Renfaire!!!
It's that time again. The New York Renaissance Faire is celebrating its 40th season this year. Drew likes to tell everyone that he's been to 36 of the 40 faires. I cannot boast that kind of attendance record, but I'm no slouch either.
The faire tends to be 1/3 authentic living history, 1/3 creative anachronism, and 1/3 pure fantasy. The backstory is that you are in the Shire of Sterling, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I has come to visit. Equally important is the Robin Hood-Maid Marian story being played out all around the faire. Occasionally the two stories intersect.
When you first enter the fairgrounds, you walk through the crafts fair and marketplace area, Spendpenny Lane.
This fine gentleman reminded us that there is a pub crawl through the faire:
The Queen and her court were on parade:
One of our favorite acts is Hey Nunnie Nunnie. Sister Philomena and Mother Redempta. They tell jokes, sing silly songs, etc.
Here's a video I took of them a few years ago. the act hasn't changed much, but it's still a delight.
We came across "Sister Philomena" later in the day, as she was walking from one part of the faire to another. She took the time to sit and talk with us about the show.
Another favorite is Stewart & Arnold. They're knife-throwers.
One of the highlights of the day is the Living Chess Game, highly choreographed combat sequences.
New to the faire this year was Cirque du Sewer. They perform with rats and cats. Adorable.
Another highlight is the joust. We paid a small fee for VIP seating, and got up close and personal with the horses and riders.
Drew likes to shop for weapons and armor. This year he didn't find anything he really liked. And he was so disappointed that Siege the Day wasn't around, he loves their catapults.
And now for my tale of woe. I like to dress up for the faire. I don't wear a costume per se, but rather, I have several items in my wardrobe that are rather bohemian, that individually I might wear on a weekend, but when worn together have a costume-like effect (and no, there are no photos...) This includes a lot of costume jewelry from Medieval Metal.
I love their ear wrap sets. You get two pieces, an ear wrap and a matching earring. Two years ago I bought this item:
I broke one of the charms off the wrap portion, so last year I bought the same set, but in purple:
I broke the purple earring.
So I wore the purple wrap with the clear earring.
And lost the earring.
I think I'll stay away from fairies for awhile.
My posts about previous faires:
renfaire!
The faire tends to be 1/3 authentic living history, 1/3 creative anachronism, and 1/3 pure fantasy. The backstory is that you are in the Shire of Sterling, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I has come to visit. Equally important is the Robin Hood-Maid Marian story being played out all around the faire. Occasionally the two stories intersect.
When you first enter the fairgrounds, you walk through the crafts fair and marketplace area, Spendpenny Lane.
This fine gentleman reminded us that there is a pub crawl through the faire:
The Queen and her court were on parade:
One of our favorite acts is Hey Nunnie Nunnie. Sister Philomena and Mother Redempta. They tell jokes, sing silly songs, etc.
Here's a video I took of them a few years ago. the act hasn't changed much, but it's still a delight.
We came across "Sister Philomena" later in the day, as she was walking from one part of the faire to another. She took the time to sit and talk with us about the show.
Another favorite is Stewart & Arnold. They're knife-throwers.
One of the highlights of the day is the Living Chess Game, highly choreographed combat sequences.
New to the faire this year was Cirque du Sewer. They perform with rats and cats. Adorable.
Another highlight is the joust. We paid a small fee for VIP seating, and got up close and personal with the horses and riders.
Drew likes to shop for weapons and armor. This year he didn't find anything he really liked. And he was so disappointed that Siege the Day wasn't around, he loves their catapults.
And now for my tale of woe. I like to dress up for the faire. I don't wear a costume per se, but rather, I have several items in my wardrobe that are rather bohemian, that individually I might wear on a weekend, but when worn together have a costume-like effect (and no, there are no photos...) This includes a lot of costume jewelry from Medieval Metal.
I love their ear wrap sets. You get two pieces, an ear wrap and a matching earring. Two years ago I bought this item:
So I wore the purple wrap with the clear earring.
And lost the earring.
I think I'll stay away from fairies for awhile.
My posts about previous faires:
renfaire!
It's been so many years since I've been to one of these. I've been to two of them - one (40 years ago, perhaps) in Kansas City and several times to the one in Sterling (upstate). Husband read your post and cried out "chicken checkers!" and "turkey legs". He also has fond memories of tossing quarters into...well, the women do dress like that for a reason, right? As for me, I enjoyed the constipated men skit and fear I have an earworm setting up. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteOh no! It so sucks when you lose things like that. But it sounds like you had a great time.
ReplyDelete