A Goblin Market Party
/This is a different kind of blog post. Come with me as we imagine planning a magical gathering together.
I recently had an idea for a party theme that got me so enthusiastic I couldn’t stop thinking about it. What if…
What if we had a Goblin Market party?
Guests could dress as goblins of course, or any other faerie beings. Or even as naive and innocent humans who somehow found their way into this enticing and dangerous place.
Mask by HuntingFaeries on Etsy
ARt by ArThur Rackham
A password would be required for entry, and the entrance would be hidden somehow, or made to look extremely grand and magical.
The festivities would take place after dark, naturally, with candles and lanterns and fairy strands as the only lighting. Weather permitting, it could be outside under canopies.
DesiGn by Tricia Saroya
We could serve strange and magical foods. Drinks that change colors when you add a small vial of potion. Cakes with treats secretly hidden inside. Foods that look like other foods, or that are served in whimsical and delightful ways. Cups made of orange rinds filled with rich drinking chocolate. See-through ravioli that pops in your mouth, releasing the flavor inside. Cupcakes decorated in edible moss.
Design by Tricia Saroya
There could be magical wares for “sale,” and the guests would have to decide if the price the vendors are asking is worth it. Imagine all the sorts of delights we could think up for sale. Shirts woven from the softest dandelion fluff offering the wearer a thousand wishes and good luck. Is that bluebell that actually rings melodically when you shake it worth one of your already forgotten memories? And of course, guests could buy goblin fruit. Fruit of all sorts, recognizable and utterly foreign. Dangerous and benign.
Finally, there would be a magical version of a white elephant gift exchange. Each guest will bring a beautifully wrapped gift, but instead of something awful inside, it would be something simple but lovely, say a little wooden trinket box, or a necklace. And each guest would be told ahead of time to create a story about what makes their item magical. Once their item is chosen and opened by another guest, the person who brought it to the party would then tell it’s story to entice all.
Once all the gifts are unwrapped, the gift that was the most desired and swapped will be considered the greatest story, and the person who brought it would receive an extra prize.
These pages from Brian and Wendy Froud’s Faeries’ Tales are a great example of the sort of object stories I’m talking about:
Someday I actually hope to host this party, but in the mean time, it was just too exciting not to share the idea with you. Do you have any more ideas for our Goblin Market party?
In brainstorming this, I found myself immersed in goblin markets. I would love to go deeper into researching where they come from in folklore, where they can be found today. Does that sound intriguing to you?
