Mermaids at the Children's Festival

Celebrate the woods and magic and childhood! The Children's Festival is one of our yearly favorite events. Volunteers organize an epic Renaissance Festival with crafts and activities. This year, we brought mermaids!

We met Penney the Clown before the event and she painted the girls with dreamy colors. Anika made the crowns the day before using seashells and ribbon. We bought extra seashells to hand to new little merfriends.

Penney helped us between her performances. We loved how children reacted to the mermaids! So charming and sweet! These sisters with their arms around each other. Aw...

Magical seashells from Mermaidia have a light of their own :). I kept forgetting the name of their home- saying Mermaidlandia, Mermaidland, Merlandia. Oh my, mermaids have a lot of hometowns :)

They had to take a break for a favorite treat. Lemons with a peppermint stick are sweet and tart and perfect on a summer day at the faire.

Penney's performance inspired laughter and cheers! *she's amazing!

The mermaids posed for lots of photos with new merfriends.

And visited with dear friends.

These little birds drying in the sun were all handmade. The woodcrafter spent seven months carving hundreds of birds for children to paint. We have a collection on our mantle that has grown over the years. He was thrilled to hear how much we appreciate his efforts.

Anika is such a striking mermaid!

The bridge is home for a favorite (once scary, now beloved by my children) troll. He asks for a stick or stone as toll. He adds the bigger ones to his creative home.

So many people make the festival an experience with new adventures everywhere. This blacksmith shared how he taught himself how to make chainmail. He shaped each and every ring, then learned new techniques to shape it. The children were amazed how it was crazy-heavy! They learned new appreciation for knights weighed down with all their armor and weapons.

Ian makes a great knight!

This darling girl had the most adorable dress. We complimented her and her mother said she had sewn it the day before. So pretty!

Ian went straight for the cardboard castle when we could step away from the mermaids. Again, a gentleman spent ages collecting giant boxes, then creating the castle. Ian loves, loves, loves this castle. The abandon of painting wherever you want  is delightful!

Among the crafts and fun, craftspeople shared their skills. Spinning wheels fascinated.

Mila got to take a break from mermaiding to paint the castle too.

Watching parents and their children made me smile as well. So many sweet opportunities to make memories together.

And of course, the dragon.

This dragon is a collection of metal and found objects. Truly unique.

We love the festival so much! We already have plans for next year's mermaids!

The people (aka fairies, knights, wizards, trolls) make the festival magic.

Until next year!