Before: Yes, it's way overpriced, but I attended my first RenFest in California when I was 11 or 12, by the juggling, the "gypsies," the folks shouting their wares, the dancing. It was like briefly inhabiting one of those historical novels I read voraciously--I was completely enchanted. In those days, it was a lot more rustic, but my daughter and her friends have had the same magical time here in Minnesota, although Ren Fest tips a little more to the theme park (it's not the oldest, but I think it is the biggest in the country.)Today is the opening day, and the theme is The Silk Road, so there will be Middle Eastern dancing, music, and lots of folks with jingly costumes.
We may see the jousting, our local Morris Dancers (who also turn up at the May Day festival). There will be Middle Eastern dancing today, and the Grand March parade is great for seeing costume creativity. Mikael no longer performs in MN, but seems to have found other renfest engagement.
I may have to make a stop at Ye Olde Express Teller because I'm sure I'll be flinging wads of cash about, but today's excursion will be a last fling with two very dear friends before they move down to Austin.After:
We all wore costumes. Wearing a skirt is much cooler thans pants when it's 85 degrees! Because it was the first day, there was not yet the cloud of dust that hangs over the fair later on in the season; everything was shiny and the flowers and trees were gorgeous under a perfect sky. We love the people watching, the imagination and pleasure people take in dressing up as their fantasy selves (say, sounds like the Star Trek Con! maybe some of these folks were there!). The Florentine ice oranges (a half orange with molded orange ice) are delicious, but they leave your tongue a little raw. We skipped Ye Olde bungee jumping, the elephant ride, and the jousting this year, in favor of the dancing, and really admiring some of the craft work. Really, it was about spending time with our friends. We'll miss them! But now we have an excuse to visit Austin.
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3 comments:
I never wanted to go to the Ren Fest, but this post makes me reconsider.
Seeing people engaged in imaginative play at the Star Trek con, even in the worst capitalistic setting (Las Vegas), was so much plain old *fun*, it made me think better of humanity, and that's go to be good.
Yeah. At the same time, I know that the artists and crafters who work the RenFests are terribly exploited by the company who runs the deals (from the experience of a friend who used to perform there) so the analogy to Vegas is apt. I can't get rid of my critical facilities all the time, but I'm trying to keep it from squeezing all potential for joy our of life!
Observe this Renaissance reenactment in Italy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npuhs-dNePU
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