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Renaissance Faires and Festivals
Oct. 5th, 2014 08:39 amHerself and I decided to take a few days off for a whirlwind évasion after a busy and tiring summer. We'd been talking about going to some kind of country fair, which we enjoy, but both remembered that the Maryland Renaissance Festival is held during the fall, and it sounded like a ton of fun. (It helped that this weekend's theme was "courtly love". Sold!)
What's a Renfest? Basically an excuse for a bunch of folk who love (certain of the more hygienic) aspects of the Middle Ages and later periods (hence, the Renaissance part) and gather to celebrate them. Although details vary, there are certain constants: lots of live music (either true traditional, modern folk, or all kinds of funky worldbeat-fusion mashups), good beer (though sadly, a few booths were advertising Coors -- barbarians!), large amounts of unhealthy but delicious finger food (not all of it medieval), jugglers, comics, acrobats, and some kind of swordplay or related knight-errantry. Also, much antique garb and some cosplay, and lots of handicrafts of generally fine vintage. Also lots of good stuff going on for kids, though perhaps enough to be a bit overwhelming for the youngest ones.
Examples of our favorites, most with links to images or videos so you can get a taste:
The Pyrates Royale singing and comedy troupe
The Danger Committee jugglers, knife throwers, and comics with serious attitude
Cu Dubh, pronounced "coo dove", which is a deliciously inapropros name for what I'd describe as a heavy-metal bagpipe/drums hair band that makes your skull shake
The O'Danny Girls, a delightfully raunchy trioof ballad singers.
Shakespeare's Skum theatrical troupe, who do a lovely job of skewering The Bard of Avon.
The Dueling Fools, basically standup comedy with swordplay.
Much more we want to see, so we've decided to spend a second day at the festival.
This actually has little or nothing to do with the blog's nominal themes, so I'll just note in passing that although the organizers have produced a festival app for smartphones, the printed map and printed daily schedule are far more useful and more thematically appropriate. Sorry avantgardistes; for some things, Paper 2.0 and Book 1.0 still beat anything you can achieve in a handheld unit. No Glassholes that I noticed, so can't ask them whether the end is nigh for Paper and Book at such events.
What's a Renfest? Basically an excuse for a bunch of folk who love (certain of the more hygienic) aspects of the Middle Ages and later periods (hence, the Renaissance part) and gather to celebrate them. Although details vary, there are certain constants: lots of live music (either true traditional, modern folk, or all kinds of funky worldbeat-fusion mashups), good beer (though sadly, a few booths were advertising Coors -- barbarians!), large amounts of unhealthy but delicious finger food (not all of it medieval), jugglers, comics, acrobats, and some kind of swordplay or related knight-errantry. Also, much antique garb and some cosplay, and lots of handicrafts of generally fine vintage. Also lots of good stuff going on for kids, though perhaps enough to be a bit overwhelming for the youngest ones.
Examples of our favorites, most with links to images or videos so you can get a taste:
Much more we want to see, so we've decided to spend a second day at the festival.
This actually has little or nothing to do with the blog's nominal themes, so I'll just note in passing that although the organizers have produced a festival app for smartphones, the printed map and printed daily schedule are far more useful and more thematically appropriate. Sorry avantgardistes; for some things, Paper 2.0 and Book 1.0 still beat anything you can achieve in a handheld unit. No Glassholes that I noticed, so can't ask them whether the end is nigh for Paper and Book at such events.