Toulouse. Le Boui-Boui, a mobile associative café
Le Boui-Boui is a traveling associative café based in the Arènes district since 2019. It was born from the meeting of Claire, Laure and Tiphaine, three young women wishing to create a friendly place open to all. Health crisis, search for the unsuccessful local, the story in a decided otherwise. “We didn’t want to wait so we decided to meet people, in the street, in parks, but also in community spaces,” they explain. Twice a week, the inhabitants or workers of the district find the Boui-Boui gambler at the exit of the Arènes and Fontaine-Lestang metro. Coffee, tea, bissap, cakes, sandwiches, soups, spreads, quality vegetarian cuisine, simple, inexpensive, designed with lots of love and inventiveness. Preparations based on local and organic products, sometimes recovered from unsold items from “sympa-ethical” shops, to fight against food waste. Boui-Boui, which operates today thanks to about twenty active members and a large community of members and supporters, has participated in many events. Carnival, neighborhood party, summer events, so many interventions that aroused enthusiasm and encouragement. Every two months on Saturdays, the association also organizes “Gratifera”, a free zone which allows people to exchange clothes, books, dishes, etc. If our three co-founders remain attached to the traveling version of Boui-Boui, they have not given up on their initial project and are still looking for a place near the Arena. “We want to anchor ourselves in this district by setting up a place that is both cultural and supportive where we can also eat.”