Dressed in fairy attire in the baking sun at The Barn at Meriam Park, artists and vendors showcased their work next to live music, food trucks and games to celebrate the Fall Fae Festival hosted by Divine Sundays. 

Divine Sundays began in 2022 with Lucia Mercado who is also the event manager for Downtown Chico. After growing out of their last two venues they’ve taken up shop at The Barn where they host various events for local art and businesses. 

Community members shopped at more than 50 local vendors while listening to live music from harpist Laurie Thiede, Loki Miller and the celtic-inspired Music of the Woods Band. 

Outside The Barn, vendors lined the fence as attendees dressed in mythical outfits played games, shopped and ate from various food trucks such as Los Betos Taqueria and Mas Amor Mexican Food. 

Many of the activities were offered by IllumaNexus, a flow arts group at the Chico Women’s Club. IllumaNexus organized activities such as juggling, hula hooping and other movement-based arts. 

Gallery // 2 Photos

Lexi Lynn

Despite the heat kids could be seen dancing and playing games on the grass. Taken by Lexi Lynn on Sept. 22

Many attendees wore fairy-themed jewelry and outfits; and if you forgot yours at home, you could get your face painted and many vendors sold fairy-styled jewelry. 

The whimsical folklore-glasswork artist, Amellia Soto, surrounded her ruby-red glass flower incense holder with stained glasswork decorations.

The self-taught glasswork artist, Gretchen Lightcap, showcased colorful stained glass jewelry, with designs ranging from mushrooms to whales to fairy wings.

Soid Estrada, a Chico State senior majoring in theater arts, feels that Chico has plentiful opportunities for students to showcase their artwork and engage with the art community. Her artwork mainly consisted of beaded earrings and other beaded jewelry.

However, not all of the vendors were selling mythical-themed art. Other vendors were offering soaps, clothing and more mainstream handcrafted jewelry. 

Ethan Lipman, a senior at Chico High who’s interested in art school, attended the event with some friends on the recommendation of his teachers. He and his friends were impressed with the wide range of art being showcased during the festival but still had a “niche farmers market feel.”

In college, Katie Marie – an artist showcasing her pottery – found a passion for  functional and highly-textured artwork. She showcased various mugs and vases with colorful dragonflies among necklaces with espresso cups. 

Marie shared that it was a tight-knit community and many of the artists knew each other from other events such as the Lunar Market and the Downtown Chico Markets. 

During the event vendors would leave their booths to explore their fellow artists’ work or buy coffee from Cafe Muse.

Community is something Oke Iyeke, a local beekeeper and graduate from Chico State, loves about events like these. After graduating from Chico State with a major in agriculture, he set his eyes on beekeeping and began attending local events to sell honey along with beeswax candles. 

The diverse amount of local vendors bring members of the community who are interested in local art and businesses or those who want to just have a fun time. 

Dory Schachner —- a psychology professor teaching at Chico State —- could be seen wearing mythical horns while browsing the different booths. Since the pandemic she has seen the local art scene grow so much in Chico and she makes an effort to support it however she can. 

The Fall Fae Festival is part of four festivals — along withThe Summer Hippie Festival, Day of the Dead and Spring Festival —- put on by Divine Sundays, which began in the Chico Women’s Club in 2022. 

The event was sponsored by Sweet Flower, a dispensary in Chico. Mercado and Sweet Flower are working together to bring the Puff and Paint event which will be held at The Barn once a month. 

Chris Hutton can be reached at [email protected].