Gather and oak. hosted the third annual Witch Fest from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. last Saturday, Sept. 21 by the Monroe County Courthouse to commemorate their stores’ 11th and fourth anniversaries.
Witch Fest has become a community event hosting a variety of artists, vendors and crafters specializing in all things witchery and magic-related. The event featured astrologers, illustrators, piercing and tattoo artists, tarot readers and Reiki professionals.
Witch Fest was organized by Talia Halliday, founder and owner of the local gift and plant shops Gather and oak. She designed the event to occur around the fall equinox and to commemorate the opening anniversaries of her two stores. Since its establishment in 2022, Witch Fest has allowed Bloomington residents and students to experience everything magic for free. Halliday organized the different vendors and activities for attendees to experience while also setting up local food trucks and tanghulu, a popular dessert made of hard sugar-coated fruits.
“Nowhere else in town can you do that in the course of the day,” Halliday said.
This year’s Witch Fest saw expansive growth in comparison to previous years. They now host over 75 vendors from just 15 in their first year. Vendor booths surrounded the square and extended onto W 6th St. as well, where food trucks were located by oak.’s actual store.
A grant from Visit Bloomington also helped them expand the company’s promotion outside Bloomington and bring in new, excited attendees and vendors from further away.
Vendors were selected for Witch Fest through a juried application process that helped Halliday create an inclusive and diverse group of artists and handmade crafters to feature for the event. Her store oak. also had a large booth at the event featuring crystals, plants and tarot cards.
A popular booth at Witch Fest was Crystal Moon, which featured many retail items such as clothing, candles, perfume oils, tarot cards and jewelry that are also offered in the lobby of their store located at 208 S. Dunn St. Annie the Impaler, owner and body piercer for Crystal Moon, has also been a vendor at Witch Fest since the beginning.
“It’s definitely my favorite event I’ve ever done. I love it; the growth has been amazing.” she said. “And this year it’s even bigger because now we have the square and the road.”
As someone who has worked with Halliday many times in the past for events like Witch Fest, Annie said she loves how Witch Fest allows people to connect with others who have similar interests and find a community.
“[Halliday] is amazing for putting this on. It's so much hard work and we just really love it and appreciate it,” said Annie. “I know that everybody that participates in it loves it and is really excited to do it again the next year.”
Kara Bookwalter offered massage services and aura fluffs, a practice to heal and cleanse people’s energies, at Witch Fest as the owner of In My Hands Massage and Bodywork located at 804 N. College Ave. She has been a vendor with Witch Fest since its first year and is also a member of the Bloomington Witch Collective, a group of local witches that host free events and form a community. Bookwalter and the Collective helped lead the opening ritual for Witch Fest which featured music and invocations. Her favorite part of Witch Fest has been getting to see all of the vendors come together from different parts of Indiana.
“I don't think that there was anything like it until (Halliday) put together the first one,” Bookwalter said. “So I think that what (Halliday) has done is just really give a platform and give a space for people to feel like, ‘wait, I'm not the only one doing this.’”
Granola Girl Skincare hosted their booth at Witch Fest this year for the first time. J.D. Grove, owner of the company, has worked with Halliday for many years with the Bloomington Handmade Market. Their skincare company produces different soaps, hair care products and teas for anxiety and depression.
Grove chose to participate in Witch Fest this year because of their background with Halliday.
“(Halliday) is a pretty amazing organizer and her events are usually off the hook. She is a real long term supporter of small indie brands, women owned brands and queer owned brands,” they said, “I'm also pagan, and it's important to me to see representation of witches in our community.”
Witch Fest has also helped people learn more about witch practices and beliefs that vendors like Grove subscribe to.
“I think it (brings) greater awareness (and) less stigma around paganism,” Grove said. “I don't think a lot of people feel uncomfortable wearing crosses or other religious symbols, but paganism is really stigmatized. So I think [Witch Fest is] an opportunity to be like, ‘Witches are cool!’”
Jenny Smedberg of Mystical Mavens said she also appreciated the support Witch Fest has brought to the witches and pagan community as a first-time vendor.
“Witch Fest is great for the community because this group of people — pagans, witches, people of that nature — typically have to hide what they are, so this gives them a way to be out there to interact with others who have the same practices and just really have a social interaction without fear of appraisal,” Smedberg said.
Irene Mudd, owner of Guided Hand Studio, sold various cards, stickers, prints, pillows and charms at Witch Fest as part of her esoterica and astrology-based shop. In her second year as a vendor, she said she was excited to see people come together and experience the great energy of the Witch Fest community.
“I think it’s great to celebrate witches, especially in these times," Mudd said. "I think it’s very much a symbol of women’s empowerment and queer folks’ empowerment. Seeing the community come together for it is really powerful. It sends a message that witches are accepted."
