Renaissance Faire Overview
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Renaissance Faire (Ren Faire or just Faire) is an amalgam of many things. Its partly a craft fair, its partly historical reenactment, its partly performance art. Everyone working at Faire dresses in costumes (or garb) typical of the late Elizabethan period. There are many booths selling both crafts and food. Parades wind their way through the crowds. Jugglers, musicians, magicians, and other entertainers perform through the day. You wander about, examining goods for sale, sampling foods, watching plays and performers, and of course drinking fyne English Ale.
If you've never been to a Faire, then its hard to convey a sense of it. Most people when they go for the first time are overcome by the sheer number of things to see. And I don't mean number of things quite in the sense of say a shopping mall, though the comparison is there. But there is no chrome or decorative lighting in a sterile mall atmosphere; instead there are ribbons and flags waving in the wind, the sound of bells, of lutes, of ocarinas in the air, the lilt of foreign accents, the smell of cooking foods and flowers, the warmth of sun on your face and the wind in your hair. The setting aside, what differs more is the people; many, dare I say most, people are at faire because they want to be there. People work at faire to have fun, to entertain; they want to socialize. If you're willing to play with them, they're happy to banter with you. When was the last time someone tried to sell you something by insisting it was carried on the backs of explorers from the wilds of the far off Indies?
In California, there are many Faires. The largest, and perhaps most historically accurate, are those run by the Living History Centre (LHC) in both Novato in Northern CA, and San Bernadino in Southern CA. Other faires include the Central Coast Renaissance Festival in San Luis. Faires are seasonal, the Southern Faire runs 8 weekends from mid April through late June, the Northern Faire 6 weekends from Sept through early October. SLO Faire is two weekends in early July (16th/17th and 23rd/24th) and others are scattered throughout the year.
To locate a faire near you, consult the Faire Site Directory. Other sources of faire information include the Scribe, the newsgroup alt.fairs.renaissance, and talking with your local SCA chapter.
The SCA is the Society for Creative Anachronism, which is a group dedicated to researching and recreating the Middle Ages in the present. Though many people are members of the SCA and also work at faires, the difference is that faires are generally run for profit (LHC faires though non-profit are still a commercial venture) and the SCA is run because its members want it to be run. Information about the SCA can be found on the Rialto, which is the newsgroup rec.org.sca or from the SCA WWW Server.
Interested in going to Faire? Check the Faire Site Directory and contact the faire closest to you. Try contacting your local branch of the SCA. Check the newsgroup alt.faires.renaissance. Information about LHC (CA) (now REC) faires can be had by calling 1-800-52-FAIRE. Smaller faires often carry a faire newspaper called The Renaissance Shopper which contains a calendar listing events throughout California. You can contact the Renaissance Shopper at (909) 943-7333 or at PO Box 422, Riverside, CA, 92502.
Realistically you can wear whatever you please. There are no dress codes. You may find yourself getting more into the mood should you adopt proper clothing or something close. Clothes that you may have about that generally pass as vaguely faire-like include:
JMV 1994 (revised 5/1999)
