This Weekend, you can find us in the Nomada Market.

With this one it'll be fourteen editions of Nomada Market, a festival where the young designers and creators of Spain and abroad get together to offer you the best of their repertoire in the form of clothes, accessories, paintings, etc.

But this isn't just any edition. Why? Well because this time it'll be celebrated in an immense site, right in the centre of Madrid. The premises, almost 1000 square meters distributed in two floors, shall harbor the future project Escaparate Atocha 24, an innovative shopping centre, but for now, we'll be over 100 young designers of clothes and accessories, illustrators and artists who will be showing and selling original and exclusive goods, limited handmade products at affordable prices. The place will also have a chill out zone that will be stage to different gigs and activities for all ages. An entertaining event that will include concerts, DJs, fashion shows and performances throughout the entire weekend.

The event will open it's doors to the public next Friday the 2nd of October as of 11am and will stay open until Sunday 4th of October 8pm. The schedule and opening times will be:

- Friday 2nd October: 11 in the morning till 10 at night.
- Saturday 3rd October: 11 in the morning till 10 at night.
- Sunday 4th October: 11 in the morning till 8 at night.

The address, how could it be otherwise, is calle Atocha 24. To get there, you can take the tube, from Tirso de Molina Station, Antón Martín Station, or Sol Station. Or on any bus numbered 6, 26, 32, 50 and 65, that will leave you in Jacinto Benavente. Whatever is easiest. So, it won't be because there's no way to get there.

See address in Google Maps

T Day – Tonight we await you in the Twestival of Madrid

As we told you a few days ago, today will be celebrated the 2nd edition of the Twestival of Madrid, an event that aims to bring together Tweeps from Madrid and it's outskirts, so that they can have a chance to meet with people with whom they speak by means of 140 characters at a time only. Additionally, this event shall be used to help out an NGO to achieve some social work. In this case, the funds raised will be donated to the “Federation of Animal Welfare and Protection of the region of Madrid”

We remind you also that there will be a Tolky Monkys t-shirt raffle among all you attendees. Not bad, huh? And for all of those who helped publicize this little shin dig, wherever you may be from, we will jog your memory and remind you that if you post a RT of this phrase, you'll have a chance to win another 2 tees:

"This Thursday 10th of September you should go to @MadridTwestival ::: RT and win free t-shirts of @Tolky_Monkys http://bit.ly/W1fLR"

See y'all there!!

A few tips for writing Short Stories

As you already know, a couple of days ago we launched the first of our Short Story Contests with the help of Bubok. Since we are well aware that writing is a difficult task - especially the starting-off stage and facing that damn blank paper - and that some of you will have doubts about the key points, here we will copy some advice that our fellow bubokeers have posted on their blog.

1. Think of an idea and build the plot up around it. Outline the action:
> Beginning. Capture the readers' interest.
> Plot
> Ending. The finale is very important. It ought to be surprising.

2. Keep the plot well strung together.
3. Stay away from rhetoric and digression. Keep to the point!
4. Instead of explaining things in detail, play around with subtle suggestions.
5. Keep the narration interesting at all times.
6. Add an adjective only to the indispensable.
7. Stay away from periphrasing and circumlocution. (don't beat around the bush)
8. Choose adequate words. (There's nothing wrong with relying on an online dictionary http://www.rae.es/rae.html)
9. Avoid cacophonies and repetitions.
10. Find inspiration in the physical traits of the character that you have chosen, to work on their psychological characteristics and personality.
11. Don't explain, allow your character to do it.

We hope that these little literary tips help you achieve a better story for the Character that you like the most. You all know that you can write to us or leave a comment at any time ;]

See the Characters for the Contests
See the Complete Rules

Sintonizza. Music Festival in Santa Coloma de Gramanet

One of our stores, La Tienda, collaborates and manages Sintonizza festival, which is going to take place today Friday and tomorrow Saturday in Santa Coloma de Gramanet. If you visit Barcelona or you live nearby, you should go and listen good music: Lagartija Nick, Elastic Band, Extraperlo, Delorean... and enjoy all type of activities related with painting, photography and comic.

