Eeyore’s Birthday 2007, Austin, Texas
Eeyore’s Birthday is an annual keep-Austin-weird celebration in Austin, Texas. People come in costumes. In some cases, the costumes consist mostly of paint, but majority are tame enough. I noticed that many women indulged their inner fairy by slapping on a pair of wings.
A person in a long white dress dances with a stick with silver strings near the band stage.
Tattoos, colorful braids, a dog with fairy wings
A child behind mom’s wings
Blue hat, blue face paint — perhaps stylized rivers of tears?
People playing soccer — among them, one in a Native American costume.
The soccer player in a Native American costume up close.
A woman juggler, one of many jugglers seen at Eeyore’s Birthday
E watches jugglers from the stroller.
Old skool hippies are a prominent force in Eeyore’s Birthday too — after all, this festival started in their times. This one is wearing a War Is Not Healthy t-shirt.
Face painting is not just for faces anymore! At Eeyore’s Birthday there are artists who will paint any part of the client’s body. And a tree, being a symbol of life, is fitting for a pregnant belly.
Children’s activities table at Eeyore’s Birthday. At this table there were scraps of paper and crayons for children. E wasn’t too interested in drawing, though — maybe she didn’t want to jostle with other children for access to the few left good crayons. (That’s not her in the picture, by the way.)
A small fairy with wings at the children’s activity table
Butterflies on cheeks and a Wonder Woman costume.
Hippie and Keep Austin Weird spirit alive and well — a man in a tie-dye with a snake-shaped tail, another in a long green sarong, a woman in a long green dress, evoking a forest spirit.
Green fairy wings and a green skirt
A very long necklace, or perhaps a small apron, in a Native American style
A tall purple hat and a rainbow wig
Animal prints, ripped fuchsia leggings, cat’s ears — and a camera dangling from a wrist, an accessory that’s close to my heart. Those were the days when people still carried cameras with them, since smartphones were in their infancy.
Pink and white gingham and ruffle dress
People with block-colored hair (or chunk-colored?) in wild colors, before this style became popular
A dancer with a veil dances to the sound of nearby drums — and there are lots of drum circles at Eeyore’s Birthday.
Purple dress, blue veil, blue eyeshadow
A henna-patterned skirt and an interesting headdress — or a wig, or a hairdo?
A young family dances to drums
Long blue or purple fuzzy hair
Red dress
A merman with a hula hoop
The merman spins with a hula hoop
An outfit with bellydance elements and tie-dye fabrics, and a dainty pink parasol
Another bellydance-inspired outfit with a turquoise veil and necklace, and an indigo veil-skirt.
Red Riding Hood with a baby in a sling
A dog in a pink tutu, its owner in purple pigtails
