Like other studio tours, the Eastside Culture Crawl is largely focused on artists who make things. But the neighbourhood is also awash with musicians, spoken-word poets, actors, comedians, and puppeteers, and to celebrate the performing arts, Crawl organizers have booked a former funeral home—the Chapel Arts building at 304 Dunlevy Street—to host two Echo Chamber events, on Friday and Saturday (November 20 and 21). According to mastermind Rory Macdonald, each night will be an entertaining, eclectic, and mildly anarchic undertaking.

The Orchid Highway singer and bass guitarist notes that music will play an important role in the Echo Chamber festivities, with carnival-folk octet Blackberry Wood and singer-songwriter Lisa O’Neill among the performers. But Macdonald is intent on making his event more than just another multi-band bash: also featured will be spoken-word artist Randy Jacobs; the premiere of filmmaker Robert Riendeau’s new short, “Asa Nisi Masa”; and the Carnival Sized Cinnamon Hearts Puppet Troupe.

“What they’re doing is a contemporary marionette play based on two griffin librarians embarking on the pursuit of a flying book that refuses to stay on its shelf,” Macdonald explains of that act. “It’s absolutely the kind of mad thing I just love to dig up and put in front of people.”