Tickets - $18, kids 3 to 12 - half price ticket
In the beautiful season of colorful leaves and fall harvest, join us at TurnPark for a magical Fairy Houses Festival!
We’re inviting artists, families, nature-lovers, and imaginative builders of all ages to create and submit your own handmade Fairy House for display.
Fairy houses will be on display for the public to enjoy and will enter a juried competition with prizes awarded in multiple categories.
Guests can immerse themselves in a fairytale atmosphere while exploring the beautiful sculpture park grounds, wandering among mysterious twinkling lights, engaging in hands-on activities, and enjoying live performances and delightful food and drinks.
You’ll have a chance to participate in an interactive quest game, meeting and talking with whimsical fairytale characters who will help you gather all the elements and create a brand new fairy!
Fairy House Festival is a perfect opportunity for families and friends to create lasting memories in an enchanting setting. Come in costume! Calling all fairies, forest spirits and otherworldly creatures to create magic together!
We appreciate West Stockbridge residents Randy and Sheila Thunfors and Lori and Joe Rose for their support of the Fairy House Festival!
A huge thank you to Blick Art Materials, the Foundry, Charles H. Baldwin & Son, Second Nature Gardens, and Ward's Nursery for supplying prizes for our Fairy House contest winners! We truly appreciate your support!
Family-owned and serving artists since 1911, Blick Art MAterials is the largest and oldest provider of art supplies in the United States.
a multi-disciplinary performance venue in the heart of West Stockbridge.
Although the family had been involved in making extracts for three generations previously, Charles H. Baldwin and his father, H. M. Baldwin, officially established the company in 1888.
Ward's Nursery & Garden Center
Whether you garden in the Berkshires, eastern New York or northwestern Connecticut, Ward's is your lawn & garden resource.
Second Nature is a boutique design/build firm with emphasis on fine garden design and stonework.
On the program:
- “A Fairy Comes to Life” Quest Game by Luna Gomberg and Maidibor (Sergey Aniskov)
- Food & Drinks, Fall Market & Bonfire
- Chalk Gremlin Circus Company
If you plan to participate in the Fairy House contest, please make sure to follow the guidelines!
Building Guidelines
We believe the best fairy houses are built from wild imaginations, creative minds, and playful hearts. Use whatever materials inspire you from nature or your craft bin:
1. Natural elements like twigs, bark, moss, pinecones, stones, sand, shells, feathers, flowers, leaves, acorns, or clay
2. Recycled or found objects like cardboard, bottle caps, yarn, fabric scraps, buttons, or other household treasures
3. Handmade details like tiny furniture, fairy tools, or miniature art
Important:
All houses must be sturdy enough to be transported and installed outdoors at TurnPark, where they will be on display outdoors for all to enjoy. Please make sure your creation can stand on its own and hold up to gentle handling.
Drop-Off Dates:
October 2nd–5th between 10 AM – 5 PM at the TurnPark Gatehouse. At drop off you will be asked to fill out a form for the contest.
Judging criteria
Houses will be judged based on creativity, originality, aesthetic appeal, craftsmanship, attention to detail, use of materials, and fairy factor.
Tickets - $18, kids 3 to 12 - half price ticket
Need further guidelines? Please read below!
Start with a plan. You can always change it later. Make a loose sketch or your idea. Then do some research.
Structure
1. Explore the world of existing fairy houses. Look for aspects you like and don’t like. Collect a few images of fairy houses you like. Try to backwards engineer the process - look for large shapes that support the structure, and begin with those.
2. Look to famous architecture and nature for inspiration. Look at historical buildings as well as contemporary ones. Think about ways to add curves, interesting angles, height, and complex elements such as bridges, buttresses, pointy roofs, balconies, domes, and gates.
3. Get a glue gun, wire, popsicle sticks, lots of cardboard and utility knives. Make some models before you commit to a final design.
Details
Once the structure is complete, start thinking about details. Details can include colors, patterns, embellishments, decorations, and smaller structures attached to the larger ones. Think about using natural materials in new and original ways - acorns, chestnuts, pods, leaves, sticks, shells and rocks have infinite potential and can be altered in many different ways.
Let your imagination run wild, but feel free to use visuals you’ve found for inspiration. You might want to stick to a theme and only add details that match that theme. For example if your theme is Hansel and Gretel, all your embellishments might look like candy and gingerbread.
Add larger details before the smaller ones. Paint a base layer first over everything you want painted, then add different colors on top of the first layer. Add a few layers of Mod Podge over anything that is not waterproof - it will buy your house time in case of rain and make it look more finished and professional.
Don’t forget: if you add lights inside your house, attach them and test them before you finish gluing and embellishing, and make it easy to change out batteries if need be.
Magic
What makes a fairy house different from a regular house? Write down some answers to this question and discuss it with friends and family. This aspect of the process will be key to your fairy house success. Anybody can build and decorate a house, only a few can make magic. Think about this part long and hard and do many experiments until you get it right.
Good luck!!!!
Have questions or want support? Don’t hesitate to ask! info@turnpark.com