Philly Fairy Festival

Join woodland friends at the Schuylkill Center for a day of art, play, and exploration. Enter the Fairy House contest along the Fairytale Trail; revel with the fae folk around the woodlands, or sit back and watch them perform; learn fantastical crafts from local vendors; try a potion at the Alchemists Guild or get a snack at the Court of Food. There is plenty to do at the second annual Philly Fairy Festival. Come dressed and ready for a fantastical day outdoors.
Tickets
10$ for Schuylkill Center Members
20$ for non-members
25$ at the door
Ticket sales to Philly Fairy Festival support the Schuylkill Center, a nonprofit with a mission to inspire meaningful connections between people and nature.
Purchase Tickets
Not a member yet? Become a member and enjoy discounts to most events at the Schuylkill Center along with many other benefits. Learn more about membership.
We strongly advise purchasing tickets ahead of time as this event may sell out. Only tickets purchased through the Schuylkill Center will be honored.
Join the Fairytale Trail!
The Fairytale Trail is a gallery of submitted fairy houses, small structures built from natural materials. They can be made as a family, a group, a business, or an individual, all of whom will be honored in the Philly Fairy Festival program for their participation. Registration is required.
Philly Fairy Festival guests will vote throughout the day on the best Fairy Houses along the trail, and the winners will receive a special prize at the end of the festival! All participants will receive exclusive Philly Fairy Festival swag.
Drop off and set up of submitted houses will take place on Friday, June 26th between the hours of 9am and 5pm.
Fairy house rules and guidelines
Houses may be any size but should be kept to a miniature scale
Houses must be made of only natural materials: feathers, dry grasses, leaves, sticks, pebbles, shells, bark from a fallen tree, moss, nuts, acorns, berries, gourds, pinecones, etc.
Houses must appear to be made only of natural materials, but you may use structural components – hot glue, twine, acrylic spray, etc. – as long as they are concealed.
Please avoid using reproductive parts from invasive species (roots, seed pods, etc.) that may spread.
Please do not use items of value in your decorations as we cannot be held responsible for missing items.
Edible materials will attract other creatures besides fairies! Use them at your own risk.
Click here to purchase tickets and register to make a Fairy House
Activities
The Alchemist Guild: Curious about potions? Or perhaps just looking for a refreshing beverage to take the edge off of a hot summer day? Look no further than the Alchemist Guild, with magical cocktails (and mocktails) served all day. Maybe you’ll even learn a few tricks to take home with you!
The Fairytale Trail: See how we’ve transformed the Widener Trail into a magical world! We’ve invited guests, partners, staff, and friends to build their own fairy houses, using natural materials of course, and put them up in a neighborhood of their choosing along the path. Submissions will be installed the day before, and the winner (by popular vote) will be announced the following week. Everybody who attends the festival will have an opportunity to see this collaboratively built fantasy land.
Partners and Performers
Check back soon for our growing list of special guests!
Indecorous Theater: At Indecorous Theatre Productions our mission is to take away the gated community feel from the Classics and make them accessible and available to the people for which they were written. These stories are for everyone and for today. They still resonate and grow and change. Using the beauty of these texts that have beaten time we want to tell new stories with new bodies and open up the conversation. Because at the end of the day, this work, these words, and art is about real people and all the diversity and change and indecorous energy real people create.
City Circle Labyrinths: City Circle Labyrinths brings the creative and meditative experience of walking labyrinths to schools and community centers in Philadelphia.
Food, Drinks, and Treats
Pink’s Cold Treats                                1984 Cakes                             
Vendors
Coming soon!
Volunteer!
Philly Fairy Festival is looking for volunteers to help support this fantasy celebration of nature and all the magic that comes with it. We have two volunteer opportunities: Magic Makers and Event Support.

Volunteers who show up to support our work during these opportunities will get a free ticket to Philly Fairy Festival. Contact volunteer@schuylkillcenter.org with any questions.
Contact volunteer@schuylkillcenter.org with any questions.
If you would like to be a sponsor for Fairy Festival, please contact craig@schuylkillcenter.org
Fairy Festival Gallery