Signing up in advance is encouraged, but you can also show up on the day of planting. For all of the dates, times, locations, and details on where to park and check in, they can be found on SignUpGenius, https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080C4BA8AD2DAAF49-62628403-2026#/

Gardening experience is not required. Supplies will be provided if you don’t have your own gloves, trowel, or kneeling pad. Beverages and snacks will also be provided. Planting happens whether it rains or shines or is hot or cold. Dress for the weather.

These spring planting days are the perfect opportunity for bonding, team building, and meeting new friends.

The Kalamazoo Civic Theatre’s production of The Producers: A Mel Brook Musical runs May 1 – 17, in the Civic Auditorium.
It’s non-stop laughs when a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer and his mild-mannered accountant come up with a scheme to produce the most notorious flop in history, thereby hustling their backers out of millions of dollars. Mel Brooks’ laugh-out-loud spectacle The Producers sets the standard for modern, outrageous, in-your-face humor.

Tickets on sale now: https://bit.ly/TheProducersTickets-KCT

Performance Dates:
• Friday, May 1 at 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 PM*^
• Sunday, May 3 at 2:00 PM
• Friday, May 8 at 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 9 at 7:30 PM
• Sunday, May 10 at 2:00 PM
• Friday, May 15 at 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 16 at 7:30 PM
• Sunday, May 17 at 2:00 PM
* ASL Interpreted and Audio Description Services Available
^Theme Night: “Tony Night” at the Civic - come dressed in your favorite Tony Award attire.

Book by MEL BROOKS & THOMAS MEEHAN Music and Lyrics by MEL BROOKS
Original direction and choreography by Susan Stroman
By special arrangement with StudioCanal
THE PRODUCERS is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com

May 1 - May 31 / Join us for a month-long celebration of new vegan dishes all over Kalamazoo!

Back by popular demand for the fourth year in a row, businesses across Kalamazoo will showcase exciting special vegan menu items for an entire month, giving everyone the opportunity to explore creative plant-based dishes crafted by talented local chefs.

How It Works:

1- Visit participating restaurants across Kalamazoo.
2- Try their exclusive vegan offerings.
3- Share your experience: Rate and review the dishes you try, comment, post photos of your favorite meals, and tag us at @KalamazooVeganChefChallenge.

This event is open to everyone, not just vegans! It’s about bringing our community together to celebrate incredible food and support our area's chefs.

Get Involved: Looking for ways to connect? Volunteer with us! We’re seeking passionate individuals to help with outreach, event promotion, and community building throughout the month. It's a great way to meet like-minded people and make a difference! Volunteer using this link: TinyURL.com/VOLVCC.

Join us in making Kalamazoo an even more inclusive, vibrant, and compassionate community. For details on participating businesses, menus, partners, and more, visit our website at veganchefchallenge.org/Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo Vegan Chef Challenge is hosted by Vegan Outreach and in collaboration with Vegan Kalamazoo.

Soap Making Workshop
Saturday, May 23, 10 am – Noon

Meet: Classroom

Audience: Adults

Fan favorite Molly Appeldoorn is back with a beginner’s lesson on crafting simple soaps from raw ingredients. Learn the traditional ways of soapmaking and get expert advice on how to tune your soap to your needs.

Fee: Members $16, Non-Members $20 Please register.

The Kalamazoo Civic Theatre’s production of The Producers: A Mel Brook Musical runs May 1 – 17, in the Civic Auditorium.
It’s non-stop laughs when a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer and his mild-mannered accountant come up with a scheme to produce the most notorious flop in history, thereby hustling their backers out of millions of dollars. Mel Brooks’ laugh-out-loud spectacle The Producers sets the standard for modern, outrageous, in-your-face humor.

Tickets on sale now: https://bit.ly/TheProducersTickets-KCT

Performance Dates:
• Friday, May 1 at 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 PM*^
• Sunday, May 3 at 2:00 PM
• Friday, May 8 at 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 9 at 7:30 PM
• Sunday, May 10 at 2:00 PM
• Friday, May 15 at 7:30 PM
• Saturday, May 16 at 7:30 PM
• Sunday, May 17 at 2:00 PM
* ASL Interpreted and Audio Description Services Available
^Theme Night: “Tony Night” at the Civic - come dressed in your favorite Tony Award attire.

