Rumble Heartbeat: Join the Fun and Give Back at This Community Blood Drive, May 23

Giving blood can often be seen as an intimidating or scary process, but Rumble in the Jumble and Beijing United Family Hospital are hoping to change that perception with "Heartbeat". A community-driven blood donation event taking place on Saturday, May 23, it transforms Rumble's beloved Bazzarday into a full day of wellness, entertainment and community connection, all centered around a life-saving mission.

While donations will happen in a quiet, dedicated space, the rest of the venue will be buzzing with activities. Rumble and Beijing United have partnered with three improv groups: Beijing Improv, Beijing Broads and Comedy Citadel, to both help promote the event as well as to keep the laughs flowing throughout the day. 

Families can take part in games and activities for kids and adults alike, or slow things down with meditation and mindfulness sessions. As you'd expect from any Rumble Bazzarday, there will also be a market with nearly 30 vendors offering crafts, food, drinks and wellness products. 

At the heart of the event is a simple but urgent reality: blood shortages remain a constant global issue. Whether for surgeries, accidents, cancer treatment, or childbirth complications, the need for donors can arise suddenly and affect anyone. Through "Heartbeat," Rumble and Beijing United hope not only to encourage donations on the day itself, but also to build a long-term community donor network that people can rely on in moments of crisis.

Ahead of the event, we spoke with Rumble organizer Fran Hanshing about the inspiration behind "Heartbeat," why entertainment plays such an important role in the event, and how they hope to make blood donation feel more approachable.

What inspired Rumble to partner with Beijing United Family Hospital for this blood drive?
Beijing United Family Hospital has been supporting Rumble's events for a while now. For us, they represent security in health services for both the local and international communities—a great institution we're proud to work with. We'd been talking about doing something together for some time, and at the end of January this year, we met and discussed a few themes, including the possibility of organizing a blood drive.

It was a challenging idea, and Team Rumble loves challenges. We called it "Heartbeat"—a community-driven event designed to address a critical public need through creativity, education, and engagement: blood donation awareness and donor recruitment.

We are not "inventing" blood drives— Beijing United Family Hospital has been doing this for over 20 years— but raising awareness about this public duty needed something else. Enter Rumble's epic Bazzarday! 

Why did you decide to collaborate with improv groups for the event, and can you tell us a bit more about them and their involvement?
We've collaborated with improv teams before, and we knew we had to promote this as a community-for-the-community event. Laughing is good for your heart, and if your heart beats stronger, it pumps more blood—they were the perfect partners. Their creativity was essential. To create content that's useful, educational, and funny all at once, we really needed a bigger team. "It takes an entire village to raise a child"—bringing awareness about blood donation needed the entire international community working together.

This is more than just a blood drive, why was it important to combine wellness, entertainment, and community activities into the day?
Let's be honest: you don't wake up in the morning saying, "Today I'm going to donate blood." We've heard complaints that donating blood takes too long, might be painful, or that they take too much blood. Too many "buts." The fact is, it's kind of true, people aren't accustomed to this until maybe they're directly affected by an emergency and find themselves asking around for donors. 

We thought if we made this a "wellness incorporated" day, we'd have a better chance of attracting more people. There's something for everybody: conscious consumption, improv workshops on stage, empowered dance, mindful sharing, kids' activities—and if you donate blood, you'll receive a goodie bag and a donor's certificate. Very cool, isn't it?

Lastly, do you hope this collaboration will become a regular community initiative in the future?
Well, we've been preparing this event for over four months, and we're already very grateful for all our partners' willingness to be part of it. We hope the call finds ears, and at the end of the day, we have the feeling that this was not only something that filled our hearts with pride, but also something the audience incorporates into their mindset. That way, when we do this again, the community knows it will be fun—not painful, not boring. 

We are still calling people to donate blood on-site during the event, but if they can't donate that day, they can join our donor list and be called later. Any question, they can add Rumble's WeChat service account "BAZZARDAY" or join our WeChat group "Heartbeat Community" by scanning the QR code below and ask all the questions you need answers for before becoming a donor. 

Heartbeat will be taking place at Beijing United Family Hospital's Jiangtai Lu branch on Sat, May 23, from noon until 7pm. You can scan the QR code on the right-hand side of the poster above to sign up to donate blood or join the donor list. You can read further details about the event by clicking here. 

Beijing United Family Hospital 北京和睦家医院
2 Jiangtai Lu, Chaoyang District
朝阳区将台路2号

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Images: courtesy of the organizers