Here we leave the spot of the event. Without any doubt it is full of Characters:

If anyone goes, we hope you´ll let us know. See you soon!

Win free t-shirts with Twestival Madrid and Tolky Monkys

In our never-failing eagerness to be where you're at, Tolky Mokys have decided to collaborate with the second edition of Twestival Madrid. First thing's first, respond to the question that is inevitably on all your minds: “What the hell is the Twestival Madrid?” Well, this event lies within another bigger festival called Twestival Local, which is just another of the many reasons to reunite youngsters like ourselves in one place, in the case “followers” and “followings” of Twitter, with the requirement that all money raised in this friendly reunion goes to a NGO. In Madrid's case, the money shall be donated to the “Federation of Animal Welfare of the Community of Madrid”. So, it's not just about meeting people, it has a very important social undertone.

And that's why we have decided to participate in it. Yes, it's a party, and yes, there will be live music and we'll drink, but we're also gonna help out, which is cool every now and then ;]

And how do we get involved? Well we've donated 4 t-shirts to hand out during the festival and give you guys another little reason to go, in case lending a hand and drinking is enough incentive =) To win one of these tees, the only thing you have to do is be there, that's right, be there. The entrance fee is a measly 1€ and the drinks are affordable, so money can't be an issue.

The festival is on Thrusday 10th of September in Madrid, and the premises is NeoLabels, who are working their skins off to organize it:

C/ Doctor Fourquet, 20
Metro-Tube: Lavapiés [L3] o Atocha [L1]
Benchmarks: Atocha Station

And to urge you just a tad more and to introduce Twestival Madrid, we're gonna give away another two t-shirts those of you who RT on your Twitter this exact phrase:

"Count me in for @MadridTwestival :: http://bit.ly/3sTa3e :: RT and win free t-shirts of @Tolky_Monkys http://bit.ly/W1fLR"

The prize winners for ReTwittering will be announced the same date as the Festival. If you're there, you can pick up your tee on the spot, and if not, not to worry, you can always come on over to our humble studio on Montera St. To pick it up.

Important: You will not have more participation entries for Retwittering more than once. Only one tweet will be accounted for, although we do appreciate lots of RT. And for goodness sake, take away the speech marks when you do ;]

So you all know what to do, go off and RT and we'll await you at the festival.

Buy Ticket in Amiando
See location on Google Maps

BBK Live, another festival where Tolky Monkys strikes its flag

Last Wednesday, we loaded up our van with all our Characters and we left for Bilbao to participate in the BBK Live, the very first of our summer festivals. After a 4-hour long trip and a nice chorizo sandwich, we checked in the hotel at dawn. A luxurious, three star hotel that we procured at the last minute at a laughable price. Typical thing you brag about to your friends. We arrived, tossed our luggage onto the floor and went to bed.

On Thursday morning we were early to rise, and had a Cola Cao, coffee and a light snack of tortilla with ham and cheese. We know, it's a strange mix, but it really was to die for. When we finished, we grabbed the van and, luckily, arrived WITHOUT ANY WRONG DETOURS at the festival , which was being held at the top of some woods. If you're not careful there you could fall down one of the slopes. We collected our credentials and quickly got our tee-shirts, hoodies and polo shirts out of their boxes to organize them on the shelves, so we could leave a little earlier and get a decent meal. Actually, we took our time about it, and we didn't return to the festival until 6 in the afternoon. When we opened up our stand to the public, we still had tees to arrange and we hadn't even put the hoodies onto their hangers. It has been without doubt one of the most calm festivals in the history of Tolky Monkys. That's what happens when you ask the people in charge when you're supposed to open the stand and they reply: “The stand is yours, guys, do what you want with it” . Oh, big mistake... Said and done. The Tolky's work at their own pace ;] Depeche Mode and Basement Jaxx rocked the night out. We were able to enjoy a concert for the first time, because the main stage was right in front of the stands. We sat in our chairs, recently bought in Carrefour, and relished in the light of the fluorescents with our ham and cheese sandwiches.

