Fairie Festival at Spoutwood Farm
May. 4th, 2010 12:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
windinthemaplesThis past weekend, I had the extreme good fortune to be able to celebrate Beltane with some of my dearest friends at Spoutwood Farm's 19th Annual Fairie Festival. I've heard so much about it, through ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mermaiden and willow_cabin, both who are regular attendees and huge fans, but I was completely unprepared for the reality of the event. I knew from their pictures and accounts that it would be a place to dress up as fancifully as I cared and to be surrounded by kind, accepting people. But the whole of the Festival was bigger, more beautiful, and more complexly flavored than I'd understood. It was something perfect and energetically alive as an entity all its own. I finally understand the potential of Beltane, the magick of the earth, and the pulse that can effortlessly tie humanity together. It all exists at Spoutwood.
Wintering in Florida, I stumbled on a path that led me to hearing Gaia's voice for the first time in my life. Not as a hazy hip bumpersticker concept, but as a Goddess made flesh in the Earth with a heart-breaking cry and a compelling offer. She will change everything about my life's trajectory if I say "Yes" and the rewards will serve us both. I serve Isis because, as my mentor, I could do no less. I serve Death, because I knew at our meeting that I must. With Gaia, it was instantaneous, too. I am compelled to see where this leads. For this spring, my service led to Spoutwood. What lessons it delivered! I felt, bone-deep, my connection to the Earth. I was standing in the balance between Beltane and Samhain, between embodied life and embodied death. I could fiercely dance life, fiercely dance towards and breathe in my own eventual death. I have never been so spiritually alight and impossibly, so completely grounded into my own physical body. By walking the land, I was walking my life and by doing it in community, I was allowing myself the sensation of shared vision, hope, and love. We are capable of such greatness together.
And so yes, it was serene and spiritual and awe-inspiring, but it was also fun and silly and entertaining. It was this encapsulation of life, the sort of ideal life, where the good outweighs any bad, where those around you are eager to lend a hand or think well of you, where the energy is constructive and not destructive.
Friday
Friday morning, I boarded a plane in West Palm Beach and flew, through Charlotte, into Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Thursday night, I'd been fielding phone calls from Sarah (mermaiden) that sounded very grim. Her wife, Jenn (willow_cabin)'s beloved cat came down with an upper respiratory infection and was afraid to leave him behind at the vet's. Sarah was so upset on the phone and really, there was no good option for anybody. By the time I left for my flight, I thought Jenn was going to stay behind at home to care for him and (privately) assumed that Sarah wouldn't leave her alone. I had a couple contingency plans in place, but was relieved to land in Pennsylvania to the news that both were in the car and on their way to pick me up. (Penguin had to fend for himself at the vet....which hopefully went well.)
I had a few hours before they'd be able to reach me, so I entertained myself at the airport by reading the YA Never Cry Werewolf, writing in my paper journal, and surfing the internet. The two picked me up, we levered my suitcase into the car, and drove on to our hotel. The Hampton Inn was sold out, a few highway exits from the festival, and even had a sign out front to welcome us all!
In our hotel room, Sarah and Jenn unpacked. They are total costuming pros. They had entire cases of hair accessories and sparkling makeup, bouquets of fairy wings soon spouted on every surface. It was impressive! We had very little time before the opening day ended, so we hurried into our most elaborate (hot/uncomfortable) costumes, dusted on the glitter, and drove to Spoutwood. We arrived with an hour left in the event, just enough time to meet up withgreyeyedpixie and her husband, Corey, scope out the festival, and take some photos of our costumes in the slanting evening light.
Everything was at a scale larger than I'd anticipated. There were over 20 food and beverage vendors alone! Maybe another 70-80 artisans selling every imaginable handiwork from paintings to knitting, sculpture, jewelry-making, pottery, and leather-tanning. Five stages with almost constant musical acts, a drum circle that operated both professionally and at whim with a pile of drums waiting for attendees to borrow. There were trails through the woods where you could get away from the crowds (and look for fairy houses) and there were corridors teeming with winged folk in costumes everywhere from off-the-rack to off-the-charts. It was an amazing place to people-watch and all of it spread out over acres and acres of hilly farmland, threaded through with an ice-cold stone-bottom stream. We spent about fifteen hours there, all told, and still didn't even touch on half of what the Festival had to offer. It was really, truly, astounding!
That night, we met back up with Kat and Corey, and had dinner at Ruby Tuesdays, the restaurant staring at us from across the hotel parking lot. Their salad bar had chickpeas and sunflower seeds, so really I was quite content. :D I was so weary and perfectly happy with life, it took nothing to fall asleep.
