Under strings of lights, sparkly fairy dust and houses, woodland-inspired crafts and terrariums are set up for the first Gnome & Fairy Festival in Press Bay Alley.
The first weekend of October, typically known for Apple Harvest Festival, now has a magical counterpart just a few blocks away. This festival features live performances, costume and fairy house contests, and sales from local artists.
Owner of Amuse: Modern Cottage Industry and organizer of the festival, Kristina Thelen, said the inspiration for the festival comes from her passion for handmade woodland-themed art.
“I wanted to start the month off with something fun and festive and from the magical realm,” Thelen said. “I personally love fairy and gnomes and my store always has fairy- and gnome-type things, so it was kind of a natural progression to have something like this during Apple Fest.”
Jennifer Whitmore and her children, including Micah Whitmore who helped make some of the art for the festival, stand with Blessing Gibson to represent Bramble: Community Herbals at the festival.
Children in flowy skirts, facepaint, colorful wings and flower crowns explore the local art with their parents striding beside them. Thelen said the event surpassed her expectations.
“People actually came with their fairy houses,” Thelen said. “So I’m very happy that there’s some beautiful creations over there … and it’s just fun.”
Jennifer Whitmore, a vendor at the festival and partner at Bramble: Community Herbalism, gathered with the other businesses in the alley to run a more-relaxed festival before the upcoming Wizarding Weekend, which is a Harry Potter–inspired festival.
“Wizarding Weekend was originally just meant to pass out some candy and have fun with some of the kids, but it turned into this really this huge thing,” Whitmore said. “A gnome and fairy festival would be more of a gentle, fun kid-thing in the alley.”
Feelings of magic while crafting brought artists and businesses together in Press Bay. Whitmore said her farm sheep and working with their wool drew her to the festival.
“There’s just a magical connection [with sheep] because their wool is so magic,” Whitmore said. “You can do so many things with it.”
Many vendors and artists displayed their connection to wool, including Rachel Terwilliger from Rachel Illustrates. There are prints of hand-drawn woodland creatures and needle-felted butterflies across her table.
Terwilliger has been an artist for most of her life, and needle felting has become one of her newer passions. Her connection to art and creativity allows her to bring brightness to the world.
“I think our world appears to be a very dark place, and lots of terrible things happen,”
Rachel Terwilliger displays her needlefelt creations beside her hand-drawn prints.
Terwilliger said. “But there’s a lot of light and happiness, and I think celebrating that is really important. Fairies are definitely a big part of that — for me, anyway.”
As an artist, Terwilliger was interested in fantasy art early in her career and as her life changed, so did her artistic focus. Terwilliger said that the Gnome & Fairy Festival was the perfect place to showcase her current work.
“I just gradually became more and more [interested in] fantasy and fairy work and, now, it is from a more spiritual perspective,” Terwilliger said. “I feel very grateful to be a part of the festival.”
The love for woodland creatures and the magical realm shared by the vendors and patrons contributed to the success of the new festival. According to the festival’s Facebook page, over 2,600 people were interested in attending. Thelen said she enjoyed seeing other people interested in her passions.
“I loved seeing the kids run down the alley and go to grab their parents,” Thelen said. “So it’s really exciting to see kids’ reactions to how fun it is to just be a woodland creature.”
Woodland inspired sweets were displayed at many of the vendor tents for purchase.
One of the fairy house submissions to the Gnome & Fairy House Competition. The winners were announced at the end of the festival.