On Friday, we stayed in Bilbao for lunch. OK... “tapas” isn't exactly lunch, but with so much beer we ended up having a LOT of tapas. And hey, the ones we ate were the bee's knees. There was a mushroom one, peppers, and great cheeses. Simple, but so tasty. That day we didn't manage to open the stand until 7 in the evening, but as soon as we did people practically swarmed the place and until 9 we didn't get a bit of tranquility. Thank goodness The Kaiser Chiefs were playing and the crowd rushed to the stage. They're great live, and without a doubt the lead singer is bonkers. We liked them better than Jane's Addiction, but oh well, to each his own Tolkys Monkys Character, right?

Saturday, the last day of the festival. Placebo were playing, and it was obvious: again with the pandemonium, until their moment arrived. We expected a huge fuss and lots of work, but in the end it was very much like the previous day. To be honest we're thankful for that, because all of this business is very tiring and this way we were able to pack up early and we didn't arrive too late at the hotel. It was a shame we couldn't have stayed for longer. The Vodafone dancefloor was opened every night, playing ideal music to be dancing the night away till dawn. It was the music from the concerts, but a little more boisterous. We liked that.

Conclusion: The festival was awesome! The recent economic crisis was noticeable, but at least we didn't miss it and we had a great time. We recommend it 100% for all those crazy festival-goers out there.

And not much more to say... Well, yeah, we could say more, but we don't wanna bore you =) Just encourage you.

Our polo shirts are hard-wearing

Here we leave a few pics of the last Freestyle Slalom competition carried out in Barcelona two weekends ago as part of the Extreme Battle Barcelona.

The two skaters of the photos are wearing a polo shirt of Unioreja, the one-eared rabbit. As you can see, it´s not only nice but also extremely comfortable ;]

Tolky Monkys Illustration Contest - 2nd edition

One more time, and this the second [view some of the winner illustrations of the past edition], we are organizing the Tolky Monkys Illustration Contest in association with the "Arte y Diseño" magazine. Maybe you know it and if not, with this name you don´t need any explanations. You can visit either their site or blog to know them better.

The contest will be publish on numbers 116 and 117. The first one is available from now on. As in the last year, to participate in this contest you need a lot of imagination and illustration skills. You´ll have to visit our site, search the Character which inspires you most and make a version either in an existent situation or a new one. The images must be sent before August 5th via mail or by postal mail to the magazine ayd[at]mcediciones[dot]com or Pg. Sant Gervasi 16-20 Barcelona. Once the deadline for the reception of the illustrations is reached, a jury formed by Tolky Monkys and Arte y Diseño will choose the prizewinners.

To participate you must live either in Europe or America. The illustrations [maximum 3 per person], can be done using any artistic design technic, but must be sent in digital format, have a 300dpi resolution, maximum size of 50cm * 70cm or viceversa and being in CMYK. All the illustrations sent might be used by Tolky Monkys to carry out exhibitions or any other type of events. However, they won´t be used to be printed on t-shirts or any kind of format for its commercialization. This is important, cause in any case we want to take profit of this contest. We just want to have fun with all of you ;]

And what is more important, the prizes. There will be different categories and in each one, there will be several winners. Besides, there will be several accesits that will be given following undetermined criterias, so don´t try to understand them.

1] BEST TECHNIC: A Tolky Monkys´ pack to choose by the winners among the items available at the site in the moment that we publish the results. 3 winners.

- 1st prize..: 6 items.
- 2nd prize: 4 items.
- 3rd prize: 2 items.

2] THE FUNNIEST: A Tolky Monkys´ pack to choose by the winners among the items available at the site in the moment that we publish the results. 2 winners.

- 1st prize..: 4 items.
- 2nd prize: 2 items.

3] ACCESITS: Give away of 5 surprise t-shirts among all the participants. 5 winners. One t-shirt per each.

