Fifty, Frilly Fairies Frolicking Fancifully

A few weeks ago a friend of mine showed me a website about a festival, The Phoenix Fairy Festival. At first I laughed, thinking it funny that people would dress as fairies and frolic in the desert. But I quickly changed my tune and decided that my girls would love this. It looked like it might be similar to the Renaissance Festival, only more kid friendly. (Some of the shows at the Ren Faire are totally inappropriate for children.) Rhayn was able to wear her Halloween costume again. I am so glad I made it for her. She really does love it, and wow is it a great color on her.

Even though gates opened at 10, we didn't head out of our house until after one. I have to say that we had a lot of fun. The shows were great. We watched the Library Fairy. She told some silly stories for young children. Interactive and entertaining.

The girls watching the Library Fairy.

Rhayn really wanted her face painted. I normally wouldn't because it costs money, and I can do do it at home for free. But it was a day all about them. Gwennie looked at the samples of face paint, and found a snake. She immediately wanted the snake- in pink- on her arm. There was no other choice for her. Rhayn wanted peacock around her eyes.

Gwennie's snake. Rhayn getting her face painted.

Rhayn's face paint.

Later we watched the Aretias Warrior Women. I was totally amazed by a dance similar to this. (How did she balance the sword on her side like that? And on her head? It was awesome.) They made me wish I could belly dance. Maybe that will be my next hobby. I have sort of taken a class before, and one of the SCA meetings (not the right word) that I went to with Hairball. I really enjoyed it.

After the show we went to see the mermaid. Earlier we had gone by her booth and she told us to come back later when she was a "whole mermaid" (she was not wearing her tail, only her sea shell bra top and a sarong) since Gwennie was also in mermaid attire. I tried to get Gwennie to wear wings, but she wanted to be a mermaid. The mermaid asked if the girls wanted to go on a quest. Which was of course a yes. There were five clues they had to figure out to get five ribbons on a stick. When this was done they recieved a treasure from her box. (It was a flat glass "jewel" for wishing.) Rhayn breezed through the clues, easily finding the five ribbons for herself and Gwennie. One of the clues was "Fairies can transform themselves, where can you get a transformation?" The answer was the face painting booth. It was great, and didn't cost anything.

Picking out the treasure from the Mermaid's Quest.

After the quest the girls played on the play ground with all of the other fairy children. Rhayn found a friend from school and they chased each other around for a while. I sat down and watched another show with more belly dancing.


At about 6ish, I decided it was time to go. So we slowly made our way out. The party really gets started after six, the gates close at that time and that is when the Unseelie Ball starts, which is rowdy and a little evil (hence the large amount of goth fairies, seriously large amount.)

It was a great day. The weather was ideal. There were a lot of bees, but they all seemed content with the syrupy, sticky sweets that were in the trash and to buzz around all of the brightly dressed people. They landed in our hands and on our arms, but did not sting us. (It was scary at first to find a bee on your arm, but after a few minutes they just flew off.)

I hope that we are able to attend next year. The girls and I had a fun time.

The Green Man. He walked the festival, looking swampy.
And totally made me think of Hairball.