FaerieCon 2011

This weekend, I was able to get out to FaerieCon for most of Saturday. I own a few Alain Viesca prints, but I don't really know a lot about fairies. Turns out, that's not a prerequisite for FaerieCon. The con hits the sweet spot between geek and Pagan, as well as expert and newb.

For the Pagans, the event offered classes on divination and wand-making. For the geeks, there were panels on Fae in Urban Fantasy and author readings. And between the art, the music, the costume contests, and most of the other panels, there was a plethora of entertainment and shopping for both.

A lot of costumes celebrated autumn
as well as the Fair Folk.

I need to geek out in a way that only a former con organizer can: applause for whoever came up with the pricing scheme. Beyond the usual Fri/Sat/Sun day passes, FaerieCon lets you pay for what you'll actually attend. If you want to attend a ball with the good folk and avoid the bad, you could buy only the one masquerade pass. If, like me, you couldn't make the ball, you just paid to get into the exhibition.

The really unique thing about the con was Faerie Academy. Want a singing lesson from the musical guest, Syrah OF QNTAL, or a step-by-step presentation on the creative process from Charles Vess? For a small additional registration fee, you could be in a class of around 30 people at a special workshop or presentation. It seems like their other events offer similar classes.

You know what they say, "A wizard's
staff has a knob on the end."

I had planned to attend a few panels or a performance, but instead I wound up spending six hours in the dealers' rooms. It took me four hours just to see all of the vendors, and that's with me skipping the boring ones. I have another pocketful of business cards to add to my bookmarks list for pretty things - including the happiest Baba Yaga I've ever seen.

For the entire day, I was content to wander around: running into friends, relaxing in the consuite, window shopping, and people watching. Overall, it was a wonderful, calm day spent being surrounded by beautiful people and things. Of course, I love nearly any event with a wide array of cosplayers and a solid steampunk presence.

"It's so stimulating being your hat."

It seems the Gentry have a much larger subculture behind them than I'd realized. Enough to populate five events across both coasts. The organizers run FaerieWorlds twice a year in Oregon (at Midsummer and Harvest), FaerieCon West in Seattle, and Mythic Faire in Atlanta, which is already pencilled into my con schedule for 2012.