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After perusing a Free Comic Book Day store, we went to a Ren Faire. It was weird.
A bunch of little sheds, some more decent looking than others. A mudhole. Worn tracks between the ponderosa pines and the sheds and the porta 'privies'. A peacock called from one side of the area. We got there one hour after it opened, so if there were any introductions of the characters, we missed it. The king was finishing his court, so we missed most of that, too.
We did, however, get there in time for the mud show, which was hilarious and consisted of two women acting out plays and performing songs, standing in the mud puddle and with plastic aquatic toys as props (a rubber octopus was both the ballgown and glass slipper in Cinderella, and everyone's murder or suicide weapon in Othello). They were so funny that we watched their act twice.
Another highlight was a pair of bards, who had one set of tunes outdoors in the early afternoon, and a set of more bawdy tunes and limericks behind the tavern later in the afternoon. They were very highspirited and charming, behaved like 'real bards', cracked jokes and flirted with the ladies. I stood up and said my haiku limerick during their limerick song :)
Now, the lowlights. While everyone was wonderfully attired, a lot of them (most of them young girls) seemed like their ren faire face was just put on, that they were acting their parts rather than being their parts. I wasn't sure how to interact with these people that threw stilted lines my way, seemed unapproachable as humans you could have a normal conversation with, didn't spend time talking with the patrons and instead just stood in huddles talking with each other. There were exceptions, like the mudgirls, the bards, the innkeep, the magician and a very insistent pickle seller, and some people we didn't see much as they were setting up their stuff, but I still didn't feel like I could interact instead of watch with a lot of them.
The stores were few, didn't have large selections (except the weapon store), and I wasn't exactly impressed with the quality of most of the clothing and jewelry.
The waterbearers were conspicuously absent. We were told there would be plenty water available, but we never could see one. I asked the innkeeper if she had any water, and all she could offer was water from a hose, which we politely accepted and then quietly threw out after admiring the little specks of dirt in it. A bearer was finally spotted when one of the gypsy lasses was seen carrying a pewter, holding it close to her side and not in any way offering it to people. My sweetie did manage to get some water from her, and at the second bard show we had another gypsy lass who was actually actively offering it to people. We were told that usually the waterbearers were quite aggressive in making sure nobody was thirsty, so I guess I was there on a bad day.
There was a girl dressed like a vampire elf or something with fangs and pointy ears that I couldn't tell whether was a patron or someone who worked there. She was continuously stalking around, baring her fangs at patrons, and looked about as much as a vampire elf as you could expect a human to be capable of.
At one point, we decided to look for the peacocks. We continued a bit further down a road than we were supposed to, and found ourselves on a dirt path with a junkheap on one side, a corral with two horses on the other, a female peacock with chicks at the end of the path, and a male peacock with a sorry looking plume standing on the junkheap. He had no full, intact plume feathers; they were all either half grown or damaged in some way, which explained the source of the peacock feathers being sold on the faire grounds. I got a couple pics of the peacocks before two performers in masks came over to tell us we were off the faire grounds and had to go back.
The faire was an interesting thing to experience, even if it sometimes felt like we were being herded from performance to performance. Despite the aloofness of most, the good characters, the ones that were their parts, stood out and made it worthwhile. The food was good, there weren't too many bugs, and it wasn't too hot. I wouldn't have minded staying for a jousting/fighting contest later in the afternoon, except I got a solid headache from cigarette smoke at the second bard performance and a general low hydration level.
I prefer the SCA, I think. Even if it is less accessible, the impression I got is that they take it more seriously. Also, as a guest of two members there, I didn't feel anything like the us-them feeling I got from a lot of people today.
A bunch of little sheds, some more decent looking than others. A mudhole. Worn tracks between the ponderosa pines and the sheds and the porta 'privies'. A peacock called from one side of the area. We got there one hour after it opened, so if there were any introductions of the characters, we missed it. The king was finishing his court, so we missed most of that, too.
We did, however, get there in time for the mud show, which was hilarious and consisted of two women acting out plays and performing songs, standing in the mud puddle and with plastic aquatic toys as props (a rubber octopus was both the ballgown and glass slipper in Cinderella, and everyone's murder or suicide weapon in Othello). They were so funny that we watched their act twice.
Another highlight was a pair of bards, who had one set of tunes outdoors in the early afternoon, and a set of more bawdy tunes and limericks behind the tavern later in the afternoon. They were very highspirited and charming, behaved like 'real bards', cracked jokes and flirted with the ladies. I stood up and said my haiku limerick during their limerick song :)
Now, the lowlights. While everyone was wonderfully attired, a lot of them (most of them young girls) seemed like their ren faire face was just put on, that they were acting their parts rather than being their parts. I wasn't sure how to interact with these people that threw stilted lines my way, seemed unapproachable as humans you could have a normal conversation with, didn't spend time talking with the patrons and instead just stood in huddles talking with each other. There were exceptions, like the mudgirls, the bards, the innkeep, the magician and a very insistent pickle seller, and some people we didn't see much as they were setting up their stuff, but I still didn't feel like I could interact instead of watch with a lot of them.
The stores were few, didn't have large selections (except the weapon store), and I wasn't exactly impressed with the quality of most of the clothing and jewelry.
The waterbearers were conspicuously absent. We were told there would be plenty water available, but we never could see one. I asked the innkeeper if she had any water, and all she could offer was water from a hose, which we politely accepted and then quietly threw out after admiring the little specks of dirt in it. A bearer was finally spotted when one of the gypsy lasses was seen carrying a pewter, holding it close to her side and not in any way offering it to people. My sweetie did manage to get some water from her, and at the second bard show we had another gypsy lass who was actually actively offering it to people. We were told that usually the waterbearers were quite aggressive in making sure nobody was thirsty, so I guess I was there on a bad day.
There was a girl dressed like a vampire elf or something with fangs and pointy ears that I couldn't tell whether was a patron or someone who worked there. She was continuously stalking around, baring her fangs at patrons, and looked about as much as a vampire elf as you could expect a human to be capable of.
At one point, we decided to look for the peacocks. We continued a bit further down a road than we were supposed to, and found ourselves on a dirt path with a junkheap on one side, a corral with two horses on the other, a female peacock with chicks at the end of the path, and a male peacock with a sorry looking plume standing on the junkheap. He had no full, intact plume feathers; they were all either half grown or damaged in some way, which explained the source of the peacock feathers being sold on the faire grounds. I got a couple pics of the peacocks before two performers in masks came over to tell us we were off the faire grounds and had to go back.
The faire was an interesting thing to experience, even if it sometimes felt like we were being herded from performance to performance. Despite the aloofness of most, the good characters, the ones that were their parts, stood out and made it worthwhile. The food was good, there weren't too many bugs, and it wasn't too hot. I wouldn't have minded staying for a jousting/fighting contest later in the afternoon, except I got a solid headache from cigarette smoke at the second bard performance and a general low hydration level.
I prefer the SCA, I think. Even if it is less accessible, the impression I got is that they take it more seriously. Also, as a guest of two members there, I didn't feel anything like the us-them feeling I got from a lot of people today.
