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windinthemaplesThis past weekend, I celebrated Beltane at Spoutwood Farm's 20th Annual Fairie Festival. It was only my second year attending, but it has ensured my ever-living loyalty. I can't imagine not attending. It was such a joy!
Here you can read about my thoughts on last year's Festival.
This year, the circle of friends attending expanded. Sarah (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mermaiden) and Jenn (willow_cabin) were gracious enough to pick me up at the airport again and schlepp me hither and yon in their car. Joining us this year was Rhiannon (rubymulligan) who may be a Fairie Festival convert of her own. We also got to meet up again at the Festival with aerialmelodies, greyeyedpixie, Ryan, Corey, and cloverdew. And then, later in the festival, we met shveta_thakrar and her friend blood_of_winter. We watched sihaya09 and damejenn among the bellydancers throughout the weekend. It was, basically, a big LiveJournal celebration for me. :D
Friday
Friday afternoon, Rhiannon and I arrived at the airport in Harrisburg in the early afternoon. We staked out some rocking chairs by the baggage claim and waited formermaiden and willow_cabin to arrive in their aqua chariot. :D We, and our luggage, just barely managed to pack into the back of the car and away we went. We spent about ten minutes at the hotel changing into our first fairy costumes and headed to the last few hours of the festival.
It was cold and windy. I don't have a single photograph of my costume but it was a confection of lace and tulle that provided absolutely nothing in the warmth retention or wind-stopping capacities. I remembered a vendor that had warm colorful blanket shawls last year and we made a bee-line for them. My aqua shawl and my dusty rose dress had nothing to do with each other but I was blissfully warmer, so I couldn't have cared less. We walked the festival grounds, took some photographs of each other, and before long were headed back to the hotel and eventually, with Kat and Corey, to Ruby Tuesdays for a super salad bar dinner. :D
Warm-blooded Sarah was like, "Cold? What cold?"
One of the few photos I have of Friday costumes. :D Jenn joined me in the shawl brigade.
Kat & Corey--adorable as always. (And another shawl customer!)
Rhiannon had made her tutu and headpiece the night before. I wish I had better photographs of them and hope somebody does--they were perfect!
Sarah and Jenn <3
And for those who know (of) her, here's the cute and mute Twig the Fairy. She was at the festival, rambling around and taking photos with people. Sarah literally squee'd when she saw her. I'd never heard of her, but I'm *not* in the fairy-know. ;)
Saturday
Saturday, the weather was more merciful. It started out cold but eventually the sun came out and the winds died down and it became a very comfortable day. I never took off my cardigan layer, to be sure, but it was pleasant and lovely. :) (And because of that, we have some more photographs.)
My poppy fairy costume--complete with fabric poppy accents bywillow_cabin. :D
And the rest of it. :)
Sarah was beaming like this all day in her fairy princess costume. :D
Awww! :D <3
Laaaaaaaadies. ;)
Rhiannon made this headpiece the night before, too. She looked so darling. :D
Jenn was rocking the Grecian Goddess look.
Ryan and Shel <3
Sara! :D <3 (I don't think I ever convinced her to stand for a real photo.)
After spending the day at the festival, shopping and strolling and eating and listening to music and taking photographs, we split to our various hotels for a change of clothes and then reconvened at (did you guess it?) Ruby Tuesdays! ;)
Sunday
Oh, Sunday. Sunday was cold and overcast. The minute we arrived, though, it started to rain--cold, fat spots of rain. I didn't want my (painted paper) wings to get ruined so I made the decision to leave them in the car and because of that I was a sad little not-fairy all day long. And then I was freezing, so despite my cardigan sweater, I had to go back to the shawl vendor and buy *another* shawl to huddle down in for the day. It was a rusty brown color against my aqua and black outfit so really, it should surprise nobody that I don't have any photos of myself. I was probably looking cold and slumpy. :D
The rain kept up, steady but light, and so I have very few photographs from the day. Jenn fell on a treacherous bit of the path from the parking lot to the entrance, forcing she and Sarah to immediately head back to the hotel for a change of clothes. We aimlessly walked around. We sat in the wet grass and watched Telesma play their set and we hid out in the barn watching parts of the Glen Rock Fae documentary while we had hot food. Sarah's LJ acquaintances,shveta_thakrar and blood_of_winter found us at one point and we all seemed to numbly soldier on together. ;) I had my umbrella up almost every minute of the day and I ducked into a lot of vendor tents just for a few minutes of (marginally) increased warmth and dryness. It was a pretty miserable day to be outside in a sundress and flip-flops. As the day continued, the crowds thinned to only the most diehard and the ground underfoot became a nightmare of mud and trampled hay. I got wet enough and cold enough that I realized I was too cold to shiver anymore. At one point, I think we'd all had enough and so, for the first time, we left an hour before the festival ended. It took us an eternity to make the walk through the woods to the distant parking field. Everything was churned slick mud and standing water. Every step was a near wipe-out. We were all relieved to get back to the car in one piece.
