March 6 - Fairy Doors Appearing!

Posted on March 6, 2020

Imagine being an imaginative four year old. You are walking in a park with your mommy...and suddenly you see a tiny blue door in a rock!

You skip to the rock in delight. Your chubby four-year-old finger can't get the door open, so you turn to Mommy and announce "Locked!" 

But then your mom asks, "Who do you think lives there?"

And suddenly the two of you are speculating about fairies that might just live in your town's park.


The next day, you spot another tiny door in the same park. This one is located at the base of a tree!

Don't you think four-year-old you would hardly be able to wait to go back to that park? And what if you discovered fairy doors in other places - like in a low wall by the post office, and under the windows of the children's library?

On this date in 2019, a video about "Fairy Doors" surfaced on BBC Spotlight. It featured a couple who live in Cornwall, England, who made, painted, and secretly installed fairy doors in public places. They said they want to "keep the magic alive" for children. 

Danny Saville and Demelza Cremin noticed that their fun project had the added benefit of getting parents and kids outdoors, together, exploring and looking to spot new fairy doors.

Some people who create fairy doors in other places around the world deliberately create doors that can open up to reveal small openings where people can leave notes or "gifts" for fairies. 

And some parents leave teeny letters for their kids next to fairy doors.

There are so many examples of fairy door fun - an artist who installed one in a tree in Golden Gate Park, in San Francisco; a bunch of fairy doors all over the nearby Bay-Area city of Alameda; a dozen fairy doors spread in downtown Putnam, Connecticut, each crafted by a different artist; about 200 fairy doors (!) in a wooded area in England; fairy doors in and near Portland, Oregon - everywhere from a community garden to a nature reserve. (The community garden actually includes a fairy garden with a tiny hotel, Ferris wheel, and archery field!)

If you want to install fairy doors in your town or your favorite wild spot, but you don't know a saw from a screwdriver, no worries! You can buy fairy doors online. Check out the charming variety:

Also on this date:

Artist Michelangelo's birthday  

Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco's birthday

Independence Day in Ghana

Foundation Day on Norfolk Island

Alamo Day in Texas

Cartoonist Will Eisner's birthday 

Oreo Cookie Day

National Dress Day

The Day of the Dude

Sonia Kovalevsky Mathematics High School Day 

(varying dates at various institutions)

Anniversary of the Dred Scott decision

Middle Name Pride Day

(Friday of the first full week of March)

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

• March holidays
• March birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in March

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• April holidays
• April birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in April