This year commences the Faerie Market’s third annual celebration and the debut of the Firefly Ball. The market is a two-day celebration filled with mostly handcrafted artisan goods, activities for all ages and a variety of performances. This is The Faerie Market’s first time partnering with Pixie Panic, which has hosted monthly Dungeons & Dragons events and live shows in Eugene and Springfield for almost two years. Marilyn McElroy, organizer of the Faerie Ball, teamed up with Indra Hunter, Pixie Panic’s organizer, after seeing a need for more fairy festivities in Eugene. The Faerie Market “was born out of a desire to just kind of create more spaces where people could feel magical and have joy,” McElroy says. The market will feature a kids’ costume contest, a live D&D show, a bubble show, music, gaming tables and an egg hunt with over 1,500 hidden prizes. Bloom the Local Fairy will also host a tea party and bubble show, where juice and cookies will be provided. In addition, Kate Becker, a local illustrator, will present her work, and Spacey Macie, a local artist, will teach techniques for how to complete a fairy house embroidery. March 29 will have a woodsy fairy cottage design and March 30 will be a mushroom fairy house. Earth Mamas Domestics will also teach crafts on site. The Firefly Ball occurs later in the evening and will have live music played by the bands Faerie Folk and Soul Vibrator, as well as DJ Tinta Turner. The event is fantasy formal, encouraging everyone to dress up. The whimsiest will be recognized in the costume contest. “We want to give people more of an opportunity to dress up and kind of detach from reality for just a little bit to kind of take care of themselves and feel safe and feel magical,” McElroy says. The ball will also feature its first trading blanket, where people can present items to trade in a circle. Each person can go around offering select trinkets and items to barter. Quaint food options will be provided with vegan, veggie and gluten-free accommodations available.

The Faerie Market is 10:30 am to 4:30 pm on Saturday, March 29, and Sunday, March 30, at the Lane Events Center, 796 West 13th Avenue. Tickets are $3 for all ages except those under three, who enter free. The Firefly Ball is 7:30 pm to midnight Saturday, March 29, and Sunday, March 30, at the Lane Events Center. The ball is 21-plus and tickets are $60.