That night, we skipped Ruby Tuesdays and went straight for warm pajamas and ordering pizza in the room. We needed the downtime--though I suspect not all the pizza we had. :D
One of the few photographs existing. Sarah is a witch. :D Kat is still cold.
Rhiannon, with another handmade headpiece, threatens me with a "Fairy Punch".
The Festival grounds.
This photo pretty much captures the misery at the end of the day when we'd had enough.
So yeah--it was a rough weather roller coaster, especially as I'd packed and planned for something milder, but it was still a fantastic time together. My purchases totaled two shawls, one pair of butterfly wings I never got to wear, a copy of the Glen Rock Fae documentary DVD where I spotted Kat and Corey from last year, an orange fruit slushie, two lunches, and a side of French fries. :D
Tell me--what was your Faerie Festival experience? :D
Oh!
And the best news of all--next year, Daniel and Graeme will be attending along with, all things go well, our new baby. I'm already mentally plotting a Graeme costume. Also, once he saw a photo of one, Daniel requested a Utilikilt ASAP. Ha! :D So cute.
I don't have many photos, sadly, but what I have is here in my May Flickr page.
Here you can read about my thoughts on last year's Festival.
This year, the circle of friends attending expanded. Sarah (
mermaiden) and Jenn (willow_cabin) were gracious enough to pick me up at the airport again and schlepp me hither and yon in their car. Joining us this year was Rhiannon (rubymulligan) who may be a Fairie Festival convert of her own. We also got to meet up again at the Festival with aerialmelodies, greyeyedpixie, Ryan, Corey, and cloverdew. And then, later in the festival, we met shveta_thakrar and her friend blood_of_winter. We watched sihaya09 and damejenn among the bellydancers throughout the weekend. It was, basically, a big LiveJournal celebration for me. :DFriday
Friday afternoon, Rhiannon and I arrived at the airport in Harrisburg in the early afternoon. We staked out some rocking chairs by the baggage claim and waited for
mermaiden and willow_cabin to arrive in their aqua chariot. :D We, and our luggage, just barely managed to pack into the back of the car and away we went. We spent about ten minutes at the hotel changing into our first fairy costumes and headed to the last few hours of the festival.It was cold and windy. I don't have a single photograph of my costume but it was a confection of lace and tulle that provided absolutely nothing in the warmth retention or wind-stopping capacities. I remembered a vendor that had warm colorful blanket shawls last year and we made a bee-line for them. My aqua shawl and my dusty rose dress had nothing to do with each other but I was blissfully warmer, so I couldn't have cared less. We walked the festival grounds, took some photographs of each other, and before long were headed back to the hotel and eventually, with Kat and Corey, to Ruby Tuesdays for a super salad bar dinner. :D
Warm-blooded Sarah was like, "Cold? What cold?"
One of the few photos I have of Friday costumes. :D Jenn joined me in the shawl brigade.
Kat & Corey--adorable as always. (And another shawl customer!)
Rhiannon had made her tutu and headpiece the night before. I wish I had better photographs of them and hope somebody does--they were perfect!
Sarah and Jenn <3
And for those who know (of) her, here's the cute and mute Twig the Fairy. She was at the festival, rambling around and taking photos with people. Sarah literally squee'd when she saw her. I'd never heard of her, but I'm *not* in the fairy-know. ;)
Saturday
Saturday, the weather was more merciful. It started out cold but eventually the sun came out and the winds died down and it became a very comfortable day. I never took off my cardigan layer, to be sure, but it was pleasant and lovely. :) (And because of that, we have some more photographs.)
My poppy fairy costume--complete with fabric poppy accents by
willow_cabin. :DAnd the rest of it. :)
Sarah was beaming like this all day in her fairy princess costume. :D
Awww! :D <3
Laaaaaaaadies. ;)
Rhiannon made this headpiece the night before, too. She looked so darling. :D
Jenn was rocking the Grecian Goddess look.
Ryan and Shel <3
Sara! :D <3 (I don't think I ever convinced her to stand for a real photo.)