Saturday
Saturday, Beltane, dawned hot and sunny. I mean hot. The better part of the day was spent with various layers of our clothing pulled overhead to protect us from the sun. Some areas were tree-shaded and others completely in the open. We braved the ticks and whatever else to melt back into the woods with our constantly refilling glasses of lemonade. I melted, my sunscreen melted, my face melted, even the Glamourkin I was wearing melted. It was hot!!
In the morning, we sat and watched while some adorably dressed up children danced the may pole and garland dances. Nothing could have done my heart any better than to see it and imagine the day, in the not-distant future, when Graeme would have that same chance. Every little girl dressed up in a tutu, wearing glitter and hair ribbons, and fairy wings made me want to weep. Throughout the weekend, there were thousands of them to be seen, but the may pole dance was absolutely breathtaking.
I was struck by how family-friendly the festival was. There was a nursing and nappy change station for moms and plenty of inclusive activities. I saw mamas in their belly-dancing regalia nursing babies under tents and toddlers in miniature wings dancing to the drummers. Really, incredible to strike such a balance where all generations are embraced and represented.
We watched a couple musical acts (Gypsy Nomad and Dragonsong), drank lots of cold beverages, browsed the shopping and took a bajillion photos. (Not least of all among our reasons was that our photo spot had cool grass, partial shade, and the privacy of being off-the-trail.) Here, the unicorns of the day hold court:
Oh! So that reminds me of another change that took place on Saturday.aerialmelodies and her friend, Sara, joined our party! :) Both of them were spectacularly nice, which only enhances my already firm belief that any friend of Sarah and Jenn's is a friend of mine. :) They were both delightful additions to the experience for me. :) Later in the day, more friends Katie and Pete caught up with us in their water-fairy regalia and spent a few hours lounging around in the heat, too. :)
Saturday, I didn't feel too great. I knew I was hot and that made food sound completely unappealing. I stuck to a couple lemonaides, bottles of water, and a Odwalla bar I'd brought in my purse. By the end of the day, in addition to being sunburned and footsore, the glands in my throat were swolen and my throat had begun to hurt. We had dinner once more at Ruby Tuesdays, after chilly showers all around, and then I crashed to sleep again.
Sunday
Sunday, I did my best all day to ignore my sore throat and more importantly, the realization that it was our last day at the Farm. We got dressed up, packed our luggage into the car, and drove out for the morning. Jenn and Sarah were dressed in their prairie fairie costumes and with the tall grass and blue skies, I just wanted to take endless photos of them being their cute selves. (I succeeded.)
I had found the perfect set of wings (my first handmade wings!) the evening before at a vendor's booth, so I felt particularly pretty for the day, too. I don't know what it is about that place--I could have worn a layer of dried mud and a pair of cut-offs and felt equally empowered and gorgeous. Everywhere I looked, beautiful people, and none of them having to worry about someone making an advance or mistaking their body-baring outfit for anything other than what it was--gloriously free self-expression.
Another friend of Shel, Debbie, joined us for the day and we all set off to add more lemonade to our cells. :) We caught a second set of Gypsy Nomad and danced ourselves sweaty and laughingly exhausted at the Scottish drum-centered Albannach. We joined in at an early-morning drum circle and made final rounds to all our favorite vendors to pick up those things we simply couldn't stand to leave without. We said our goodbyes throughout the afternoon as everyone peeled away to begin the journey home until it was just Sarah, Jenn, and I knee-deep in the chilly creek and sitting for one last long look at the farm from a bench in a quiet corner surrounded by yellow wildflowers.
We packed up and took the long forest path back to our car, followed out by the sound of birdsong and whispering leaves and a distant, shouted "Kubiando!".
Thank you,mermaiden and willow_cabin, for tirelessly promoting the joys and wonder of Fairie Festival and extending that open invitation for others to find it for themselves. Thank you for being my guides into this beautiful world of yours, between the worlds. Thank you, greyeyedpixie, aerialmelodies, Corey, Sara, Katie, Pete, and Debbie for sharing the experience with me and allowing me to enjoy it that much more. Thank you for the many beautiful photographs and the ready hands to hold all my stuff while I wedged myself and my wings into a porta-potty. ;) Mostly, thank you for being so kind, for making me feel instantly that I was among friends.
I have hundreds of great pictures of the whole gang, looking silly and mischievous and romantic and gorgeous, in my Flickr Set.
