There’s something about the official onset of summer that prompts local revelers to step up their costume game, ascending stilts in sweeping Stevie Nicks-esque garments for Xpand Fest on the South Slope — the festival has something to do with “positive self growth” and inner peace —
or channeling their inner sea goddesses for the Mermaid Parade & Festival in Marshall. (Both events happen on June 8 this year.)
But if you’re making the costumes instead of wearing them, summer sometimes means you have to hit the road, following Renaissance fairs, festivals, and cosplay conventions city by city, town to town. Such is the case with Sarah Lambert, long-time proprietor of Über Kio, whose specialty is one-of-a-kind feathered-wing sets and other “random acts of whimsy.”
Photo by Monsters and Lace Photography
This season, you can find her at events all over the East Coast, including Marshy Point Summer Solstice Faerie Festival in Maryland (June 22 and 23), the New York Fairie Festival in a rural area near Binghamton (June 28-30), and at the major Dragon Con in Atlanta (August 29-September 2).
“Or try on a pair of wings for yourself at Honeypot,” Lambert suggested, just before she flew off for the rest of June.
For more information, see Über Kio on ETSY, Facebook, and
Instagram. Honeypot Vintage Boutique is located at 86 North Lexington Ave. in downtown Asheville (honeypotvintage.com, 828-225-0304). Also: xpandbrand.org, downtownmarshallnc.com.
—M.J. MacAodh