Area Code: Batavia11 Jul 2025

Boo Boo Days: A Celebration of Downtown Batavia's Imperfections

On the day this episode is released, Batavia kicks off Boo Boo Days. For me, Boo Boo Days is a new concept, a sort of quaint and slightly bizarre throwback that just started a few years ago. But the reality is, Boo Boo Days originated decades ago and played a crucial role in the origin of the Windmill Festival.

But what really interests me is the whole concept of this oddly named celebration. Where did this idea come from, and why organize an entire celebration around mistakes?

To explore those questions, I brought back a previous guest, Kate Garrett, director of the Batavia Depot Museum to help us understand what made the downtown we all take for granted what it is, and how grass roots campaigns like Boo Boo Days have shaped Batavia’s culture and landscape.

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Area Code: Batavia is produced by Area Code Audio. It's hosted and produced by Richard Clark. Edited and mixed by Matt Linder. Additional production help from Jennifer Clark.

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