9th Annual Fairy House Festival Deadline for Builders to Register

GRAFTON, VT - August 29, 2017 - The New York Times (2014) reports that Pinterest showcases more than 5,000 boards dedicated to fairy houses. The craft site Etsy hosts over 2,000 listings for handmade fairy homes and furnishings. But you don't have to go online to see the wonder of tiny fairy homes. You can leave the screen behind, step out into nature, and be inspired to build one yourself.

Are you ready to spread your wings and become a fairy house builder? It's not too late to sign up for The Nature Museum's 9th Annual Fairy House Festival on Saturday, September 23 and Sunday, September 24 at The Nature Museum in Grafton. There will be an optional and informal Fairy House Builders Open House on Saturday, September 9th from 9 a.m to 12 p.m. at The Nature Museum. Designed to be a resource to the builders: drop in for fairy inspiration, constructive fairy house building ideas, tools and materials. Volunteers are also welcome to help prep the trail for the festival during this open house. The deadline to register for fairy house builders is coming up on September 8. Why not jump right in?!

Several of this year's builders, who also participated last year, said that being a builder is a fun and creative way to let your imagination go wild. Artist Trish Weill, who lives in Manchester, Vermont, got involved because she loves the Museum and supports how events like the Fairy House Festival get people outdoors and help them connect with the natural world - and creating a fairy exhibit is absolutely lots of fun. Last year Trish built the Dragon's Attic by herself, but this year she plans to share the joy of building her exhibit with her 6-1/2-year-old daughter. "We'll be foraging together in various locales around Manchester looking for moss and a variety of mushrooms."

Many people partner up like Celia Bohannon and Nancy Mackler from Saxtons River who are planning to build a Fairy Forest Library. Nancy is a former school librarian so she has lots of design ideas. Celia got involved in 2016 after reading about The Nature Museum's Fairy House Festival and thinking it would be a perfect activity to do with her 8 and 10 year old grandchildren. It turned out that Celia built her own exhibit called the Fairy Forest School and that each of her grandchildren entered two other exhibits. "Following the festival, we moved the kids' houses to a place in our backyard." says Celia. "The grandkids visit and play with them whenever they come up from Massachusetts."

The Fairy House Festival is the perfect opportunity to rekindle curiosity, imagination and learning in a shared celebration of nature. Both Celia and Nancy have been connecting with nature by foraging for building supplies for months. Celia says, "We'll be foraging right up to the last minute. I live near Vermont Academy, so I pick up things on the side of the road near the Academy and in my backyard. We'll start assembling next week, but we'll be working on it right up to the time we install it on the Fairy Trail."

Each year builders bring new, fresh creations to the Fairy House Village in the woods. Each design is made with natural materials and any design is possible from art gallery to piano bar to a small cottage or performing arts center. The sky's the limit when imaginations soar! Since the festival began in 2008 hundreds of people have enjoyed the fun and frolic of thinking outside the box and designing their own contribution to the magical fairy village. Last year over 1200 attendees visited The Nature Museum's Fairy House Festival to see what new and original ideas had been constructed for our fairy friends.

Advance tickets to the festival can be purchased at The Nature Museum by visiting www.nature-museum.org, or by calling (802) 843-2111. Tickets are also available at the gate. Children age 2 and under attend for free. This is a puckish annual tradition that inspires people of all ages to take a closer look at nature. Many attendees are inspired to don fantasy dress so come out and let your fairy flag fly.

In addition to the fairy village, crafts, food, and much more, festival attendees can also enjoy The Nature Museum which will be open for exploration of its hands-on resources and natural history displays.

All proceeds from Fairy House Festival, which is The Nature Museum's biggest fundraiser, are used to support an outstanding speaker series and other important natural science and environmental programming for all ages in neighboring communities throughout the year. The Nature Museum is located at 186 Townshend Road in Grafton, Vermont.

Photo: Dragon's Attic built by artist Trish Weill for last year's Fairy House Festival. Trish and her 6 1/2 year old daughter are working on building a fair house for this year's festival featuring mushrooms as the theme. For more information about the 9th Annual Fairy House Festival, please go to www.nature-museum.org.