Ford House Fairy Tales Festival Focuses on Alice in Wonderland

The third annual Fairy Tales Festival at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House will be built around one fairy tale theme this year: Alice in Wonderland. 
The past festivals have included characters and activities related to many fairy tales but organizers decided to focus on one story this year, which has allowed them to delve into the details more, said Ann Fitzpatrick, vice president of communications. 
This year's festival is Saturday June 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 
Staff and event organizers are already preparing for the festival. The gate house is being redesigned with various scenes from Alice in Wonderland, including the room full of doors, the Queen of Hearts croquet and the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. 
Story telling through reading, music and theatrics will remain a central theme within the activities, Fitzpatrick said. Other activities will include:
bubble-making with the catepillar
cupcake-decorating
three-legged races with Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee
origami rose-making
Queen of Hearts croquet
Characters from the fairy tale, including Alice, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, White Rabbit, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum as well as Catepillar will be roaming the grounds. 
The gate house will be transformed into Alice's world for the duration of summer and into the early fall with an art exhibit, Almost Alice: Illustrations of Wonderland, by Maggie Taylor. The artwork is a modern-day interpretation of the fairy tale using victorian photos that have been digitally manipulated. 
Additionally, this year a second exhibit, Alice, Art and Artifact, features work by students from College for Creative Studies who have created multi-media works interpreting the fairy tale. Fitzpatrick said the displays will be in the gatehouse as well as other locations throughout the grounds. 
The children's playhouse on the grounds will be converted into White Rabbit's house where Alice grows and shrinks, Fitzpatrick said.
Tickets may be purchased in advance for $12 per person or on the day of the festival for $15. The art displays will be available for viewing through Sept. 8.