Meet Opal, TikTok's Renaissance Festival Fairy

You can't just wave a magic wand to make it as a fairy in the Renaissance festival scene. You have to pay your dues. It takes patience and competitiveness to land more gigs than the other fairies in the community.

Amanda Moak knows the struggle. Now best known as Opal the Fairy, she faced her share of detractors during her early days on the scene, in part because of her modeling background. But she focused on building a loyal online fanbase and it paid off — to the tune of more than 160,000 TikTok followers.

Starting this Saturday, February 1, through Sunday, March 23, Opal will appear at her fifth Florida Renaissance Festival. This time, she’ll have merchandise for sale (calendars, coloring books) and an assistant on hand. She's come a long way from her own days as an assistant to another festival fairy. Back then, she sold merchandise for her former mentor knowing full well she'd eventually strike out on her own.

"She was like the head fairy in the community, and you had to go through her to be a fairy," says Moak, 29. "You would think [the fairy community] would be a lot more welcoming, but it’s a competition. You have to prove yourself to be accepted."

She says the competition can be stiff. "No one wants to have somebody come in and potentially take jobs from them," she says. "But I was like, 'Hey, this is what I actually came out here to do.' I knew I wanted to be a fairy."

Moak did her best not to step on anyone’s toes. That meant only looking for work at festivals that didn’t already have a fairy lined up. But she also knew she needed to network and prove she could add value to an event.

In the Renaissance festival scene, Opal is known as a lane act. You’ll find her playing with bubbles and handing out fairy stones in the festival’s lanes rather than on a stage. She sports wings and a flower crown and would fit right in at an EDM festival.

Beyond her dress, Moak always stays in character, and Opal has a backstory — she's a bubble fairy who never learned to speak and instead communicates via bubbles and sign language. She only posts photos of herself in costume —  which she estimates costs her close to $1,500 — on her Opal social media accounts.
Moak was born on June 24, also known as International Fairy Day. As a child, she and a friend roleplayed as fairies. Moak was a water fairy named Siren and her friend was an Earth fairy named Bloom.

But it wasn’t until she worked at a Renaissance festival at the age of 19 that she began dressing as a fairy, livening up her outfit with pantyhose wings. She fell in love with the Renaissance festival community, and what was supposed to be a summer gig became a way of life.

"The community aspect really drew me in. It’s what draws everyone in," says Moak, who now lives in Maui but spends much of her time traveling to festivals. "You are living so close to other people, and all these other people are artisans, creators, performers — people who prefer the creative lifestyle over the mainstream lifestyle.

"It’s not always easy. For years I didn’t have electricity. I’ve lived in a tent, a cargo trailer, a carport. You have to be okay with being a minimalist if you’re going to do this type of work full-time."

You also really have to love the job.

"I wish I had Opal’s confidence," Moak admits. "I wish people responded to me the way they respond to Opal. I wish I could bottle up what Opal does and put it in my everyday life. I’d probably be more successful in my relationships and communication."

She gets emotional thinking about the positive interactions she’s had with children while in character. One mom messaged her that her daughter regularly sleeps with the fairy stone Opal gave her and no longer has bad dreams. Another follower, whom Moak believes was a nurse, sent her a video of a cancer patient opening the care package Opal sent her.

"I could barely finish the video," she says. "That happened right after I found out that I didn’t get a festival job that I thought I would get. It didn’t even matter because I’m able to do things like this and make a difference. That means everything to me."

Moak takes pride in being able to connect with people of all ages, even for a brief moment, and she encourages others to join the community.

"If you want to be a fairy, come be a fairy," Moak says. "I’m never going to tell someone not to do something they want to do — especially something that brings warmth and positivity into the world."

Florida Renaissance Festival. 10 a.m. to sunset Saturday, February 1, through Sunday, March 23, at Quiet Waters Park, 401 S. Powerline Rd., Deerfield Beach; 954-776-1642; ren-fest.com. Tickets cost $15 to $37. Admission is free for children ages five and younger.