Otherworlds Festival - Phoenix, Arizona - November 23-24, 2013

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

Unlike most "faery festivals" which are not geared towards those who identify as faery themselves, Otherworlds Festival (also known as the Fireland Phoenix Faery Festival) has put out a call for us:

"The Goblin Market Master has invited all the Vampires, Therians, Fae, Magickal Practitioners, Otherkin of all varieties, Steampunkers, Cosplayers, Roleplayers, Pirates, and Chrononauts of Arizona to come attend the 2013 Otherworlds Festival in Phoenix on November 23rd-24th at Castles and Coasters."

Their Facebook page reiterates this call:

"The Goblin Market Master has invited all the Otherfolk to an amusement park. Pirates, chrononauts, vampires, otherkin, therians, the wise... all together!"

Sources

• http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/eve/4009834747.html


• http://www.otherworldsfestival.com/


• https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fireland-Phoenix-Faerie-Festival/129335703825507


• https://twitter.com/OtherWorldsPHX

Comments

[arethinn]

Now that I've read their website, this seems to have quite a bit in common with a renfaire or mythic/Faerieworlds-type shindig. That's fine in itself, though weird to make a point of inviting otherkin, therians, and vampires to, especially when put together with things that are roleplay/cosplay in the conventional sense. I mean, people frequently dress up as faeries at ren faires, but I think few are doing more than wearing a costume, and I doubt most people who dress in steampunk or pirates believe themselves to be truly "timeslipped" in the way that otherkin believe themselves to be really whatever mythical thing they are.

In that light I'm feeling kind of weird about the "enclaves" of "OtherFolk" (http://www.otherworldsfestival.com/#!others/c18gw) - defined as "factions, packs, delegations and courts that make up the living legends our guests can interact with" - which seems to me like what would be Guilds at a normal faire, i.e., they are basically performers. Someone calling him/hir/zirself "Talon Bloodrayn" is presumably actually otherkin, and not just someone mistaking what otherkin/therians/vampires are all about (that is, not thinking it is also a type of fantasy character play in the way the other stuff up there is)... but it just strikes me rather oddly.

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

Yeah... all in all, I'm not really sure what to make of it. Therians were also specifically invited, but don't seem to appear under the listing of enclaves unless they're what is being referred to as "Wyldskins". There's also an odd implied separation between otherkin, the fae, and "modern mythics" whatever those may be.

Talon Bloodrayne does seem to be part of the community, through groups which cater primarily to vampires but also include otherkin. International Vampire and Otherkin Alliance, Shadowlore, etc. But yes, it does seem very strange overall.

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

This would also seem to be relevant: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=100006313812774&v=wall&story_fbid=1424844851069295

[arethinn]

My guess is they're just referring to people from within those two "enclaves" who were willing/able to pose in promo photos.

[talon-bloodrayn.livejournal.com]

Say my name once, and I will hear you; say it twice, and I will notice you....eventually.

Namaste and greetings.

My name is Talon Bloodrayn and, as you pointed out, I'm one of the organizers of the Otherworlds Festival. (A little about my background: I'm an Eclectic Dark Pagan priest of Ereshkigal; Draconic-Incubus Otherkin; founder of Clan Crymzon Lotus (offline); and Phoenix, AZ Branch Contact for ShadowLore. I've been active (in various areas of the country) in the Vampyre/Otherkin Community for nearly 16 years and the Pagan Community for nearly 20 years.)

I've read a lot of your works, Jarandhel, (especially regarding otherkin reiki) and we share, somewhat sadly, many observations regarding the current state and direction of the 'Kin community. I would truly love to pick your brain sometime.

I wanted to see if I could help clear some things up about our festival, though, sadly, I was only a fairly last minute (and somewhat reluctant) addition to the organizers:

1) "this seems to have quite a bit in common with a renfaire or mythic/Faerieworlds-type shindig. That's fine in itself, though weird to make a point of inviting otherkin, therians, and vampires to, especially when put together with things that are roleplay/cosplay in the conventional sense."
Lol...I agree, and it wasn't my idea to include those groups. The Fireland Phoenix Faery Festival was very much a renfairish "mythic/Faerieworlds-type shindig" that catered almost solely to the Faekin. It is now under new management and is being restructured (hence the new name) to include all 'Kin-types in hopes of creating a local 'Kin gather and to help unify the local 'Kin community (a daunting goal, all things considered). The other groups (cosplayers, steampunkers, etc.) are being included for two main reasons: 1) we theorized that there may be latent, unawakened 'Kin within some of those groups( cosplayers/furries/etc.) and it's been documented by various sources that proximity to 'Kin can help to "spark" an awakening in other latent 'Kin, and we figured a place filled with 'Kin is probably the best place to find info/support/etc. for those who might be awakening around the time of our festival. And 2) we decided that because cosplay and steampunk are such huge subcultures in this region, including them would put us on slightly equal footing in the public mind, if that makes sense.

