It started with movies. Mutant Bazaar is now a thriving Fort Worth arts community
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Founder Greg TeGantvoort launched Weird Wednesday in 2021. it became a community staple.
- Event moved to Southside Preservation Hall, hosting 44 vendors and about 350 attendees.
- The event rebranded to The Mutant Bazaar in 2026.
On Dec. 1, 2021, things got weird in Fort Worth.
It was a warm Wednesday in the Stockyards as people filed into the recently renovated Downtown Cowtown at the Isis Theater. The evening promised a few local art vendors and a mystery screening of a 1980s horror movie.
Around a dozen folks attended. This was the first Weird Wednesday.
“It was really fun to just be like, ‘Hey, let’s see how many people show up,’” Weird Wednesday founder Greg TeGantvoort told the Star-Telegram. “I’m like, ‘Alright, we’re gonna try this once a month, and see what kind of traction we can make.’”
Over four years, and 50 events later, Weird Wednesday lives on in Fort Worth.
The monthly event is the brain child of TeGantvoort, a Fort Worth-based freelance photographer and film enthusiast. It’s essentially a one-man operation for the UNT graduate, as he manages vendors and oversees the film screening.
On the first Wednesday of every month, vendors line the inside of the Southside Preservation Hall for a night market from 5 to 8 p.m. Then at 8 p.m. in the hall’s Rose Chapel, the lights go down and TeGantvoort fires up whatever film oddity he’s chosen for the evening. There’s no charge for the event, but folks can donate to the hall on their way inside.
Some people come just for the market, some just for the movie. Either way, TeGrantvoort said it’s a structure that works and something that’s led to the event growing exponentially over the years.
It may have started with a dozen folks, but now the event draws hundreds. In fact, the highest count recorded thus far is around 350 people.
“We are still seeing a steady growth. It hasn’t tapered off yet or shrunk,” TeGantvoort said. “But, I mean, like all things, it just can’t keep growing. I’m okay if it plateaus for a while, to be honest.”
Let’s get weird
TeGantvoort first got the idea for Weird Wednesday years ago, when he worked at a video store.
One of his favorite perks of the job was hunting the shelves for movies and recommending them to folks. That feeling of telling someone about an underrated gem or misunderstand masterpiece is something he’s been chasing since the decline of video stores in the early 2000s.
In 2021, TeGantvoort began working as the marketing director for the Isis Theater. In addition to movies, the theater hosted concerts and other live events on Friday and Saturday nights, and sometimes Sundays.
While the weekend was busy, the rest of the week was open with no special programming.
TeGantvoort told the powers that be that there’s a huge demographic of movie goers that like cult films, but have to travel to Denton or Dallas to satisfy their fix. The now-defunct Grand Berry Theater near Montgomery Plaza was still open at the time, but had a much smaller space compared to the Isis.
After receiving a lukewarm go-ahead, Weird Wednesday was born.
“We were trying to let other people know that this is a versatile space, that we have something for everyone,” TeGantvoort said, recounting the conversation.
For the next seven months, Weird Wednesday went ahead at the Isis.
TeGantvoort said the theater didn’t advertise the event much, so it fell to TeGantvoort to plug it on his social media accounts under his “Movie Mutant” handle. At its peak, the event saw around 50 attendees.
After a falling out with the owner over differing opinions surrounding the event and the mission of the theater, the last Weird Wednesday ever held at the Isis was in June 2022. However, that last event proved to be fruitful for TeGantvoort. He connected with local artist Trista Morris, who wanted to be a vendor.
Morris was impressed with how TeGantvoort was able to draw a crowd on a Wednesday, and pitched him on a new venue — Southside Preservation Hall. At first, TeGantvoort said he was unaware of the location until he remembered having his wedding reception a decade prior inside the hall’s Rose Chapel.
“The day after my 10-year wedding anniversary, I’m back in the building, and I’m pitching them Weird Wednesday,” TeGantvoort said. “I’m like, ‘Something’s going on, man. Like, I’m supposed to be here right now. This is happening for a reason.’”
Southside’s hall director Matthew Williams recalled TeGantvoort’s pitch and how eager he was to find a new home for his baby.
The event settled right into the hall’s mission of being a supportive space for artists. When it’s not hosting Weird Wednesday, the hall serves as a concert venue and place for weddings.
Everything fell into place, to where Weird Wednesday didn’t miss a beat and was back on schedule for the following month.
“We were such a great, timely fit for each other at the junctures of our organizations,” Williams said. “We’ve happily grown as a family. [TeGantvoort’s] literally got the keys to the place.”
