Witches, wizards and crones: Inside Northeast Ohio’s pagan community

Paganism is among the nation’s fastest-growing religions, with about a million pagans in the U.S. at last count.

Northeast Ohio has its own annual celebration of witches, crones and belonging — the Cleveland Pagan Pride Festival, now in its 16th year.

At the annual gathering earlier this month in the East Side suburb of Bedford, a steady beat of drums filled the air — to a backdrop of vendor tents and food trucks. Almost 5,000 attendees were present, some in witches’ hats and flowy black dresses on a hot summer evening.

Desiree Diaz held a large forest green boa constrictor as it tried to slither out of her hands. She and her husband own Off the Hook Exotic Pet Store in Pittsburgh and attend the event every year. She said snakes and other animals are important in many pagan traditions.