Taikopalooza
Welcome to the wild west of Taiko!
'It started out as an excuse to get my new taiko friends over here for an inexpensive visit & some taiko playing.
Now it has become something much bigger...but it still retains the personality of that very first gathering. Organic relationship building, affordable and fun!
We all help, we all prepare, we are all involved, and collectively we make something truly magical happen.' - Razz Purcell
Our Sponsors
Razz-Fest
March 25-27, 2016
Few know about the very first pre-cursor to Taikopalooza.... so here's the specs!
I had such an amazing time at the first ETC in Feb. 2016, that I thought "This needs to happen more often". So I invited some new friends I had made at ETC to come visit. Just over a month later we got together in Ulm and played taiko with one another for the weekend!
Each of us taught a workshop, and we had a total blast! Steven Cools dubbed it "Razz-Fest"
I'll never forget Daniel doing his ape impression over dinner at Zum Schatten (Our schnitzel restaurant!) and all of us making barnyard animal noises....
Yes... this is how Taikopalooza was born!
A Motley Crew: Martin Doyle, Steven Cools, Micah WIlhelm, Isabel Biedma, Razz Purcell, Daniel Danso
Taikopalooza 1
Jun 3-5, 2016
Razz-Fest was so much fun that I thought "We need to do that again, and make it bigger..."
So literally a couple of weeks after Razz Fest was over, I decided to invite anyone interested to travel to Ulm for a weekend of taiko playing, sharing, socializing, and just having fun. I needed a name, so I borrowed "Palooza" from the American music festival Lollapalooza, and there you have it. Taikopalooza was born!
It was almost zero planning - just very organic and kinda crazy ;) about 35 of us came together for workshops. a concert and some great times!
Director: Razz Purcell
Workshop Leaders: Razz Purcell, Martin Doyle, Shonagh Walker, Steven Cools, Remi Clemente
Taikopalooza 2
May 19-21, 2017
TP2 was much bigger... about 65 people attended. It required a lot more organisation, but this is where TP began to take on a life of its own. We joined forces with the city of Ulm, and presented our concert as a part of the International Day festivities in the city center.
Karen Young joined the team as Community Building Manager while Martin Doyle took on the job of equipment & stage manager, helping to stage an hour long concert with 65 drummers and a 15 minute load in and load out!
We also took steps to maximize the relationship building aspect of Taikopalooza and tried to keep things relaxed and chilled, but with focus.
We added more workshops, and partnered with local restaurants & biergartens for our food needs.
Director: Razz Purcell
Asst. Director: Renate Gerke
Community Building: Karen Young
Stage Manager: Martin Doyle
Workshop Leaders: Martin Doyle, Shonagh Walker, Ingmar Kikat, Joel Mankey, Yumi Celia
Taikopalooza 3
Jun 15-17, 2018
Year three was a milestone year for Taikopalooza for many reasons, but here's a few of the main ones:
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Miyamoto Unosuke Shoten and kaDON joined TZD in sponsoring the event.
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To maximize our time together, group accommodation was planned.
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We staged the first Taikopalooza public concert in Glacis Park. Over 2 hours of community taiko playing! It was the new event highlight.
We ended up with 90 people here for year 3. We had an amazing group concert, and workshops from some seriously incredible teachers.
Dates: June, 2017
Director: Razz Purcell
Asst. Director: Renate Gerke
Community Building: Karen Young
Stage Manager: Martin Doyle
Workshop Leaders: Martin Doyle, Shonagh Walker, Ingmar Kikat, Joel Mankey, Shoji Kameda, Yuta Kato, Mikey Gohnata
Taikopalooza 4
May 30 - June 2, 2019
Taikopalooza 4 was another incredible year with many new developments. We identified some weak points in the system and added the following improvements.
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An entire extra day dedicated completely to the concert. Trying to pack in 2 workshops AND a major concert was just a bit too much for one day. So we added an extra one!
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We started a €50 euro mandatory contribution for all participants. Taikopalooza had grown to the point that in order to plan it, we needed everyone to share the financial expense.
Director: Razz Purcell
Asst. Director: Renate Gerke
Community Building: Karen Young
Stage Manager: Martin Doyle
Workshop Leaders: Shonagh Walker, Karen Young, Diana Wu, Kenny Endo, Yuta Kato, Shoji Kameda, Joel Mankey, Franco Imperial, Yurika Chiba, Geoffe Noone
Taikopalooza 5
Jun 2 - 6, 2022
Year 5 has been a looong time coming, Coronavirus shot us down 2 years in a row, and needless to say, I think everyone was more than ready to make TP5 finally happen :)
We kept the format the same as TP4. Workshops Friday and Sunday and a public concert on Saturday. And we had a gig at Legoland on the Saturday as well... it was a busy weekend!
kaDON and Tsuchigumo will be helped TZD with event management and we welcomed Eri Uchida tot he taikopalooza team (she fit like a glove). It was an incredible year full of hugs, taiko and loads of good times.
Director: Razz Purcell
Community Building: Shonagh Walker
Stage Manager: Martin Doyle
Workshop Leaders: Martin Doyle, Shonagh Walker, Shoji Kameda, Eri Uchida, Razz Purcell, Benni Haas, Silke Hansen, Yuta Kato.
The Taikopalooza Team
Razz Purcell
Sponsor (TZD) + Director
Martin Doyle
Stage Manager + WS Leader
Shonagh Walker
Community Building Director + WS Leader
Shoji Kameda
Sponsor (kaDON) + WS Leader