Celebrate International Fairy Day Every June 24

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Are you ready for a little fantasy celebration? Well, get out your magic wands and pixie dust, because it’s International Fairy Day.

You see, fairies and their tales aren’t just for kids.

Perfectly rational adults can put aside their skepticism and dare to dream of the magical wonder of fairy land.

Fairy artist Jessica Galbreth apparently created this day, but we haven’t been able to discover when. At one time there appears to have been an official Fairy Day website, but it’s no longer active. :(

But that’s no reason not to celebrate the fairies!

 

What Are Fairies?

Fairies are mythological creatures. They may be mischievous. They’re usually intelligent. And they tend to have magical powers.

Their appearance and intents differ based on the country and the time period though.

Today’s fairies are light and whimsical. According to J.M. Barrie, in Peter Pan, fairies sprang from the first baby’s laugh. This suggests the happy, sweet, and helpful fairies we usually think of.

But farther back in history (the 12th century and even earlier) fairies were sometimes depicted as elves, nymphs or sileni. And they weren’t always sweetly mischievous. They could be devious and even make men disappear.

In Scotland fairies were unpleasant creatures and sometimes even evil.

It was only later, possibly around the time Shakespeare wrote A Midsummer Night’s Dream, they became the fun-loving but mostly harmless creatures we imagine today.

 

Where Do Fairies Live?

They live in a kind of parallel world to ours. According to some stories, they created their magical world because they were tired of living in ours.

Most of the time we can’t see fairies in their world, but at certain times the division between the worlds gets thinner, and we catch glimpses of them. This is most common during the summer or winter solstice, Beltane or at twilight.

Traditionally humans are warned not to sleep outside during Midsummer (summer solstice) for fear of being carried off by fairies.

Skeptics would probably tell you the only place fairies live is in the imagination. But imagination is a wonderful thing, so please don’t banish any fairies that may be hiding there.

Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this magical unofficial holiday.

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Ideas for How to Celebrate International Fairy Day

Keep an eye out for fairies!

Whether or not you see any, keep fairies in mind for the day:

• Read a classic fairy tale.
• Watch a movie with fairies. Or leprechauns, which are a kind of fairy, like Darby O’Gill and the Little People.
• Or you might prefer Fairytale: A True Story, which tells the story of the Cottingley Fairies. You can decide for yourself if the fairies were real or not.
• Build a fairy house.

 

Kids can be a part of the above activities, too. Or they might also enjoy the book The Wee Christmas Cabin of Carn-na-ween. It tells the story of a woman, abandoned as a baby who spends her life helping others but getting little in return. In the end, the Gentle People (fairies) reward her goodness with a magical cabin.

Remember to leave gifts out for your local fairies, too. Favorite gifts include nuts, fruits and cakes. The fairies feed on the food’s energy, and your backyard wildlife can eat the physical food.

Will you be doing any fairy-related activities for the day?

 

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