Find out all the Tolky Monkys Characters
Visit the Tolky Monkys Store
Visit Arte y Diseño Blog
Download the news of the contest in the magazine [spanish]
View some of the winners of the 1st edition at the Flickr

Atzavara births 1 year and gives a bag to celebrate

One of our stores, Atzavara, celebrates its first anniversary. This small-wide store, based in Reus [Tarragona], it’s commanded by Montse and Raul [you may visit their Facebook profile to get to know them better] and after a long struggle throughout the last year to a non-stop selling, they wanted to have a detail with all those who have gone through or just step by their shop and who had bought t-shirts, sweatshirts, skirts, or any complement. So they talked to Tolky Monkys with the idea of preparing a special gift that no one else could have. And so we did.

The gift consists of a cloth bag with a nice illustration of our Characters of the graphic line. The bag is not made of cotton, but it’s made by a tissue that respects environment, it’s very strong and the size is very large, 44 + 10 * 38 cm, which can be used to go shopping, go to the beach or to the mountains , spend all day long at the pool or whatever you like.

How to get it? Very easy. For any purchase exceeding € 15, they will give you the bag for FREE. Without cheating. It's that easy. So, if you live nearby, we encourage you to visit the store and make a goog purchase.

View Address Google Maps.
View Address on Tolky Monkys Stores.
And here the poster we design to let customers know about the promotion:

A non-stop... this weekend to SOS 4.8!!

This year we are repeating, and, like last year, we have come to Murcia to enjoy the Festival SOS 4.8. An explosive mix of music, art exhibitions and conferences on sustainable development. If you like festivals, this will certainly begin to be a crucial event.

This year it seems the Organization have sold all the tickets, so there are more than twice as many people each of the two days, 1 and May 2, and that's easy to see for all of us that works here. Flood of people here and there covering the four stages that make up the festival this year and stopping from time to time in the market area. We'll let you know how it works!!

This weekend we go to Culturapop

Thanks to our friends of Estado de Chapas, that have offer us to share stand, today Friday and tomorrow Saturday we´ll sell our stuff in the Culturapop festival that will be celebrated in Madrid.

The groups are quiet good and the ENTRANCE IS FREE. Besides, the capacity is large, so it won´t be any problem to get in if you pass to enjoy the concerts. Doors open from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. both days, though the groups don´t begin the performance till 9 p.m. If you go, come and say hello to the Tolky Monkys. See you!!

When: April 24th and 25thl. Today Friday and tomorrow Saturday. From 6 p.m. till 2 a.m.
Where: Auditorio Parque el Paraiso - Avenida Arcentales s/n
How to get: Metro: Simancas | Bus: 28, 38 y N5

View address at Google Maps

Great opening party!!

As we announced several weeks ago, we have a new studio. Now we are in a bigger and nicer one. Using a set expression, apparently ordinary: "Size minds". Our Characters are now more comfortable, t-shirts, polo shirts, hoodies and the rest of the stuff very well ordered and even we have plenty of space. Unbelievable!!

For those who haven´t been working in a hide-out, this might means little, but for us is the third studio and in this one we are really comfortable. We have three rooms and when people come to visit us we have to go with them to show the whole office. Is not a palace, but for people from humble birth like us, 60m2 seems to be giant. And in order to let you see by yourself, we are arranging an opening party to which all of you are invited. You can come alone or with more people, with friends, special friends or the first unknown person you cross in the street, in bicycle or flying... What matters is that you come. There will be nuts, soft drinks, beer, music and the Tolky Monkys Team.

Besides, every person that comes to visit the new studio will take advantage of very special prices: t-shirts 1*15€ and 2*25€, polo shirts per 20€ and hoodies and sweatshirts per 30€. And if you come with a Tolky Monkys´ garment, we´ll give you one of our exclusive new metro wallets.

Address: C/ Montera 9 - 2º Local 5
Date and time: Friday April 3th from 17:00 till 21:30

View location at Google Maps.

WE HOPE YOU COME!!