After spending the day at the festival, shopping and strolling and eating and listening to music and taking photographs, we split to our various hotels for a change of clothes and then reconvened at (did you guess it?) Ruby Tuesdays! ;)
Sunday
Oh, Sunday. Sunday was cold and overcast. The minute we arrived, though, it started to rain--cold, fat spots of rain. I didn't want my (painted paper) wings to get ruined so I made the decision to leave them in the car and because of that I was a sad little not-fairy all day long. And then I was freezing, so despite my cardigan sweater, I had to go back to the shawl vendor and buy *another* shawl to huddle down in for the day. It was a rusty brown color against my aqua and black outfit so really, it should surprise nobody that I don't have any photos of myself. I was probably looking cold and slumpy. :D
The rain kept up, steady but light, and so I have very few photographs from the day. Jenn fell on a treacherous bit of the path from the parking lot to the entrance, forcing she and Sarah to immediately head back to the hotel for a change of clothes. We aimlessly walked around. We sat in the wet grass and watched Telesma play their set and we hid out in the barn watching parts of the Glen Rock Fae documentary while we had hot food. Sarah's LJ acquaintances,
shveta_thakrar and blood_of_winter found us at one point and we all seemed to numbly soldier on together. ;) I had my umbrella up almost every minute of the day and I ducked into a lot of vendor tents just for a few minutes of (marginally) increased warmth and dryness. It was a pretty miserable day to be outside in a sundress and flip-flops. As the day continued, the crowds thinned to only the most diehard and the ground underfoot became a nightmare of mud and trampled hay. I got wet enough and cold enough that I realized I was too cold to shiver anymore. At one point, I think we'd all had enough and so, for the first time, we left an hour before the festival ended. It took us an eternity to make the walk through the woods to the distant parking field. Everything was churned slick mud and standing water. Every step was a near wipe-out. We were all relieved to get back to the car in one piece.That night, we skipped Ruby Tuesdays and went straight for warm pajamas and ordering pizza in the room. We needed the downtime--though I suspect not all the pizza we had. :D
One of the few photographs existing. Sarah is a witch. :D Kat is still cold.
Rhiannon, with another handmade headpiece, threatens me with a "Fairy Punch".
The Festival grounds.
This photo pretty much captures the misery at the end of the day when we'd had enough.
So yeah--it was a rough weather roller coaster, especially as I'd packed and planned for something milder, but it was still a fantastic time together. My purchases totaled two shawls, one pair of butterfly wings I never got to wear, a copy of the Glen Rock Fae documentary DVD where I spotted Kat and Corey from last year, an orange fruit slushie, two lunches, and a side of French fries. :D
Tell me--what was your Faerie Festival experience? :D
Oh!
And the best news of all--next year, Daniel and Graeme will be attending along with, all things go well, our new baby. I'm already mentally plotting a Graeme costume. Also, once he saw a photo of one, Daniel requested a Utilikilt ASAP. Ha! :D So cute.
I don't have many photos, sadly, but what I have is here in my May Flickr page.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-05-05 02:30 pm (UTC)And that last photo is like the best photo of all time, I think. :)
*HUGS*
no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 12:52 pm (UTC)I'm already planning. (For one, I have to devise costumes that I can nurse the baby in.) ;) I'm really excited to share the Festival with my hubby and to see Graeme embrace it.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-05 03:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 12:55 pm (UTC)(Psst! You should attend some year!)
no subject
Date: 2011-05-05 04:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 12:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-05 05:47 pm (UTC)Oh, and yes, that last photo is awesome.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 12:57 pm (UTC)That last photo is an example of long-arm self photography. I think we were all surprised how well it turned out. :D
no subject
Date: 2011-05-05 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 12:59 pm (UTC)Are you coming to Midsummer? <3
no subject
Date: 2011-05-05 08:02 pm (UTC)I'm hoping my daughter and I can go next year... I think it would make an awesome "elementary school graduation" gift for her, so I'm hoping to save enough for the trip. I would love to meet everyone in person!!
Thanks for sharing your photos... what a lovely way for those of us stuck at home to share some of the magic. <3
no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 01:02 pm (UTC)I hope to see, in the coming days, the photos that
no subject
Date: 2011-05-06 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-07 12:38 am (UTC)And I *love* your poppy fairy costume so much!!
no subject
Date: 2011-05-07 02:09 am (UTC)I am sending you so much love across the miles...
no subject
Date: 2011-05-09 09:16 am (UTC)