Psychic Fair History

Psychic fairs began to be popular in the early 80'sand even though I knew I would read for the first fair I applied to, I was actually asked to simply take tickets. The organizer of the event was John Catching, a well known psychic that often worked with police. John told me I could help with the fair, but I could not read because it was a full house. I told him I knew I was going to be reading that day. I knew it.

I arrived early on that Saturday morning, as all the psychic readers – tarot, astrology, handwriting, psychometry, spirit guides – were setting up. The people were lined up and they were peeking inside to see who was going to be reading. As the crystal balls shimmered with possibilities, the doors opened to allow the people into the room. John suddenly came up to me, smiling and shaking his head. He told me that one of the readers was ill and he needed me to fill this gap. That was my first psychic fair with John and not my last. He placed me in his main ballroom and I went on to doing readings and classes for him for several years.

In those days, John would rent buses and take a group of readers to fairs in neighboring cities. We would travel to Austin or Houston and sometimes San Antonio. The out of town fairs were always big. John was on the radio and people flocked to these fairs. It was the mid to late 1980’s and psychic fairs were in vogue. The psychics dressed up with the flair of sequins and glitter. It was a fun time for both the readers and the people that came to the psychic fair. Tables with tarot cards, books and crystals would draw crowds of people. One of the oldest fairs around in Dallas is Creative Organization Psychic Fairs, which celebrated twenty five years in business Jan 2008. I worked twenty of those years and the fair is still taking place once a month.

Many psychic fairs eventually gave way to today’s health and wellness expos. Psychic readers and metaphysical seminars gave way to physical health and psychology lectures. The emphasis moved from psychic readings to metaphysical information and lectures. The rooms used to be filled with readers and now they are filled with holistic products for sale. With this change came a new wave of psychic interest and acceptance as people want to understand and learn for themselves.

Psychic fairs had their days and the gypsy times have come to rest as the emphasis has changed to the professional acceptance of the career psychic. I see the change and it is good.