Sands Point Preserve in Nassau County will trade its usual quiet for something considerably stranger on May 2. Wings, wands, bubble faeries, and at least one entity billed as “Grig the Felf” will descend on the grounds for the fourth annual Long Island Fairy Festival, running 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a rain date of May 3.
Now look, I’ve filed copy from Camden Yards in October and watched Cal Ripken tip his cap to 48,000 people. A fairy festival is not my normal beat. But Sands Point is a legitimate gem of a place, and anything that pulls families outside and off their screens for a full Saturday in early May deserves a straight look.
This is the event’s fourth year. Not bad for something that sounds like it was dreamed up during a particularly creative kindergarten nap.
The numbers from last year tell the actual story. Guests came from 145 communities across Long Island and beyond. Eight sponsors, 30 community partners, nearly 100 volunteers and educators. Ninety-three fairy house builders. Forty-seven exhibiting artists. Forty performers and technicians. That’s not a small backyard happening. That’s a coordinated production with real logistical weight behind it.
“This is our fourth year, and the festival keeps growing,” said Jeremiah Bosgang, executive director of the Sands Point Preserve Conservancy. “We’re seeing people come from all over Long Island to be part of something that sparks imagination and brings a real sense of wonder and togetherness.”
This year’s lineup adds several new features. A meet-and-greet with the Queen of the Celestial Fairies is on the schedule, which I have no framework to evaluate. More practically useful, the Ranger Grove offers hands-on wilderness skills. There’s also a meet-and-greet with Miss New York Teen USA, which sounds like a booking decision made at a very interesting planning meeting, and an opportunity to learn how to connect with fairy guides. Not something I’ve personally pursued. But I’m 67 and set in my ways.
The returning staples include the Fairy House Walk, the Fairy House Artist Invitational Competition, the Fairy Art Exhibit, magic shows with Grig the Felf, appearances by mermaids and the Tooth Fairy, and Oriana the Bubble Faerie. Also hula hoops, an imaginary tea party, arts and crafts, live music, storytelling, nature walks, spring planting activities, and encounters with trolls and gnomes. The food situation is handled by Feasting and Foraging food trucks, which is frankly a good name.
Linda Nutter, the fairy festival director, framed the event’s purpose in terms that go beyond face paint and fairy wings. “Through creativity, connection, and time spent in nature, we’re reminding people that innovation doesn’t only come from machines,” Nutter said. “It comes from curiosity and shared human experience. At a time when so much of life is mediated by technology, the Fairy Festival becomes a gentle but powerful act of balance, grounding us in the beauty, mystery and joy of the real world.”
That’s a fair point, actually. Delivered without irony, which I respect.
[Sands Point Preserve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sands Point_Preserve) sits on the North Shore of Nassau County, a former Guggenheim estate covering roughly 216 acres. Towering trees, coastal bluffs, the kind of natural setting that doesn’t need enhancement but apparently benefits from fairies anyway. The preserve has been building its programming steadily under the Conservancy’s stewardship, and the Fairy Festival has become one of its signature draws.
Tickets run $95 per carload, plus fees, and must be purchased in advance. That’s worth underlining. You cannot show up at the gate and expect to walk in. For a family of four or five piling into a minivan, $95 is a reasonable day-trip price, assuming the weather holds. If it doesn’t, May 3 is the fallback.
Additional reporting from Long Island Press helped round out event details.
The Sands Point Preserve Conservancy’s website has ticketing information and the full schedule. Buy early. This thing sold out last year, and the 2026 edition is expected to draw more.
I’ve seen stranger things fill a stadium. At least this one’s outside.