Paganism in the spotlight at weekend event

By Justin Seward - Lethbridge Herald on July 11, 2023.

Herald photo by Justin Seward Aleksandra Kuz and Jenna Chomiak make flower crowns with Taylor Wiebe during Pagan Fest at Galt Gardens on Saturday.

The annual Pagan Fest, staged in Galt Gardens on Saturday, was a chance for fellow pagans to connect with – and learn from – one another in a safe space.

“It’s open to not just pagans, but anybody who’s curious and wants to learn what paganism actually is,” said Becca Stirling, Society of Pagan Fellowship chair.

“Paganism is an umbrella term that covers wiccan, heathen, Druid (and) Celtic. There’s so many different traditions and we’re here to help educate the public at large on what it actually is versus what the stereotype is.”

The education part included a speaker on heathenry and other speakers throughout the day spoke about various paganism topics.

There was a craft tent for people to create flower crowns, an opportunity to get their faces painted and also to paint pots.

The market included vendors with herbs and incense, handmade crafts such as candles and gemstones and palmistry to name a few.

This was the first year of the Society of Pagan Fellowship running the annual event after the previous organizer dissolved last summer.

“I’ve actually been a part of the marketing world, like trade shows, fairs like that for my other job,” said Stirling.

“So I’ve organized markets before. Today my main function was to be the market manager, while I reached out to all the vendors and these are the ones that reached back and could make it and here they are.”

The Society will be a year old in September.

“I think we have an amazing board,” she said.

“..We just pulled together (and) got all the things done. When somebody ran into a little trouble, they let the others know and we worked as a team really, really well.”

The Society of Pagan Fellowship’s vision is to promote and raise awareness of what paganism is

Stirling estimated there are between 5,000 and 10,000 pagans in Lethbridge.

“Some people are in the broom closet and that’s totally OK,” said Stirling.