Fairy Festival set to return to Stearns Park for second year

Published 12:20 pm Thursday, February 22, 2024

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Workshop offered for families to make unique fairy houses

 

COLUMBUS—After a very successful turnout last year, Polk County Parks and Recreation recently announced that it will be hosting its second annual Fairy Festival at Stearns Park in Columbus. The free-to-attend event is set to take place on Saturday, March 23, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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Much like last year, the event will feature fun costumes, family activities, games and crafts, live music, food vendors and, of course, a gallery of fairy house displays.

Originally created to show community support and to help with improvements to Stearns Park, Polk County Parks and Recreation hopes to utilize the Fairy Festival to further achieve those goals in its second year. 

“Attending the festival will be a fun way to bring in the spring season and celebrate finding magic in the little things in life,” said Parks and Rec. Coordinator Laura Baird regarding last year’s event. “It will bring community partners into the park for a day of play”.

The festival offers a chance for local businesses to get creative and to show support for the community by sponsoring and creating one of the many fairy houses that will be on display during the event. 

The second annual Fairy Festival sponsorships are filling fast, with sponsors like the Rural Seed, Carolina Chiropractic Plus, CooperRiis and many more, so don’t miss the opportunity for your business or organization to join in on the fun. Applications are now being accepted at https://forms.gle/EtQuZb4aJSnfQvfh9.

New this year, Polk County Parks and Recreation will be hosting a Fairy House Workshop, where families can work together to build their very own fairy houses. All fairy houses made at the workshop will be displayed at the festival. The workshop will take place on Saturday, March 9, at the WithAll Congregation, located at 76 N Peak St. in Columbus.

The workshop will have all the supplies needed to build a unique fairy house, although attendees can bring in materials they may want to add to their projects. The workshop will cost $50 per house, with the option to build more at a cost of $20 per additional house.

This year’s Fairy Festival will feature live music from Holler and Crow, a four-piece folk band that specializes in “folk fusion magic,” music that makes listeners feel that they have been transported to a different place and time. 

A variety of foods will be served during the event including savory BBQ options at the Beach Club Food Truck, snow cones at Sugar Shack Snoballs, “fairy fluff” cotton candy at Fluff-N-Stuff, sweet teas and lemonades at Mama T’s and Lemonades and much more.

Stearns Park is located at 125 E Mills St. in Columbus.