A cartoon-style drawing of a shepherd dog on a skateboard, wearing sunglasses and a white shirt saying “April Cools'”

The April Cools' Club Manifesto

It started with an idea.

An idea to make April Fools a day that's more than just a worldwide cringefest. An idea that quickly attracted sympathizers. We got started with a small group of people in 2022, but in the following years, anyone can participate!

The idea is pretty simple: on April Fools' Day (also known as “April 1st”), a participant produces genuine content that's very different from their normal produced content. It could be a different format, a different topic, a different style, anything. The constraints are:

  1. It is something they normally wouldn't do.
  2. It is totally genuine: no irony to it.
  3. It is up to their usual standards of quality.

For example, some might normally post complex software engineering content to their blog. But this April Fools' Day, they are publishing an essay on microscopy, how they got into it, and what it means to them, complete with a gallery of their favorite microscopy photos.

Or, if someone typically writes text, they could make a video instead. Or show off their hobby (like juggling, or cooking, or creative writing, …)

Anything that makes the creator proud, but would be totally unexpected to their audience.

We figure that this is a great way to be excited about a much broader range of things, things you normally don't get a chance to, and it'll be surprising and enriching for readers (or watchers, or listeners). The spirit of April Fools' Day without any of the cringe.

Want to contribute? See the FAQ below for instructions.

Our projects

2024

2023

2022

Add yours? Read on.

FAQs

Is this a joke?
Do you think we registered a novelty domain and had an artist draw a logo as a joke?
Who are you?
The initial idea is courtesy of Hillel Wayne, who recruited a bunch of people to participate early 2022. This website is maintained by Lars Hupel.
How can I participate?
Do you have an idea that fits the spirit of the April Cools' Day? Excellent. Get creating, and once you're done, send a pull request to the repository of this website. Alternatively, poke Lars on Mastodon or Hillel on Bluesky.
Where is your privacy policy?
This page is hosted on GitHub Pages. We do not store any cookies. We do not store any data. Although we'd happily take an article about cookies.