2) "I'm feeling kind of weird about the "enclaves" of "OtherFolk" - defined as "factions, packs, delegations and courts that make up the living legends our guests can interact with" - which seems to me like what would be Guilds at a normal faire"
Sadly, again, not my idea. In this case I'm "heading" the "faction" called "Otherkin"...which is a misnomer that you have no idea how much irritates me. It is actually the "faction" that covers the kin-types who don't fall into the other Kin-type categories. Many of the other organizers are in fact 'Kin, but don't actually know all that much about the greater community beyond their Kin-type. So they've based certain aspects of the festival on what they know (i.e., renfairish mythic/Faerieworlds-type shindigs) for this years festival. But it will change as we plan for the subsequent ones. Also keep in mind that the owners of our venue for this year are Mormons, so many of the organizers are squeemish about having the venue yanked away at the last minute by using terms/structures that might not come across well.

[talon-bloodrayn.livejournal.com]

3) "Therians were also specifically invited, but don't seem to appear under the listing of enclaves unless they're what is being referred to as "Wyldskins". There's also an odd implied separation between otherkin, the fae, and "modern mythics" whatever those may be"
Sadly true, despite my best efforts to make it clear to the others that there is no such separation. In this case, yes, the Wyldskins equate to Therians. Modern Mythics mostly equates to the Fictives/Otakukin. Lol...believe me, I've tried very hard to make it understood by the other organizers (especially that of the Wyldskins), that they/we are all in fact Otherkin (with the exceptions of the Time-slipped, the Veiled, and possibly the Wise, though there may be some among them).

I truly hoped this has helped a little. If you have any more question or concerns, or even suggestions, I would be more than happy to pass them along to the other organizers, as this thread is pretty much exactly what I've warned them about.

Namaste and blessings to you both,
~Talon Bloodrayn~

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

Talon, thank you so much for replying and I'd be happy to talk with you sometime. This clears up a lot about the festival, and now I'm really glad that I announced it here and added it to the list of community events recorded on AnOtherWiki despite the initial ambiguity.

[arethinn]

Hi Talon,

Sorry for the very late (or shall I say timeslipped? ha) reply, but I wasn't tracking comments on this and you replied to the top post, so I didn't see this until just now.

Like Jarin, I'm glad and interested to hear these details, though I wonder if maybe some reorganization in the planning committee would be an idea, since it sounds like it's somewhat scattered in focus. How did the event go? Are you planning to do it again?

[arethinn]

Out of curiosity, is there any news on a 2014 or future event? I see that the domain registration on http://www.otherworldsfestival.com has lapsed.

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

Dunno if they are still checking LJ or not, but someone involved with the festival using the username RachelWingedOne logged into AnOtherWiki (http://anotherwiki.org) to edit their event. It is apparently taking place as part of the Phoenix Annual Parade of the Arts this year on November 8th. https://www.facebook.com/events/925511057462975/

They have also created a regular meetup, entitled the OtherWorld Entities Meeting:
http://www.meetup.com/phxfae/

2014 OtherWorlds Goblin Market

[talon bloodrayn (from livejournal.com)]

Namaste Arethinn & Jarandhel,

RachelWingedOne would be my Consort and as she was updating our info there, I was planning to give you our updated information here within the next couple of days. Was just waiting for some confirmations to come back. Unfortunately, between searching for a new venue (after the nightmare that was our last one) and a number of our organizers going through financial crunches this year, our 2014 event is much smaller than we'd prefer. But, that's life, I suppose. That said, yes, we do have plans for a 2014 event and a bigger 2015 event is in the planning stage.

On November 8th, 2014 (11:00am – 10:00pm), The OtherWorlds Festival is partnering with the Grand Avenue Festival and the Phoenix Annual Parade of the Arts to proudly host our 2014 OTHERWORLDS GOBLIN MARKET at the 2014 Grand Phoenix Annual Parade of the Arts, featuring the Strange Family Circus, Many Mouths, One Stomach, Fushicho Daiko, Sky Kissers, The Untrashed Recycled Fashion Show, and the Spell dance troupe.

Our previous website is in the process of reincarnation, so we' are indeed using these as our main contact points for the time being:
meetup.com/phxfae
https://www.facebook.com/events/925511057462975/

In regards to your previous post, Arethinn, about how our last event turned out (which I really did plan to answer a few months ago, it's just been a crazy year)....Honestly, despite problems with weather leading to lower than expected turnout and a venue that actively worked against us, it actually turned out to be really awesome event. A few lessons were learned and a few things will be changed as we go forward, but overall, I'm extremely proud of how our event turned out.