A bevy of whimsical fairies and ferocious pirates landed at McKee Botanical Garden last Saturday, enjoying a picture-perfect day at what has become one of its most beloved events. The Fairy and Pirate Festival has grown over the last five years, now enticing upwards of 1,000 attendees for the three-hour event, which ends with a huge costume parade around the central green.
Every space was filled with fun things to do and entertainment for the little ones, joined by their family and friends – fairy manicures, making jewelry and pirate frames, and watching as a crooked-toothed pirate made balloon swords and a blue-haired fairy crafted balloon bracelets.
Most popular were the houses they could build for invisible fairies, the ones who sleep among the trees in the garden at night. Choosing building materials from the Gnome Depot, they constructed houses at the base of trees using shells, Spanish moss, palm fronds and tree remnants. As supplies grew slimmer, one little fairy helpfully gathered some more moss and tree branches so others could make tiny homes too.
“Kudos to whoever put this together. This is so great; my daughter’s so happy,” said Dr. Alan Durkin, helping to unravel the colorful Maypole ribbons as his toddler, Illyana, waited patiently. “What a great way for people to get their kids together and enjoy nature. It’s low-tech and it’s fun.”
Not only low tech, but also easy on the wallet, with everything included in the price of admission. Many of the costumes were homemade or left over from Halloween, with a few adjustments.
“It doesn’t take much to make a costume,” said volunteer fairy Karen Penney. “Just a pretty little dress with some flowers in their hair and something for wings is about all the fairies need, and the pirates just have a bandana and a sword.”
Many parents got into the fantasy with their children. Bob Galbraith dressed in a pirate costume to hang out with his daughter Sophia, a cute little fairy.
“We’re lucky to have this place,” said Galbraith. “It’s a very smart thing for McKee to put on these activities because it draws in people who have not been here before to see the garden.”
“This is what the garden is about. A family may come for the Fairy Festival but they will end up joining the garden and they will come back for another event or come back just to enjoy the garden,” said McKee’s executive director, Christine Hobart.
Hobart said another aspect was its attraction for photographers who flock to the park to take pictures of the garden’s beauty. “We have a significant amount who come throughout the entire year and there will be a lot of them here for the Waterlily Festival on June 20. It really is a photographer’s paradise.”