I woke up at 5am on Saturday morning, September 17th, and it was raining.  Still raining, I should say, since it rained on us Friday night while we marked off the booth spaces. Cold and wet, our intrepid group of volunteer staffers all showed up three hours early at the fairgrounds and we started setting up the festival grounds and registering vendors.

Thirty minutes before opening time, still cold and wet, with everything taking longer than expected, a few of us joined up at the front gate to setup the welcome booth.  For me, this is when the tide turned.  There was already a line of eager attendees waiting, in the rain, chatting and laughing with each other, excited about the event.  We deputized half of them into volunteers right on the spot, and a half hour later, everything was ready.

It rained off and on all day, but that didn't seem to slow people down very much.  If anything, it brought attendees  closer as they scurried from canopy to canopy amongst the 60 vendors and local groups that had setup in the rain that morning.  The musicians played, the singers sang, the dancers danced, and the workshoppers workshopped, wet or not.  Day one drew to a close and it looked like we had actually matched last year's first day attendance and donations, in spite of the cold and wet.

Day two began cold and dreary but, ye gods, without rain.  And, as always on the second day, everyone was more relaxed.  Even more people were waiting to get in than the day before, and we saw an increase in attendance and donations over last year's 2nd day.  More music, more dancing, more workshops, and on this day, lots of drumming, too.

Our final numbers for 2011:

The folks waiting outside in the rain for the beginning of the festival, the folks that cried when they found the free brochures to give to their employers and their kids' teachers, the folks that were laughing about the Cthuhlu cakes, faces covered in green and purple icing, the folks that thanked anyone who would listen for having this festival, those are the folks we'll remember when we're tired, when we're asking ourselves why we do this.   

Have some ideas or suggestions or comments about the festival?  Want to start getting more involved?  Show up at our final meeting at Gaia's Gardens on Sunday October 9th, 2011 at 2pm. Can't make the meeting?  Contact us over the web and we'll read your messages at the meeting.


Blessed Be and a bag of chips,
Johnson Davis
Central NC Pagan Pride Days
Phone +1-919-283-3733

Hi all,

The second day of our Raleigh event is over, and the weather was worlds better than the first day.  Rough attendance was over 2000 across both days, and we collected at least 5,500 lbs worth of food and cash for the food bank.  This is an increase in both over last year, which is amazing considering how rainy and cold it was during the first day.   I'll publish final numbers next week, after getting our final weigh-in at the food bank.  Overall, everything went well, with higher workshop attendance, more volunteers. Oh, and we got a busload of college students studying religion, which was kind of cool.   Anyway, time to sleep for 14 hours...  G'night!

Johnson Davis
Central NC Pagan Pride Days
Phone +1-919-283-3733

One more day, and I can hardly wait!  At 10:45am on Saturday morning, the gates open on two days of music, shopping, rituals, workshops, new friends and more.  Admittance is one item for the food bank, so hop in your car, grab a cab, or flag down a bus and head over for a weekend of fun and maybe some accidental education. 

And if you have any sway with the weather, chant with me now:

     Cool, clear and dry.
     Cool, clear and dry.
     Cool, clear and dry.
 
See you there.

Our vendors and local groups have donated a wide variety of goods and services to be raffled and auctioned off.

Raffles

We will have multiple raffles going on during the festival.  Buy as many raffle tickets as you like and gather when the drawings are announced for the selection of winners by the blind hand of Fate (or maybe Melissa if Fate is busy again.).

Auctions

Join us on the green at 2pm both days for an action packed auction, face to face with other bidders, no screen names or eSnipe to hide behind...

Examples

Here are some examples of the items we will have:

Crystal Ball

This is a 5" diameter (a little larger than a music CD) Quartz Crystal Ball, retailing for $140. Manufactured by first pulverizing and then melting a powder of pure natural quartz - the ball is then hand-carved from a solid clear block. It is not glass, nor is lead used in its manufacture. It is all Quarz Crystal, resulting in a gorgeous and clear ball.

Truely Unique - truelyunique.com

Altar Guardians

Hello there!  We are Altar Guardians- little draconic fae that have found our way here and hopefully into your home! We provide protection over altars, houses, children and cookies. Please be careful with us, as we are NOT toys and fragile to roughhousing. We can perch just about anywhere, but be cautious- we like warm places so do not let us hide in the oven or the microwave. Also, beware if you leave your cabinets open- we have sweet teeth and are likely to only leave you crumbs. We hope you adopt one of us today!

Each guardian has its own name and little story that goes home with it. Pictured here is the ice guardian, Frost. He won't be going to auction, but one of his friends will.

