Written by Denise Gary
Photographs © Denise Gary
It was a faerie fandango full of fun and laughter. Taking place November 20-21 at Estrella Mountain Regional Park in Goodyear, Arizona, the Phoenix Faerie Festival sponsored Kids Need to Read at their magical event, providing us with a booth and a whimsical dragonfly race for the kids. We really had a great time dressing up, handing out books and Highlights magazines to kids, and enjoying the merry festivities.
The Team! Front: Nacole Vickory and Denise Gary; Back: Debbie Brown, Arionna Nielson, Michael Emerson, and Jake
The kids were very excited to play the dragonfly race.
First, the dragonflies were released.
The kids would watch to see if they chose the winning color.
Winners celebrated!
All players got to choose a book to take home.
Everyone was surprised to also receive backpacks filled with Highlights magazines, bookmarks, buttons, and other goodies.
Teens enjoyed playing for books, too.
Picking the right book was serious business!
There were lots of other fun activities for the kids, including Gnome Ring Toss . . .
. . . and Faerie Wand Making.
There was also onstage entertainment, including musicians, belly dancing, and an impromptu performance by this young flutist.
Author Janette Rallison read from her book, My Fair Godmother. (Another of Rallison’s books, My Double Life, is on the Kids Need to Read book list.)
Author Janni Lee Simner (right) read from her book, Bones of Faerie. Here, she is being amused by writer Angela Fox.
The KNTR volunteers had a great time running the booth.
There were hot dogs, kettle corn, funnel cake, and pickles!
Debb found she could use her fairy wings as a dust screen when the wind kicked up on Sunday.
We managed to get photo bombed by a Swamp Thing!
The best part of the festival was seeing the happy faces of folks of all ages.
All kids left our booth happily carrying their literacy pack, designed to encourage them to read.
If you have two backpacks, you just hang one lower than the other!
We thank Rowan Wakefield and Phoenix Faerie Festival for giving Kids Need to Read such a wonderful opportunity to bring reading inspiration to area children and adolescents! What a fun event!
See more Phoenix Faerie Festival photos!
