Spoutwood Farm: Fairie Festival 2008
As a last minute plan to get the most out of this Beltane season, I decided to pack up my car Saturday morning and head to Pennsylvania for the Fairie Festival I was dying to see. When I discovered that The Gypsy Nomads were playing there as well, that clinched the deal. Mostly I went for the music, but the art, crafts, and celebrations were May Day embodied and beautiful.
In true fay-fashion, the autofocus on my camera broke within ten minutes of arriving (you that have read up on the fairy population know what the hell I'm talking about, here...). Didn't take very many pictures at all, like I planned, but it gave me a chance to enjoy all the music and not worry about documenting. I took out my sketchpad briefly, but the costumes, movement, and colors made it too hard to focus. Handy-dandy camera phone produced a handful of poor quality photos... at least a couple to refresh my memory.
These two snapshots were taken so that I could paint the people later:
_
Can barely make out the details and depth here, but I'll use my imagination.
After a ceremony towards the beginning to open the festival day, I mostly wandered the vendors. Charles Vess was signing copies of Stardust, and there were dozens of artists. I picked up a copy of Wendy Froud's new book of sculptures and talked with an author about FaerieCon in October. Already making plans for that. Later there were Maypole dances, many storytellers, and wandering entertainers. Towards the end, I parked it at the Sunshine Stage for The Gypsy Nomads:
Can't really see them well... but I just have a ginormous platonic crush on Gypsy Samantha... something about a woman at ease with a tambourine, or pounding drums, or dancing up a summer storm like no one's watching just screams fun. So much energy produced from two people! My favorite song they have up right now (sadly without the hilarious vocals):
[ Ogre Dance ]
And a video of them playing an instrumental drum piece, to get a feel for their style:
Looking forward to seeing them play at Esoterica towards the end of this month.
^ Bog creatures. Kids kept creeping up and peeling bits of grass and twig off them. I wanted to say that that might hurt the swampy fairies, but alas... I had to move on.
^ The blacksmiths. I think this was the Alchemical Fire Circle, but at this point I was a little lost. The farm is much larger than I imagined.
I saw a few other bands, all very engaging. As I was leaving, Hu Dost was seeping through the trees, out of the meadows. I think they began with something like this song, but couldn't quite tell. I wish I'd known enough to stay for the rest.
That was my May weekend. If you got through all that, I applaud you. Am sincerely hoping for the best during this season, though it's not always my favorite. I relate much more to winter and autumnal phases. That's when I come alive, ironically.
I hope to bring a friend along to share this next year. There were many people that I wish could have been there. Maybe if things mellow.
Wishing you all well... and Kubiando.
In true fay-fashion, the autofocus on my camera broke within ten minutes of arriving (you that have read up on the fairy population know what the hell I'm talking about, here...). Didn't take very many pictures at all, like I planned, but it gave me a chance to enjoy all the music and not worry about documenting. I took out my sketchpad briefly, but the costumes, movement, and colors made it too hard to focus. Handy-dandy camera phone produced a handful of poor quality photos... at least a couple to refresh my memory.
These two snapshots were taken so that I could paint the people later:
_
Can barely make out the details and depth here, but I'll use my imagination.
After a ceremony towards the beginning to open the festival day, I mostly wandered the vendors. Charles Vess was signing copies of Stardust, and there were dozens of artists. I picked up a copy of Wendy Froud's new book of sculptures and talked with an author about FaerieCon in October. Already making plans for that. Later there were Maypole dances, many storytellers, and wandering entertainers. Towards the end, I parked it at the Sunshine Stage for The Gypsy Nomads:
Can't really see them well... but I just have a ginormous platonic crush on Gypsy Samantha... something about a woman at ease with a tambourine, or pounding drums, or dancing up a summer storm like no one's watching just screams fun. So much energy produced from two people! My favorite song they have up right now (sadly without the hilarious vocals):
[ Ogre Dance ]
And a video of them playing an instrumental drum piece, to get a feel for their style:
Click to viewLooking forward to seeing them play at Esoterica towards the end of this month.
^ Bog creatures. Kids kept creeping up and peeling bits of grass and twig off them. I wanted to say that that might hurt the swampy fairies, but alas... I had to move on.
^ The blacksmiths. I think this was the Alchemical Fire Circle, but at this point I was a little lost. The farm is much larger than I imagined.
I saw a few other bands, all very engaging. As I was leaving, Hu Dost was seeping through the trees, out of the meadows. I think they began with something like this song, but couldn't quite tell. I wish I'd known enough to stay for the rest.
That was my May weekend. If you got through all that, I applaud you. Am sincerely hoping for the best during this season, though it's not always my favorite. I relate much more to winter and autumnal phases. That's when I come alive, ironically.
I hope to bring a friend along to share this next year. There were many people that I wish could have been there. Maybe if things mellow.
Wishing you all well... and Kubiando.