Borders bookstores are definitively gone, the company filed for bankruptcy this year, and there are a lot of these empty ghost stores everywhere now.
Except in Thousand Oaks CA, where the Open Borders Festival is occupying the bookstore by transforming it into something completely different: From June to August, the place is hosting concerts and for example, last Thursday (June 23rd), two bands, The Howls from San Diego, and Saint Motel from LA, were playing at the festival, so I’m pretty sure everyone who went there had fun.
With a possible attendance of over 25,000, they will be putting on at least 4 shows per week, as well as galleries, performance art, and the good news is that the profits will support charitable causes such as teen suicide and car crash prevention.
You can check the upcoming program on their page, but let’s say that, among many others, they will have Kurt Cobain’s favorite Daniel Johnston on July 24th, Ozomatli on July 30th, but they have also promised performances by Ray Manzarek, keyboardist of The Doors, Country Joe McDonald & Ramblin’ Jack Elliott (performing a tribute to Woody Guthrie), and plenty of other acts to be announced.
Now I wish that all the ex-Borders bookstores had the same idea:
http://www.openborders2011.com/cms.php