Kubiando!
mermaiden and willow_cabin, both who are regular attendees and huge fans, but I was completely unprepared for the reality of the event. I knew from their pictures and accounts that it would be a place to dress up as fancifully as I cared and to be surrounded by kind, accepting people. But the whole of the Festival was bigger, more beautiful, and more complexly flavored than I'd understood. It was something perfect and energetically alive as an entity all its own. I finally understand the potential of Beltane, the magick of the earth, and the pulse that can effortlessly tie humanity together. It all exists at Spoutwood.Wintering in Florida, I stumbled on a path that led me to hearing Gaia's voice for the first time in my life. Not as a hazy hip bumpersticker concept, but as a Goddess made flesh in the Earth with a heart-breaking cry and a compelling offer. She will change everything about my life's trajectory if I say "Yes" and the rewards will serve us both. I serve Isis because, as my mentor, I could do no less. I serve Death, because I knew at our meeting that I must. With Gaia, it was instantaneous, too. I am compelled to see where this leads. For this spring, my service led to Spoutwood. What lessons it delivered! I felt, bone-deep, my connection to the Earth. I was standing in the balance between Beltane and Samhain, between embodied life and embodied death. I could fiercely dance life, fiercely dance towards and breathe in my own eventual death. I have never been so spiritually alight and impossibly, so completely grounded into my own physical body. By walking the land, I was walking my life and by doing it in community, I was allowing myself the sensation of shared vision, hope, and love. We are capable of such greatness together.
And so yes, it was serene and spiritual and awe-inspiring, but it was also fun and silly and entertaining. It was this encapsulation of life, the sort of ideal life, where the good outweighs any bad, where those around you are eager to lend a hand or think well of you, where the energy is constructive and not destructive.
Friday
Friday morning, I boarded a plane in West Palm Beach and flew, through Charlotte, into Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Thursday night, I'd been fielding phone calls from Sarah (
mermaiden) that sounded very grim. Her wife, Jenn (willow_cabin)'s beloved cat came down with an upper respiratory infection and was afraid to leave him behind at the vet's. Sarah was so upset on the phone and really, there was no good option for anybody. By the time I left for my flight, I thought Jenn was going to stay behind at home to care for him and (privately) assumed that Sarah wouldn't leave her alone. I had a couple contingency plans in place, but was relieved to land in Pennsylvania to the news that both were in the car and on their way to pick me up. (Penguin had to fend for himself at the vet....which hopefully went well.)I had a few hours before they'd be able to reach me, so I entertained myself at the airport by reading the YA Never Cry Werewolf, writing in my paper journal, and surfing the internet. The two picked me up, we levered my suitcase into the car, and drove on to our hotel. The Hampton Inn was sold out, a few highway exits from the festival, and even had a sign out front to welcome us all!
In our hotel room, Sarah and Jenn unpacked. They are total costuming pros. They had entire cases of hair accessories and sparkling makeup, bouquets of fairy wings soon spouted on every surface. It was impressive! We had very little time before the opening day ended, so we hurried into our most elaborate (hot/uncomfortable) costumes, dusted on the glitter, and drove to Spoutwood. We arrived with an hour left in the event, just enough time to meet up with
greyeyedpixie and her husband, Corey, scope out the festival, and take some photos of our costumes in the slanting evening light.Everything was at a scale larger than I'd anticipated. There were over 20 food and beverage vendors alone! Maybe another 70-80 artisans selling every imaginable handiwork from paintings to knitting, sculpture, jewelry-making, pottery, and leather-tanning. Five stages with almost constant musical acts, a drum circle that operated both professionally and at whim with a pile of drums waiting for attendees to borrow. There were trails through the woods where you could get away from the crowds (and look for fairy houses) and there were corridors teeming with winged folk in costumes everywhere from off-the-rack to off-the-charts. It was an amazing place to people-watch and all of it spread out over acres and acres of hilly farmland, threaded through with an ice-cold stone-bottom stream. We spent about fifteen hours there, all told, and still didn't even touch on half of what the Festival had to offer. It was really, truly, astounding!
That night, we met back up with Kat and Corey, and had dinner at Ruby Tuesdays, the restaurant staring at us from across the hotel parking lot. Their salad bar had chickpeas and sunflower seeds, so really I was quite content. :D I was so weary and perfectly happy with life, it took nothing to fall asleep.
Saturday
Saturday, Beltane, dawned hot and sunny. I mean hot. The better part of the day was spent with various layers of our clothing pulled overhead to protect us from the sun. Some areas were tree-shaded and others completely in the open. We braved the ticks and whatever else to melt back into the woods with our constantly refilling glasses of lemonade. I melted, my sunscreen melted, my face melted, even the Glamourkin I was wearing melted. It was hot!!
In the morning, we sat and watched while some adorably dressed up children danced the may pole and garland dances. Nothing could have done my heart any better than to see it and imagine the day, in the not-distant future, when Graeme would have that same chance. Every little girl dressed up in a tutu, wearing glitter and hair ribbons, and fairy wings made me want to weep. Throughout the weekend, there were thousands of them to be seen, but the may pole dance was absolutely breathtaking.
I was struck by how family-friendly the festival was. There was a nursing and nappy change station for moms and plenty of inclusive activities. I saw mamas in their belly-dancing regalia nursing babies under tents and toddlers in miniature wings dancing to the drummers. Really, incredible to strike such a balance where all generations are embraced and represented.