A communal space
When guests step into Southside on Weird Wednesday, they’ll find two rooms full of vendors selling all kinds of goods — artwork, ceramics, jewelry, comic books old VHS tapes and more.
There’s enough space for 44 vendors across the hall’s ballroom and reception salon. Most of the time all the spots are full, and at times, there’s a waitlist, TeGantvoort said.
Several of the vendors have been with the event since its early days, including Kathy Fullbright, who operates Lunar Days Crafts.
Fullbright used to work with TeGantvoort at the Isis, and has always admired his passion for wanting to have a community-oriented place. It may be this strange splattering of culture, but people care, and so does she.
“Sometimes I feel like I don’t want things enough, so I might as well help Greg out in pursuing the thing that he wants to do,” Fullbright said.
That sense of welcoming is present throughout the entirety of the event.
Embroidery artist Julia Segovia said she’s become friends with many of the other vendors, and even the patrons who shop her items. There are not a lot of spaces like this in Fort Worth for the alternative crowd.
Most people are just happy to be there and mingle with like-minded folks. That feeling extends to the artists, who may not get the same opportunity they would at bigger events that cost more or have extra rules on what they can show.
“Greg doesn’t really care about that. He wants everybody to have a good time,” Segovia said.
Comic creator Brandon Hayman plainly puts it that people can let their “freak flag fly” at Weird Wednesday.
If someone wants to come in a costume, Hayman said folks won't be judgmental or give side-eye. Dress in drag, wear 12-inch platforms or show up in a three-piece suit — any and all are welcome.
Hayman recalls one regular who always comes dressed as a scary-looking clown. He doesn’t even know what she looks like without the getup.
“It’s just a given,” Hayman said. “If she’s not there, it doesn’t have the same vibe.”
Weird Wednesday is also a place for local filmmakers to show their work.
Cult film icons like Troma Entertainment founder Lloyd Kaufman, “The Abomination” director Bret McCormick and “Blood Suckers from Outer Space” star Glen Coburn have all visited before.
At the October 2025 event, audiences saw the world premiere of Fort Worth-filmed horror movie “The Hem.” The movie was filmed at Southside Preservation Hall and projected in the same building.
“The Hem” director Tyler Russell said he’s been a regular attendee for Weird Wednesday over the years, and jumped at TeGantvoort’s request to screen the film. The cast and crew were able to see their small indie feature in a packed house before it released online.
“I’m definitely not going to forget that, that’s kind of like built into my memory forever,” Russell said.
Mutated dreams
At January’s Weird Wednesday, TeGantvoort surprised the audience by announcing a new name for his monthly event.
Going forward, “The Mutant Bazaar” is the moniker for the event that will still take place on the first Wednesday of every month at Southside. The only change is the name. The night market and movie screening will remain right on schedule.
Back when the event was in its early days, TeGantvoort recalled hearing about how Alamo Drafthouse hosted “Weird Wednesday” screenings at its Austin locations. Since that was far away from Fort Worth, he didn’t think much of it until recently.
In December 2025, Alamo announced that it was expanding its Weird Wednesday screenings nationwide, including at its North Texas theaters. While TeGantvoort never received a cease and desist letter from Alamo, the move did have him reconsider the name of the event, which he was never married to.
“I’ve been running as the Movie Mutant forever, and bazaar is a fantastic word, so it kind of fits the vibe of what we’re doing,” he said.
TeGantvoort promises there will still be plenty of weird at The Mutant Bazaar, including more odd films like “Anguish,” “One-Armed Boxer,” “The Greasy Strangler” and “Super Xuxa Against the Down Mood.” He takes pleasure in searching the depths of the internet to find underseen films that play well with a crowd.
“We’re not going anywhere,” TeGantvoort said. “Southside Preservation Hall loves us, they want us to keep going. It just means that we’ll be able to evolve.”
As he looks to the future, TeGantvoort is grateful for his little community.
“It’s awesome to see that the community has evolved into something that I never even knew could happen,” he said.
Volunteers like Wes Parish and Brady Gallucci have been essential in setting up and breaking down the venue. Food truck Delicias de Guerrero has served up tacos and more at countless events. And Southside has been a refuge as a place that breathed new life into TeGantvoort’s dream.
When he started this journey all those years ago, he never envisioned the event would reach this many people. Sure, the goal was to build a communal space, but something like this is a thing of beauty.
Friendships have formed. Artistic partnerships have blossomed. There was even a proposal (she said yes) before a screening of “The Human Tornado” last year.
Not bad for a bunch of weirdos.
The Mutant Bazaar returns to Southside Preservation Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 4.
