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You are in: Somerset > Faith > News and Features > Glastonbury fairy luck for celebs

David Walliams wins a Bafta

Did fairy luck aid David's success?

Glastonbury fairy luck for celebs

Some might say Jonathan Ross, David Walliams and Jerry Hall are lucky people. This could be because they have all been sprinkled with fairy dust by a 'hobbit'.

Lesley Wright, 62, from Bath, has been sprinkling people of all ages with fairy dust since 1999 in Glastonbury.

At the back of her quaint shop in the unique town, where virtually every other shop sells 'spiritual' things and there's not a chain store in sight, Lesley transports people for a split second back to their childhood.

The magical fairy room

The magical fairy room

Children and adults sit in the magical fairy room where girls are given a pink, fluffy feather boa and a tiara to wear.

Lesley then says a rhyme asking the recipient to close their eyes and make a wish, which can only be told to the fairies.

As she recites her rhyme, Lesley sprinkles the magical fairy dust (otherwise known as glitter - it's very fine so that it doesn't irritate the eyes or skin, and sparkles as it hangs in the air).

Naughty not wicked

When I say sprinkle, I mean empty almost the whole pot on top of you - for such a fine powder, I certainly felt a load crash onto my head. In fact, I'm still brushing glitter off my desk. 

Lesley Wright

Lesley Wright - the hobbit

Children are then told to be good for the rest of the day by cleaning their room and being nice to their parents, while adults are told their wish will not come true unless they are naughty for the rest of the day - "naughty not wicked, you must not do anything to harm anyone else," said Lesley.

"It's almost become a local tradition here. It's fun, it lets people forget everything and it's a joy to watch. I love it," she said.

"What's nice is that you see people, for a split second, become a child again - it's like they're visiting Santa, however old they are."

To listen to Lesley speaking to BBC Somerset's Tammy Amirthananthar about the fairy ceremony, click on this audio link:

Lesley the hobbit

The service is free, as Lesley does not want children to associate fairies with money. However, adults are asked to make a donation to local charities.

"You don't need to be trained - you just need to be able to liaise with the fairies," she joked. 

Jonathan Ross

Jonathan Ross has been to the fairy garden

Lesley could be described as 'away with the fairies' for her passion for all things fairy-like.

She, however, describes herself as a hobbit.

"I've been a hobbit for the past 40 years," she said.

She even wears plastic, pointy ears (which wouldn't look out of place in the new Hobbit film) all day, every day.

Fairy success for Walliams and Ross

A self-confessed Tolkien obsessive, Lesley is a massive film fan and is part of the Glastonbury Film Office which helps film productions settle into the area.

This is how she met most of her celebrity clients, many of whom achieved success after they were fairy dusted. 

David Walliams visited before the success of Little Britain and then received a Bafta, while Jonathan Ross went there in early 2005 after his wife, Jane, who was in the area filming a TV programme, had been.

Only Jonathan knows if the OBE he received shortly after is what he asked the fairies for. As Lesley says, a "fairy wish spoken is a fairy wish broken".

last updated: 24/06/2009 at 13:47
created: 16/01/2007

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