I have been to a lot of craft fairs. I love seeing people’s creativity, their talent, and their skill. I wish my creative outlet were more tangible or at least tangible on a more compressed timetable. Alas, writing is what it is.

I like buying local, especially around the holidays, and having spoken to the person from whom you purchased adds a personal dimension you don’t get when you purchase from a national chain or online (I cannot lie, I do those things plenty, too). To be honest, I find those stories a gift in and of themselves, leaving me with a little something even when I give the object to its forever owner.

Needlepoint by Rachelle Makes Stuff, patch and tarot buttons by Strange Hours Atelier, and yarn by Ex Libris Fibers. Photo by S.W. Sondheimer

Bitchcraft Fair was a new one for me, however. I’m not sure if this was their first year in Pittsburgh (the same organization also has events in Louisville and Columbus) or if I somehow missed it previously, but it popped up on my social media feeds a couple weeks ago and I immediately purchased tickets.

The fair’s stated purpose is:

Bitchcraft, a disarming play off of witchcraft, is a celebration of radical womanhood, and an observation of magick in the form of handmade crafts and/or mystic arts. Witches have traditionally threatened strict religious doctrines, challenged the status quo, and evoked fear. The word ‘bitch’ is used to verbally persecute women, not unlike the executions performed on alleged female magick users throughout history. To be called a bitch, one must have challenged the status quo. And to be an artist or mystic staunchly opposes how we’re expected to earn in our capitalistic economy.

These combined concepts paint a vivid portrait of a woman who is full of rage and courage. She will no longer be discouraged from actualizing her dreams. She sharpens her pencil like a blade, or lights a balmy candle and slips into a lucid trance. She wets her hands and shapes visions out of clay, or intuitively interprets the serendipitous arrangement of colorful cards. Whatever her art, it takes her to another world. She will not be discouraged by criticism, she will risk conformity for this feeling, this spell cast by her own two masterful hands.

When you’re drawn to take part in Bitchcraft Fair, whether as a vendor, an attendee, a guest or a volunteer, perhaps you can feel that ancient power waking in your bones. Or maybe you’re just feeling particularly festive this Halloween season! Regardless – they couldn’t burn us, so join us.

Damn right. Especially in the current climate. How could I not go? Not only because it sounded fun but because, since writing is a long game, the least I can do is support other creatives while I stare at the wall and try to come up with the perfect turn of phrase.

Tarot buttons by Strange Hours Atelier. Photo by S.W. Sondheimer

Am I into the witchy stuff? To some extent. I’ve never been sure exactly how I feel about tarot and energy work, and the skeptic and scientist in me definitely draws a line at crystals. I freaking love Halloween; the season itself, the smell of woodsmoke and cinnamon, the bite in the air in the morning (even if it warms up to 80 during the day, which is not a thing that should happen in Western PA in October but there you have it).

I like curling up with some good sci-fi horror or watching dumb slasher flicks with a certain editor via Twitter. I adore skull and gravestone baking decor. So it wasn’t so much that I was concerned about not fitting in with the crowd at Bitchcraft, but maybe I was a bit. What if I wasn’t witchy enough?

Turned out, it didn’t matter how witchy I was, or even if I was witchy at all because regardless of witchy status or general spookiness, everyone I spoke to was enthusiastic and lovely and so delighted to meet everyone who was interested in their passion projects, whether it was tarot reading or pottery or jewelry making or candle pouring. Your interest in the vendor’s handiwork was the only entree you needed to take a peek at what they loved, what was important to them, and what you had in common.

I’ve been to fairs where artists hesitate to share their processes or materials for any variety of reasons (often valid – these are folks trying to make a living from their art) but not so at Bitchcraft. I learned about 3D printing steel jewelry from Josselyn Crane, the proprietress of Falkora Jewelry.

The effervescent Krysten Harrell of Siren of Jupiter Pottery told me about the thought process behind her gorgeous, bubble-adorned teapot and how the embossing on her mugs was a love letter to her husband.

Rita Johnson of Ex Libris Fibers guided me through the yarn selection process in terms of both color and weight, despite the booth being super busy.

No one seemed to mind if you browsed and didn’t buy, and one vendor, whom I did purchase from, thanked me when I came back later with a friend to show her a design I particularly liked (friend also ended up buying, so, bonus).

Accepted payment sign at Strange Hours Atelier‘s booth. Photo by S.W. Sondheimer with permission of vendor.

I’ve never been as comfortable in a crowded space as I was at Bitchcraft, and I credit the predominantly female-presenting presence for that as I’ve never been to an event like this one where a majority of vendors and attendees were women/female-presenting. I’m prone to going to fairs like this one early and leaving when it starts to get crowded, but at Bitchcraft, my friend and I wandered slowly past all the booths one way as a survey and then did the same in the other direction for the purpose of purchasing.

I was there for over three increasingly crowded hours, and at no point did the urge to bolt strike me. Even when the aisles were packed, attendees were very respectful of one another’s personal space and browsing area, making certain everyone could see or reach what they wanted to examine. Vendors were quick to make accommodation for those who needed it, and everyone was happy to let you sample, touch, or try on.

Bitchcraft is also a space where both vendors and attendees were comfortable in their own skins. Tattooed or not, clad in black or bright colors, people alone and mothers with children, LGBTQIA+ or cishet, everyone seemed to see the people they were walking and browsing alongside as their people, no matter the visible – or invisible – differences, and everyone was happy to be where they were and surrounded by those same folx.

If I hadn’t promised the girl child I’d be home to do art projects, I might have stayed longer and even gone to some of the panels. I will definitely be attending Bitchcraft again next year, and I’m going to bring my whole coven with me.