The Renaissance Festival has always carried a bit of a stigma. I’ve heard commentary that suggests only ‘kooky’ people attend the annual festival, or that people who go are a bit ‘off’. After all, the fair consists of a large group of people who like to dress up and play pretend- not for one night, but for months. And they get into their characters, not just with the costumes but also with their speech patterns, language and gestures. I think to many people it just sounds like too much. I thought it sounded like fun.
Finally happening upon an opportunity to experience this medieval gathering, I set off to see what it was really about. Putting friends’ snarky comments aside, I took with me the one constructive piece of advice I was given: Go hungry. At least a few opinions held that the food was the best part of the festival, and I wasn’t disappointed. Starving by the time I passed through the gate, I stopped at the first Chicken on a Stick vendor I saw. While the name might not sound all that appealing, the battered and fried skewered chicken was juicy, tender and altogether delicious. Hard apple cider, served ice cold, put a perfect end to the meal. And that was just the jumping off point. Every kind of indulgence was available. Wine stalls, taverns and beer vendors could be found every few feet, turkey drumsticks were being eaten with abandon in every direction, cheese curds (spectacular) were competing with gyros for attention, and almost every iced treat or cold beverage one could imagine were represented, including chocolate-covered frozen cheesecake. Mmm.
While I thoroughly enjoyed binging, perhaps the most incredible aspect of the fair was the set up itself. I had always pictured renaissance festivals to reflect their temporary nature. I went expecting a kind of tent city- a large, well decorated tent city with banners a-flying, but a tent city nonetheless. Imagine my shock to see that not only was the outer wall a permanent construction, but the food vendors and artisan shops were housed in actual buildings that were near-perfect era replicas. It appeared as if the festival town is static, just empty for ten months out of the year. And the impact this had on the ambiance made mince-meat out of my expectations. I felt as if I were actually in a medieval village, having passed through a few centuries to spend a leisurely day. Of course, the endless Coca-Cola stalls, ATMs and taverns with the Viking’s game blaring made for a hybrid experience, but it all combined into the best of both worlds. I particularly enjoyed seeing hard-core festival goers in full regalia talking on their cell phones. And while the privies were just outhouses, they certainly beat the more traditional chamber pots.

Of course, the activities and attractions tend to be the focal point of the festival for many. There were multiple stages which held a variety of comedy shows, poetry and music. The geek in me was drawn to the riddle booth, and my sense of morbid curiosity drove me into The Dungeon, a wax museum showcasing different torture techniques of the time (I really didn’t dig the rat-cage, where they lock your head in a cage full of rats to extract information- I’d say anything to get that off!). Pet Fest was a great sub-section of the fair where different pet products and services were on sale, and several animal protection agencies were on hand to share information and recruit volunteers. I don’t know that it was all that historically accurate, but seemed popular as it was rather busy with people and pets (dogs on leashes are heartily welcomed at the Ren Fest). Back in the main ‘village’, a stop at the petting zoo was necessary, as was a look at the elephant, camel and alpaca riding arena. Along the main wall were a fencing arena, a Dunk the Wench booth, and an opportunity to throw rotten tomatoes at a poor, good-natured volunteer. And across the road were a climbing wall, hookah tent, and reptile exhibit. The fair was packed with a wide variety of things to see and do.
The largest crowd I’d seen all day started gathering near the elephant enclosure. Avoiding small children with difficulty, I picked my way through the morass until I could get a glimpse of the center, and happily greeted the sight of knights on horseback. I had stumbled onto the jousting arena. I’ve always wanted to see someone in full armor get knocked off a horse, and it appeared that this was my chance. But after five passes and seven broken lances, they were all still in the saddle when a winner was declared. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one in the crowd waiting for an unhorsing. Understanding his audience, the winner did a very un-knightly thing- he whacked the losing jouster over the head with the butt of his lance and pulled him out of the saddle. Once chain mail hit dirt, the crowd went crazy, producing a cacophonic outburst that could be heard halfway across the village.
Maybe that’s what Ren Fest is all about. Perhaps it’s an excuse to exercise our baser instincts in a socially acceptable way: eating to bursting; drinking all you want in the middle of the day without being judged; watching knights bash each other with large sticks; beating at your friend with a rapier; listening to lewd jokes where it’s acceptable, even encouraged, to laugh at them; and satisfying our innate morbidity by taking a peek at various methods of torture. Even shopaholics have a binge outlet. Stores selling goods from modern day tee-shirts to time-period costumes, stalls with fortune tellers, and shops manned by artisans including blacksmiths, potters and jewelers abound.
Though I did feel a bit underdressed in jeans and a tank top, no one sneered at me or made me feel uncomfortable for not getting in the spirit of the fair. The more costumed fairgoers skipped around in petticoats and kilts, I walked around in sneakers and sunglasses. They spoke in the vernacular of the era, I spoke modern American (and yes, their English was better than mine). They did their thing, I did mine. And a good time was had by all. Regardless of how involved you get or how much preparation you put into the event, it would seem to me that setting aside judgment and just enjoying the moment is the point of Ren Fest.

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