A Day at the Faire

“A Renaissance fair or Renaissance festival is an outdoor weekend gathering ostensibly focused on recreating life as it was during the Renaissance. In fact, these events create a fantasy inspired, in most cases, by both historical references (most often England in the time of Henry VIII or Elizabeth I) and by perceptions of the Middle Ages and Renaissance obtained from movies, games, books, comics, and television shows.” – Wikipedia. In other words, “It’s the Middle Ages as we would have “liked” them to have been. This particular Faire starts on Labour Day weekend, runs for about 6 weeks. The Ohio RenFaire has been around for years and even has a site built specifically for the festival as a medieval village. So, bright and early (…actually, dark and early as he sun hadn’t risen yet), I hit the road to spend the day at the faire. Even after taking a short side-trip to Caesars Creek State Park(post), I still arrived in time for the “Queen” to greet her loyal subjects, inviting them to partake in the festivities. The feeling from the crowds reminded me of Disney Land. That fun feeling where everyone gets to use those rusty imaginations and be a kid again. Upon entering I was immediately pounced upon by a greeter. It must have had a lost look on my face. She was nice and described how the “village” was layed out and made a couple of recommendations on what acts to see on that day. Armed with this knowledge, I headed over to see “Dirk and Guido: The Swordsmen” to learn how “manly men” will do reaally stupid things to impress a lady. These comedic swordsmen were very good at what they did. We were howling within about 15 seconds after the show started and they didn’t stop for half an hour. Reenactors, merchants, magicians, singers, knights, pirates, princesses, games, food and they were holding a highland games event that day. The gates opened at 10:00am and I didn’t leave until they kicked me out at 6:00pm. If they were open in the evening, I would have stayed. As it was, I went non-stop all day and still didn’t see half of what there was to offer. People really got into the shows and events and everyone was having a great time, and without beer if you can believe that! In spite of all the people, it didn’t feel too crowded. Unless you wanted to get something to eat, that is. Even if you didn’t feel like going to a show, you could just take a seat and “people watch”. Personally, I don’t like taking pictures of people. It feels intrusive, but people is what this event is about and I was able to get some great shots. My favorite was the “Rag Lady”. I think that her picture really captured her “character”. With everyone dressed up, it was hard to tell who was a performer and who was a guest. The only negative for me when taking photos on such a bright day is my camera’s tendency to overexpose shots. I was constantly fiddling with the fill-in flash and exposure compensator to get good shots. The best pictures, of course, were first thing in the morning and just before they closed up shop. It was a long, fun day and I can’t wait for next year’s event!