We watched a couple musical acts (Gypsy Nomad and Dragonsong), drank lots of cold beverages, browsed the shopping and took a bajillion photos. (Not least of all among our reasons was that our photo spot had cool grass, partial shade, and the privacy of being off-the-trail.) Here, the unicorns of the day hold court:
Oh! So that reminds me of another change that took place on Saturday.
aerialmelodies and her friend, Sara, joined our party! :) Both of them were spectacularly nice, which only enhances my already firm belief that any friend of Sarah and Jenn's is a friend of mine. :) They were both delightful additions to the experience for me. :) Later in the day, more friends Katie and Pete caught up with us in their water-fairy regalia and spent a few hours lounging around in the heat, too. :)Saturday, I didn't feel too great. I knew I was hot and that made food sound completely unappealing. I stuck to a couple lemonaides, bottles of water, and a Odwalla bar I'd brought in my purse. By the end of the day, in addition to being sunburned and footsore, the glands in my throat were swolen and my throat had begun to hurt. We had dinner once more at Ruby Tuesdays, after chilly showers all around, and then I crashed to sleep again.
Sunday
Sunday, I did my best all day to ignore my sore throat and more importantly, the realization that it was our last day at the Farm. We got dressed up, packed our luggage into the car, and drove out for the morning. Jenn and Sarah were dressed in their prairie fairie costumes and with the tall grass and blue skies, I just wanted to take endless photos of them being their cute selves. (I succeeded.)
I had found the perfect set of wings (my first handmade wings!) the evening before at a vendor's booth, so I felt particularly pretty for the day, too. I don't know what it is about that place--I could have worn a layer of dried mud and a pair of cut-offs and felt equally empowered and gorgeous. Everywhere I looked, beautiful people, and none of them having to worry about someone making an advance or mistaking their body-baring outfit for anything other than what it was--gloriously free self-expression.
Another friend of Shel, Debbie, joined us for the day and we all set off to add more lemonade to our cells. :) We caught a second set of Gypsy Nomad and danced ourselves sweaty and laughingly exhausted at the Scottish drum-centered Albannach. We joined in at an early-morning drum circle and made final rounds to all our favorite vendors to pick up those things we simply couldn't stand to leave without. We said our goodbyes throughout the afternoon as everyone peeled away to begin the journey home until it was just Sarah, Jenn, and I knee-deep in the chilly creek and sitting for one last long look at the farm from a bench in a quiet corner surrounded by yellow wildflowers.
We packed up and took the long forest path back to our car, followed out by the sound of birdsong and whispering leaves and a distant, shouted "Kubiando!".
Thank you,
mermaiden and willow_cabin, for tirelessly promoting the joys and wonder of Fairie Festival and extending that open invitation for others to find it for themselves. Thank you for being my guides into this beautiful world of yours, between the worlds. Thank you, greyeyedpixie, aerialmelodies, Corey, Sara, Katie, Pete, and Debbie for sharing the experience with me and allowing me to enjoy it that much more. Thank you for the many beautiful photographs and the ready hands to hold all my stuff while I wedged myself and my wings into a porta-potty. ;) Mostly, thank you for being so kind, for making me feel instantly that I was among friends. I have hundreds of great pictures of the whole gang, looking silly and mischievous and romantic and gorgeous, in my Flickr Set.
Kubiando!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 05:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 06:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 11:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 11:47 am (UTC)Your photos are so breathtaking! You have such a good eye and the colors are so vibrant. I was trying to not comment on every single one on flickr, hehe. So many wonderful costumes and laughter and experiences and joy~
Glad you got home safely!
no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 01:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 02:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 02:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 02:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 03:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 03:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 03:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 03:20 pm (UTC)I wanted to show you pictures of my brother, who your hubby reminded me so much of. :D They're even the same height!
and goofball:
See the resemblance? :D
no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 03:30 pm (UTC)Corey's now calling you his long lost sister. He said he'd gladly trade his brothers in, if you could be his sibling instead. ;)
I agree~ :)
*hugs*
no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 03:38 pm (UTC)It was wonderful to meet you both. :) You are such an adorable couple and so kind, I hope we meet again!
no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 03:55 pm (UTC)We'd gladly join the family~ *hugs*
Aww~thank you!
I'm sure we'll meet again. I hope we do.
I'm not sure if we'll be able to make it up to NY in June...but there's always the next Faerie Festival. Or you could visit us in VA. :)
no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 04:18 pm (UTC)I'm sending you music soon! <3
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Date: 2010-05-04 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 09:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 02:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 02:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 02:21 am (UTC)I look forward to hearing it!
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Date: 2010-05-05 06:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-06 11:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-06 12:59 pm (UTC)