White Hart's Haunt - whiteharthaunt.etsy.com

Jewelry Box

This is a beautiful, hand carved jewelry box, with lined inner tray and ornate carved decorations.

Earth Tradtions - earthtraditions.com

Bacchus Cast Wall Hanging

My wife says it is very nice.  Too bad we can't play...

Raven's Willow - stores.shop.ebay.com/Ravens-Willow-Enchantments

Amethyst Crystal Cluster

This is an Amethyst Cluster, a gorgeous collection of Amethyst crystals bursting from a base.   This cluster has not been treated, and retails for $25.*

Fran "Obsidian" Harris
Obsidians Caldera

* stand/base not included.

Want to help at the 2011 Central NC Pagan Pride Days Festival?  You are invited to attend our final planning meeting this Sunday, September 11th, at 3pm at the NC State Fairgrounds at Gate 5 (974 Youth Center Dr, Raleigh, NC).   We will be assigning groups and leaders for the various jobs and tasks required to put on the festival the following weekend (September 17th and 18th).   We can't wait to meet you all!

Many authors, practitioners and artisans will be sharing their knowledge and skills in workshops at the festival.    All workshops are free, with materials and supplies generously donated by our workshop leaders.

	Saturday September 17th	Sunday September 18th
Group 1 11:45am--12:30pm	Practical Shamanism: Earthchange Edition Introduction Leader: Azurae Windwalker Introduction to Wicca Leader: Rev. Jason Bzdula	Creative Writing with Tarot Leader: WiseWomanTarot Basic Rune Reading Leader: Starlight Calaio
Group 2 12:45pm--1:30pm	Mojo Bags: Incorporating a Hoodoo Tradition into a Pagan Path Leader: Sister Sarah Crystal Personalities Leader: Linda Reany	Understanding Astrocartography Leader: Darrell Steen A Sacred Sound Experience Leader: Grandmother Moon Dust
Group 3 3pm--3:45pm	Potions, Lotions & Notions Leader: Kay Soto (a.k.a. Livinggreen) Wild Earth Magick with Poetry Leader: Dena Ferrari	Making Incense Blends Leader: Magus Spellwriting through Poerty Leader: Heather
Group 4 4pm--5:15pm	Pagan Hide or Pagan Pride Moderated Discussion	Quantum Magick: Where Science meets Mysticism Leader: Michelle Jenkins

The last day to register for one of the new booth spaces we added for the 2011 event is this Wednesday, August 31st, and there are now only two left.  Register at http://cncppd2011.eventbrite.com/.
Due to overwhelming demand, we ADDED NEW SPACES for booths in the "Outback", a virtual area that actually means we will find a place for you at the festival, somewhere.  (Vendor booths in the other areas SOLD OUT a week after normal registration began. )  If you have any questions, please call +1-919-283-3733 to inquire.

• Vendor Space (10x10, two days) $95
  
• Overnight Stay (dorm bed, showers, meals for one) $20
  
• Become an Individual Supporter for $5 or Sponsor for $75

See you in September!

The entertainment lineup for this year’s Pagan Pride Days sees the return of many familiar faces. PPD just wouldn’t be the same without our Knights at Arms of European Martial Arts Academy battling it out right in front of our eyes, and so they’re back again to dazzle us with their great skill. The opening act for each of our two days of Pagan Pride Days will be none other then Mermaid Morrigan and the wonderful sounds of her hammered dulcimer. Also, in honor of the last Harry Potter movie, we welcome back those Wizards of Rock, The Blibbering Humdingers. And for your visual entertainment we will have belly dancing and artistic dancing as done by The Succubus Sorority, Raven Moonstar, and newcomers P.U.R.E. There will also be Caitlyn doing her busking as always, and Amanda Mistress of the Hoop going with the Flow. Our main act for Saturday will be local sensation Airtite Alibi with a possible guest appearance by Twisted Notes. And last but not least, our final act of Pagan Pride Days will be the drumming group One Tribe. For more information visit our website at http://www.cncppd.org/ and check out the Entertainment page and the Schedule Page. We look forward to seeing you there.

This year we have 53 vendors and 13 local groups hosting booths at Central NC Pagan Pride Days.  At our vendor booths you will find a huge variety of items, including  jewelry, apparel, art, ritual tools and supplies, and the list goes on and on.  You will also find aural photography, Mehndi, tarot readings and more.  Visit booths hosted by local groups to meet practitioners of Druidism, Wicca, and Asatru, and to meet groups that support the pagan community.