Midway Menagerie

Midway Menagerie is a monthly furry blogging carnival.

What is a blogging carnival

A blogging carnival is an event that gets people blogging around a particular topic. Every month, there's a theme or discussion prompt for folks to respond to, and at the end of the month there's a roundup post linking to everyone's submissions. A rotating "host" decides that month's theme, collects responses, and posts the roundup. The idea is to encourage discussion and bring attention to blogs that might otherwise go unnoticed. Blogging carnivals are an artifact of a bygone era of the web, but they are not forgotten.

How it works

Every month, a different blog hosts the carnival. They come up with that month's theme and post a call for submissions, folks send them links to their submissions, and at the end of the month they post a roundup linking to and summarizing everyone's posts.

Submissions can take any form! Some examples:

• A blog post on a personal site or platform like Tumblr
• A Bluesky or Mastodon thread
• A video essay
• A drawing, photo, or other visual artwork

Hosts pick a "theme" rather than a specific prompt to give contributors a lot of freedom in choosing what to write about, but they usually also give examples of potential prompts as inspiration. You don't need to respond to more than one of them, and you're always free to take the theme in a different direction!

If you don't have anywhere to post your submission yourself, you can always request a guest post on the host's blog. If you're interested in creating your own personal site, Neocities is a great place to start. If you just want a no-nonsense blog without needing to build it yourself, Lark recommends Bear Blog.

For ideas about what possible themes might look like, see the inspiration for this carnival--the Carnival of Aces--for many years of examples, albeit with a different focus.

Interested in hosting the carnival? Leave a comment on this post or reach out!

How to participate

If you're submitting a piece:

• This month's call for submissions (and all previous ones) will be linked below.
• Write something that follows the theme, however you choose to interpret it. It can be as short or long as you want!
• Follow the instructions in the call for submissions to submit your piece.
• Your piece should postdate (be written after) the call for submissions.

If you're hosting:

• Post a "call for submissions" at the start of the month.
  • Your call for submissions should link back to this page.
  • Your call for submissions should include that month's theme, some specific discussion prompts, and a way for folks to send you their submissions.
  • Respondents shouldn't need an account on your platform to contact you.
• Post a "roundup" shortly after the end of the month.
  • Your roundup post should link to each submission. You can also summarize them, and even provide your own (positive!) commentary if you want.
  • Your roundup post should link back to this page and your call for submissions.
  • You should update your call for submissions to link to the roundup.

The Carnival

• Jul 2026 | "Fandom and Community" (Lark Space)