Sometimes you need to pump the brakes and focus on finding contentment with what you have. That’s what the aesthetic of cottagecore is all about. Cottagecore is an aesthetic characterized as a romanticized version of old-fashioned rural living. Think of the village in the opening of Beauty and the Beast. It’s a comfy-cozy aesthetic that focuses on rustic handmade items and harkens back to a simpler time before industrialization took hold of the world. Back when people still lived in hand-crafted cottages.
“Cottagecore is kind of about contentment. You know the world is really fast, and the world is very much telling us, ‘You’ve got to have more, you need to be more, do more, faster, like you are not enough,’” said Beth Clark, a volunteer with NBC Historical Park. "Cottagecore is more about contentment saying, ‘You know what, I’ve got a good loaf of bread, I’ve got a cup of cocoa, I’ve got a book to read, I’ve got a candle, I have people that I love,’ and it’s more about slowing down and appreciating what you have around you.”
You could think of cottagecore as a mix of a renaissance fair with a “Little House on the Prairie” twist. Cottagecore, like renaissance fairs, also incorporates elements of fantasy through different subgenres.
“It’s super diverse as far as who is interested in it. You have dark cottagecore, you have subgenres like grandmacore, goblincore, and fairycore. It’s really all over the place,” said Liz Clark, Beth’s daughter who is also a major volunteer for the event.
The event will host short arts and crafts classes and even opportunities to get your photo taken in the cottagecore environment.
The event is this weekend, June 11. You can view the itinerary and purchase tickets for $8 here.