Book by MEL BROOKS & THOMAS MEEHAN Music and Lyrics by MEL BROOKS
Original direction and choreography by Susan Stroman
By special arrangement with StudioCanal
THE PRODUCERS is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com

May 1 - May 31 / Join us for a month-long celebration of new vegan dishes all over Kalamazoo!

Back by popular demand for the fourth year in a row, businesses across Kalamazoo will showcase exciting special vegan menu items for an entire month, giving everyone the opportunity to explore creative plant-based dishes crafted by talented local chefs.

How It Works:

1- Visit participating restaurants across Kalamazoo.
2- Try their exclusive vegan offerings.
3- Share your experience: Rate and review the dishes you try, comment, post photos of your favorite meals, and tag us at @KalamazooVeganChefChallenge.

This event is open to everyone, not just vegans! It’s about bringing our community together to celebrate incredible food and support our area's chefs.

Get Involved: Looking for ways to connect? Volunteer with us! We’re seeking passionate individuals to help with outreach, event promotion, and community building throughout the month. It's a great way to meet like-minded people and make a difference! Volunteer using this link: TinyURL.com/VOLVCC.

Join us in making Kalamazoo an even more inclusive, vibrant, and compassionate community. For details on participating businesses, menus, partners, and more, visit our website at veganchefchallenge.org/Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo Vegan Chef Challenge is hosted by Vegan Outreach and in collaboration with Vegan Kalamazoo.

May 1 - May 31 / Join us for a month-long celebration of new vegan dishes all over Kalamazoo!

Back by popular demand for the fourth year in a row, businesses across Kalamazoo will showcase exciting special vegan menu items for an entire month, giving everyone the opportunity to explore creative plant-based dishes crafted by talented local chefs.

How It Works:

1- Visit participating restaurants across Kalamazoo.
2- Try their exclusive vegan offerings.
3- Share your experience: Rate and review the dishes you try, comment, post photos of your favorite meals, and tag us at @KalamazooVeganChefChallenge.

This event is open to everyone, not just vegans! It’s about bringing our community together to celebrate incredible food and support our area's chefs.

Get Involved: Looking for ways to connect? Volunteer with us! We’re seeking passionate individuals to help with outreach, event promotion, and community building throughout the month. It's a great way to meet like-minded people and make a difference! Volunteer using this link: TinyURL.com/VOLVCC.

Join us in making Kalamazoo an even more inclusive, vibrant, and compassionate community. For details on participating businesses, menus, partners, and more, visit our website at veganchefchallenge.org/Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo Vegan Chef Challenge is hosted by Vegan Outreach and in collaboration with Vegan Kalamazoo.

May 1 - May 31 / Join us for a month-long celebration of new vegan dishes all over Kalamazoo!

Back by popular demand for the fourth year in a row, businesses across Kalamazoo will showcase exciting special vegan menu items for an entire month, giving everyone the opportunity to explore creative plant-based dishes crafted by talented local chefs.

How It Works:

1- Visit participating restaurants across Kalamazoo.
2- Try their exclusive vegan offerings.
3- Share your experience: Rate and review the dishes you try, comment, post photos of your favorite meals, and tag us at @KalamazooVeganChefChallenge.

This event is open to everyone, not just vegans! It’s about bringing our community together to celebrate incredible food and support our area's chefs.

Get Involved: Looking for ways to connect? Volunteer with us! We’re seeking passionate individuals to help with outreach, event promotion, and community building throughout the month. It's a great way to meet like-minded people and make a difference! Volunteer using this link: TinyURL.com/VOLVCC.

Join us in making Kalamazoo an even more inclusive, vibrant, and compassionate community. For details on participating businesses, menus, partners, and more, visit our website at veganchefchallenge.org/Kalamazoo.

The Kalamazoo Vegan Chef Challenge is hosted by Vegan Outreach and in collaboration with Vegan Kalamazoo.