Sunday, June 10, hundreds of fairies brought their wands and wings to Peterborough’s cathedral, eager to break the Guinness World Record for the largest fairy gathering in one place. The event was a contribution to the city’s Peterborough Celebrates campaign by the children’s brain tumour charity called Anna’s Hope, which managed to get both young and old, fairy enthusiasts and fairy pessimists, to an event filled with music, dance, circus performances and a fairy fashion show. As a first-time fairy, I modelled for the latter and tried to blend in with all the others that made an effort to rebel against the pre-Monday blues, and make the best out of extraordinarily un-British weather conditions that supported us that day. Little did I know that I was about to get educated on both the obstacles and joy that came with being a temporary mythical creature for the first, but definitely not last, time in my life.
The grass outside the cathedral was covered in glitter and gold, and wings that moved around so fast, you could almost see them fly off as their owners admired the event’s fairy extravaganza. If there’s one thing we learned from that day, it’s that fairies come in all sizes, shapes and forms: Some of them were colourful and glittered up, almost blinding us with their bright enthusiasm and face paint that topped all Coachella levels of face art. Others were on the opposite side of the colour palette and dressed up in black and white, a darker but by no means less cheery and enthusiastic interpretation of a fabulous fairy. If you looked closely, you could even see some hairy fairies, holding their slightly tinier companions’ hands as they spread their glamorous wings. Everything seemed just as one would imagine a scarily realistic VR experience of our favourite childhood fables to be. However, was everything behind the scenes equally as relaxed and magical as the gathering that decorated the cathedral’s front garden?
Behind the fairy facade, you’d see fairies in the making, training to navigate around with their newfound wings and accessories, so they’d be ready to join all the other fairies outside later on. Wigs were passed on and outfits exchanged, as every participant waited for their turn to be transformed into a fabulous creature. Everything from flower bras to glitter crowns was scattered around tables, which were later extended on the floor. The collective and organized mess of dresses, accessories and tutus was like a foreign language only understood by the ones who created it. Everything was going to be translated by the models who wore them later on, after brushes painted their faces, and flowers decorated their hair. The building was like a maze full of different pathways and hidden escapes, and every door buzzing with energy was hiding another section of the day’s fairy factory. Whenever I passed someone in the hallway, the speed in which they determinedly moved to the next task made them look like they were teleporting from one place to another, and I suddenly started to wonder whether a little magic had traveled through an unseen portal into our reality after all.
After everyone was finally dressed up and let out a big sigh in relief but also in an attempt to breath without breaking their costumes, we went through the correct order in which we would make our appearances outside. Once in a while we all had to waddle back into a different room to make place for circus artists that were balancing on sticks that were five feet high, proving that it was indeed a superhuman event. After many attempts not to break our wings by slamming them against the edge of the entrance, we became experts in entering a door laterally, without even falling over our heels or tonnes of fabric that our outfits were made up out of. In anticipation and the nervousness that comes with knowing that you’re about to be stared out by hundreds of people, we waited for our sign to step out and show the audience the outfits which had been chosen for us. After some breaths that were only as long and deep as our corsets allowed them to be, a loud voice coming from the speakers outside finally announced our show. With lifted heads and chests, and our wands in our hand, we stepped outside into the daylight to join our fellow fairies.
Trying to walk in the graceful manner that one would expect from a mythical creature was way harder to do outside where the sun limited your ability to see what’s in front of you, while the heels of your shoes limited your overall ability to move on two feet. Hundreds of pairs of eyes were staring at us, some wide open and amazed, others more indifferent than the ones who were already holding their phones up to prepare for the perfect shot. The wind that was blowing against us transformed our dresses and tutus into superhero capes, letting them flow in the wind and be dragged along by the person attached to them. Had it been a little darker, it would’ve almost looked like our feet were invisible and our dresses were floating off the ground, creating an illusion that might have convinced some that we were actually straight out of a fairytale and had merged together the gates between reality and imagination.
When we had arrived at the end of our route, I was surprised by my ability to hold my breath for as long as I needed in order not to break the upper area of my outfit (20 seconds with sharp breaths in between to prevent fainting), and relaxed for a little while right before photographers took us to the side to document our looks. Some brave, younger fairies also had the courage to come up to us to ask for a short photo session, whereas others commissioned their parents to do so for them. Next to us, human looking earthlings looked completely out of place, but we all did a good job at including them in our pictures and tolerating them, too. After all, we shared a common, deep love for our city, regardless of who we were or where we came from. If magical or non-magical, mortal or immortal, everyone was welcome to join.
When everyone was done taking pictures and safely storing them in SD cards and phones, tweets were tweeted and Instagrams posted in order to share our appreciation of creative clothing and a sense of imagination. Moments later, we finally went upstairs again for a short family friendly strip-off to get into our second outfits of the show, only to do it all over again. We followed the same route as before, smiling towards different cameras this time and posing with other fairies. Although being a fairy was more exciting than I had anticipated, my sneakers and comfortable jeans compensated for the glitter, inconveniently shaped wings, and shoes that make you wish you could fly or crawl instead. After the fairy fun was finally over, I realised that being human was not so horrible after all.
Fashion and make-up by Moonrose company, and Shazia Hassam and her friend Lydia, shahziahassam@hotmail.com,Jolly Treetee’s on Facebook, 07742467252
