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We ask all visitors, including Members, to reserve tickets online prior to arrival.  Click here to reserve tickets.  The museum is open Tuesday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.  Face coverings are still required to visit the galleries.  On Sundays in June, the museum is available for private event rentals for graduation parties and other milestones – click here to book!

FAIRY FESTIVAL
7 DAYS OF FAIRY FUN – OUTDOOR & AT-HOME aCTIVITIES!
Saturday, June 5 – Saturday, June 12, 2021

Wenham Museum is thrilled to offer the Fairy Festival again this year!

This year’s Fairy Festival will follow a new format.  Programs, activities, and offerings will be spread out over seven days, with a combination of at-home and outdoor activities!  Festival favorites such as gardening, arts & crafts, stories, and fairy portraits all return this year.

As part of our commitment to serving a multi-generational audience, we are pleased to include a virtual lecture for adults about the famous Cottingley Fairy hoax as part of the Fairy Festival.

This popular event is inspired by the museum’s collection of historic children’s picture books and fairy tales. 

Scroll down to see the schedule of events and to register for your favorites!

 

Family Fairy Gardening

Saturday, June 5, 2021
Two Sessions:
10 a.m. – 11 a.m. or 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
All Ages
Outdoors at Wenham Museum
Register Online >>

 

Join us for family-friendly gardening outside the museum’s historic house!  We’ll be planting our raised beds with flowers, herbs, vegetables, and a little bit of magic to attract our fairy friends.

Participation for each hour-long session is limited to 12 children with their caregiver(s).  Registration for this event also includes museum gallery admission.  Advanced online registration is required.

 


Fairy Festival Activity Box

At-Home Activity Box
$15.00 per Box
Members Receive 10% Off
In-store Pick-up or Shipping
Order Online >>

 

 

Because we’re not *quite” ready to gather a large group outdoors for art-making, enjoy this collection of at-home activities inspired by the Fairy Festival’s themes of art, nature, and story. In this activity box, you will find:

Painting & Planting Activity
Two 4″ clay pots | Acrylic paint pots
Paint brush | Soil | Seeds

Make a Fairy or Dragonfly
Clothespin | Fabric | Pipe cleaners

Sticker Book
Dover-brand Fairy sticker book

Purchase

 

Storytime Yoga

Tuesday, June 8, 2021
10:00 a.m.
Register >>

 

 

Note: Program registration does not include admission or access to the museum galleries. If you would like to visit the museum after the program, please register for tickets at wenhammuseum.org/visit.

Story Time Yoga is a mindfulness and movement story time ​designed for children ages 2 years through 8 years with a parent/caregiver.  Enjoy stories, participate in basic yoga stretches, and learn breathing exercises.  This week’s session will be fairy-themed, with yoga poses that will help young fairies live in harmony with nature.

Sponsored by
Early Childhood Partners

 

 

 

 

 

Register

 

The Cottingley Fairies

Thursday, June 10, 2021
12 p.m. via Zoom
Ages 16+
Free – Sponsored by
Mass Humanities
Register >>

 

How and why do we believe what we do? Join us to learn how two girls in 1917 England persuaded Sir Arthur Conan Doyle–and later the world–that they had photographed fairies by the stream near their home. Doyle, who had a long-standing interest in spiritualism, published an article about the photos and the fairies in 1920. In 1983, one of the girls confessed the photos were a hoax.

Join Dr. Merrick Burrow of the University of Huddersfield, who curated of an exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of Doyle’s article. He will share how the spiritualist movement, which started in New York and spread to Boston and beyond, provided the context in which Doyle and others could endorse the photos as real.

Sponsored by

This program is funded in part by Mass Humanities, which receives support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

 

M is for Museum &
Poppets Playdates

Friday, June 11, 2021
9:30 a.m. 18 mos.+
10:30 a.m. 2.9 years+
Register >>

 

 

Note: Program registration does not include admission or access to the museum galleries. If you would like to visit the museum after the program, please register for tickets at wenhammuseum.org/visit.

Join in this month’s M is for Museum and Poppets Playdates programs OUTSIDE at the Wenham Museum!  June’s programs are part of the Wenham Museum’s multi-day Fairy Festival.

Our Poppets friends will read How Do Fairies Have Fun in the Sun? written by Liza Gardner Walsh and illustrated by Hazel Mitchell.  In this book, we will learn about the different ways that fairies enjoy their favorite season, summer.

Our M is for Museum friends will read The Fairiest Fairy written by Anne Booth and illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw.  In this story, Betty the Fairy can’t paint a rainbow or scatter dewdrops, and her pirouettes are, well, pretty precarious. There’s just no time for Betty to perfect all the things a fairy is supposed to know how to do. But when the fairy ball arrives, Betty’s friends return her gifts of kindness in hopes that the King and Queen will decide that Betty truly is the Fairiest Fairy of them all!

After we read our stories, we will get a little messy by creating some fairy houses with recycled materials, paper, glue, paint, and decorations!

The program will take place outdoors on the lawn at the Wenham Museum.  You may want to bring a towel or blanket to sit on for the story portion of the program.

Sponsored by
Early Childhood Partners

Register

 

Fairytale Stories & Songs

Saturday, June 12, 2021
Outdoors at the Wenham Museum
10:30 a.m.
$10 Adults / $8 Children & Seniors
Free for Members
Includes Museum Admission
Advanced Registration Required >>

Join us for a retelling of the classic fairytales Jack and the Beanstalk and Goldilocks and the Three Bears through an interactive, fun, and music and movement-filled experience! Children are invited to dress up in their favorite fairytale, superhero, or other costume.

This program will take place outdoors at the Wenham Museum! Please bring a blanket or low chair to sit on if you wish. Tickets for the program include admission to the Wenham Museum galleries.

In light of new guidance from the CDC and forthcoming changes in Massachusetts’ COVID-19-realted rules, we may need to update this page with additional information. In the event of rain, we will reschedule as an outdoor event.

Our fairy performer will be presented by Carole Finn-Weidman of Parties by Carole.

Register

 

Fairy Portraits

Saturday, June 12, 2021
Starting at 10 a.m.
$50 per Sitting
Reserve a Sitting >>

We’re excited to welcome you back to the Wenham Museum for Fairy Portraits with Tracey Westgate Photography as part of the Fairy Festival!

Have your child’s portrait taken in a nature-inspired setting that captures this magical childhood moment.

Your sitting with Tracey Westgate Photography includes three digital images. The sitting fee is $50. Prints and any additional images may be purchased. Siblings can be added to the same sitting time slot for $15. Sittings will take place outdoors.