The SLO Botanical Garden hosted their first Faerie Festival last month. It’s an opportunity for children and adults to bring some magic into their lives.
Children and adults alike dress head to toe in glitter, makeup, and wings gather as the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden holds their first Faerie Festival.
The nonprofit, SLO Botanical, hosted the free festival in their Children's Garden on May 14.
Millie Tolani, the organization’s Director of Education, said the festival creates a magical experience for families while connecting to nature.
“The goal is not only to connect more children, more people to the gardens, but for children to find a safe place in which to celebrate life in gardens," she said.
The Children’s Garden featured willow teepees, fairy gardens, a wishing tree and more.
"It's really special to be able to celebrate the community, joy, fantasy and all the good things that happen in wild spaces outside," Tolani said.
Author and illustrator Sharon Lovejoy shares the joy she finds in the Children’s Garden.
“The Children's Garden is devoted to connecting children to nature. It has all sorts of structures that Outside Now has created. Willow teepees, and it has hideouts for children, it has fairy gardens,” Lovejoy said. “You can't miss it… It doesn't look like any garden you've ever seen.”
Between the live music, arts and crafts, even a visit from the tooth fairy, families embraced the garden's natural and mystical ambiance.
Lovejoy said beyond providing a safe space to celebrate life in the garden, the Faerie Festival is an unforgettable experience.
“It's a memory that they'll take forward in their lives forever. It's a spark of life,” Lovejoy said. “And it really it it's what's important in life, what's growing, what you can nurture, things that you can't buy with money.”
SLO Botanical looks forward to hosting the Faerie Festival again in years to come.
More information is available at slobg.org.
