Most of the hundreds of fairy gardeners gathered at a nursery near Cleveland were adults who seek a sense of childlike wonder by embracing the fantasy element of miniature gardening with fairies, gnomes and other mythical figurines.

But childlike wonder was on display, too. “I knew unicorns and fairies were real!” a 5-year-old girl shrieked to her mother at the first Ohio Fairy Gardening Festival in Perry, Ohio. For some in attendance, what stood before her was a majestic unicorn. For others, it was a miniature horse with a dyed rainbow mane and a horn strapped firmly on its head.

To embrace this festival, imagination is required.

Think tiny doors made for fairies placed in unexpected scenarios, fairy figures on miniature rope swings, or gnomes on beaches. If you look closely enough , you might notice fairies adorning stoops and lawns in your neighborhood.