I’d heard there was an American magazine about faeries (Fairies Magazine), and it seemed a natural progression for me to do a magazine about faeries. It was an evolution, once I saw the interest there was. I didn’t know it was going to go worldwide and be as popular as it was!
Karen Kay and friend
Karen Kay is also the editor of the highly popular magazine Faeries and Enchantment (FAE) and its sister publication Mermaids and Mythology. Here she shares some insight into how the events first came about and why Faery is so important to her life and work. For more information, please visit www.faeryevents.com.
How did you have the idea
to start an outdoor Faery Festival?
The first festival was in 2007. I remember I was really strongly guided that there needed to be an event, an outdoor event. A celebration that was non-religious, you didn’t have to be Pagan or anything like that. Anyone, at any level of understanding, who loved faeries could come along. I didn’t know what to call it…and I was hanging some washing on the line when I saw this dandelion seed head. The lawn had been cut, and I remember thinking, “How has that dandelion survived when everything else has been cut?” Then three of the little seeds flew up, one, two, three, and then the idea of “three wishes” came into my head. Three Wishes Faery Fest. I knew what it had to be called, I knew it had to exist.
I also knew through guidance that it had to be at midsummer. Then I was prompted to announce it even though I had no idea where it was going to be! I was being tested, my faith and trust. I knew it would be in Cornwall, but not where it would be. Then I was led to the venue, and the owner was crazy enough to say, “Let’s do it!”
Why are the Faery events
so important?
It’s a celebration of Faery as real energies, the guardians of the earth. They really are connected to earth very strongly, and without them, I don’t think the earth would survive. It’s a very intrinsic thing. The festival is to create a utopia for a few days where people can come and feel really safe with likeminded people and just have a party. Dress up and have fun! It’s wonderful, because it’s creative, it’s innocent. All your cares can go and you can just be in a beautiful location and celebrate faeries.
And when you think about faeries, whether consciously or unconsciously, then ultimately it will bring you back to the environment. That’s why I think the faeries want us to do these events, to bring attention back to the land and to faeries as the guardians of the land. We really need to look after our planet, and without sounding like an eco-warrior type, it’s that—with wings and a bit of sparkle!
Faces of Faery
Let’s take a journey in pictures through some Faery events and see the different ways people express their love for Faery…
Here I am (center) in full bling mode with author
Kim Huggens (left) and artist Esther Remmington (right)
Naomi von Monsta (top right)
and artist Liselotte Eriksson (above, left)
have opted for a deliciously dark yet colourful look,
bringing a touch of Goth to their Faery costumes.
Note the wonderful details
such as the skull headdress!
Artist Jennie Cooper combines a pair of horns with lavender
and innocent white to create a playful look.
There is always a frolicking faun or two to be found at a good Faery festival! Here, the furry legs, horns, and hoofiness are provided by restaurant owner Darren Williams.
below: Alison Spence attended the Mermaids
and Pirates Ball as a rather wonderful sea witch.
right: Bryony Whistlecraft’s natural elfin beauty
is enhanced by a tasteful pair of antlers.
(photo courtesy of www.tpftpf.com)
Felicity Fyr Le Fay and my daughter, Willow, lead the faerie procession through the grounds of the 2011 Three Wishes Faery Fest in Cornwall.
left: Musician Abigail Seabrook
looks beautiful in gentle pastel colours, wings,
flowers, and glitter. below: Leaf reads tarot
and oracle cards at Faery events.
left: Trixie-Belle and Clairey Fairey are well-known faces on the UK festival scene. below: Trixie-Belle with facepaint by Andrea “Sparkle” Child.
left: Faery entertainer Trixie Pixie happily shows off her fiery outfit—corset and tutu, always a winning combination! below: A wandering gypsy caravan sells beautiful carvings of Faery fungus.
“As with inspiration, once you know where to find it, it is everywhere! My work is an expression of my world, of which I feel is neither completely in everyday reality nor completely in Faery…I have attempted to express through texture, colour, personality, emotion, and character. With all my sculptures I feel new emotions, as if they have grown from within me. I hope that the creatures who have been expressed from my world bring something new to everyone…but, strangely, you may feel as if you have already met!”
Armorel Hamilton
(www.armorelhamilton.com)
above: Artist Armorel Hamilton at her stall at one
of the
