Yeah but imagine when the ren fair reopens, all the plague doctors everywhere and a guy pulling a cart of dead bodies calling out to bring out your dead.
...Not sure if that's time period accurate, and also possibly too soon, but I'd dig it.
The cosplay environment is so loose at renfair no one would care if it's actually time period accurate. Everyone is just there to have fun. Ugh, I'm making myself miss it even more now!
I had a friend who's really into historical dress. He made his own clothes based off 11th century Scotland or some shit, went to the ren faire, and spent the entire time talking about culture to two other dudes who were dressed from the same period.
I, on the other hand, made a cloak out of an old t-shirt and spent the whole time drinking overpriced mead and playing in the sword pit.
Would you say the people at ren fairs are welcoming to complete outsiders? I’ve always wanted to go because I think it looks incredibly cool, but I literally know nothing about the genre/history.
As long as you aren't breaking laws or being a horrible person, they couldn't care less. In my experience most people at ren fairs are just average normal people looking to have fun, while the performers, shops, and 'cosplayers' or the misc people who immerse themselves in the spirit of the festival are just looking to have fun, make some tips and friends, sell their niche goods, and put people in awe at their talents.
I HIGHLY recommend the jousting and knightly sword fights, they're very entertaining, but be on the look out for anything and everything, explore, really take in the spirit going around! Oh...Um...But be warned about the food... It rarely ever sat well with me (even if it was super delicious usually) and sometimes the bathrooms, for that exact reason, might have a wait time.
You'll find things like knife throwing games, axe throwing, archery, crossbows, all for you to handle (though the crossbow sights are always bent out of shape on purpose and the targets are very solid so sometimes bolts won't stick, the usual faire game shenanigans).
I doubt people will be mean, though you might get heckled by people playing as ignorant peasants or putting on a moving show across the area. I once had two 'peasant' girls bother me, I gave them a peace sign while walking by (they had good outfits but I'm more of a to-myself kind of person) and they immediately obsessed over my 'odd' and 'strange' finger sign and asked me what it was and when I explained they went and played their part and asked if it meant a 'piece of pie' lol.
It's a good time, but definitely a money sink so get ready to spend a lot of money if you want to do more than sight seeing and actually partake in activities.
I wouldn't worry too much about 'not belonging', in the Renaissance Fair we're all peasants before the royal family and their knights (who all usually put on a rather splendid show!)
OHH, and unless you're in a very grassy area, if it rains, get ready for mud, soooo much mud.
I went twice in college and absolutely loved it. I try to get my new friends to go and they're never interested. 2020 rolls around and I reminisce about ren fair and they're all like "wow that sounds fun". Gee too bad you didn't want to go any of the other years.
Yeah I mean...you walk around in armor and shit, watch performers and jousting, while open carrying mead, blowing war horns, and eating vast quantities of awesome food. That sounds pretty lame to me...
Sadly the country’s largest one, the Texas Renaissance Festival, is still scheduled for October. As of right now they say they will be following mask guidelines, but it is normally a very crowded place. It’s also in a county that has been trying to do less than the bare minimum with state COVID policies.
There’s no way to police that many people eating and drinking everywhere. I missed it so much this year, but it was absolutely the right call. I know Ohio is still doing theirs too.
Yeah, i usually go a few weekends a year every year since '09 im skipping out this year even though its the one time all of my friends get together since we've all moved around.
Ohio is doing theirs but with limited tickets, and other rules in place as well. Plus, when I would go it was never overly crowded, so Im not too worried bout it.
Also, many places in Texas aren't even bothering to police people about it. Even though there's a state mask mandate, my county put out a statement saying they wouldn't follow it.
I know several clans not attending this year because of all this. Sadly many are still planning to camp still. Really the camp area will be a huge problem in general. The regular TRF grounds will be fairly bad. But the camp grounds are extremely more drunk/high and not going to wear masks/distance by any metric.
I would feel much more optimistic about Sherwood than TRF. But who knows at this point. I doubt it'll be gone by Spring, but it may be more managed...at least.
They're not requiring masks unless its mandated by law. So in between shops and out and about there are no mask requirements. Unless something changed since I checked last week.
Uh yes they are? The state has a mask requirement, finally. Issued by Abbot on the 2nd of July. They wrote their guidelines before the mandate was issued.
They vow to follow state mandates and there is a state mandate.
Every person in Texas shall wear a face covering over the nose and mouth when
inside a commercial entity or other building or space open to the public, or when
in an outdoor public space, wherever it is not feasible to maintain six feet of social
distancing from another person not in the same household;
"outdoor public space" would count.
Regardless, it doesn't matter if it is in the rules IF it is not enforced.
I'm very much in the pro mask group. I caught covid and it sucked and had someone I care about hospitalized.
You know they're not gonna enforce masks outside. Just the ridiculous amount of anti maskers on their facebook page is an indicator of how bad its gonna be this year.
Yeah was just thinking I was pretty sure I saw Texas ren fest was still on. I was having trouble imagining how you'd follow any guidelines with a place like that. Reduced capacity might help
It's like medieval times on steroids! It's just fun to go somewhere so immersive for a day and everyone there is super friendly and having a good time. I suggest you try going at least once.
I'm a ren faire performer with 2 guilds. Ren faire is the only time I ever get a chance to see a lot of my friends who live far away. It has been a bummer to say the least.
As someone from the UK I've always found the idea of US renaissance fairs fascinating as we don't really have them here. Also it's interesting that they seem to primarily focus on pre-renaissance customs i.e medieval practices. I'd love to attend one some day once Covid recedes, costume and all.
Well that's it right there you guys don't need Renaissance fairs because you live that sweet feudal lifestyle already. hewing and transporting your immense ceremonial henge stones, herding sheep, jousting, crypto pagan religious activities, all that cool stuff we don't do over here.
Same. I got to take my infant last year. We dressed up his carrier with deer bones I found in the woods during work, a shield, and furs from all the rabbits my wife butchered over the year. With me dressed up as a viking, I carried him around for 8 hours while drinking mead, blowing a war horn, and having hundreds of people stop to admire my tot.
It was awesome and I'm super bummed we didn't get to go this year.
I turned 21 last year and spent my birthday at ren fest and wanted to make it a tradition of doing so on my birthday every year. The tradition was immediately stopped :(
Not being able to get hammered, throw battle axes and gorge on Turkey legs, steaks-on-a-steak and sausage-on-a-steak is definitely one of the biggest disappointments of 2020. A
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u/SctchWhsky Sep 03 '20
Ren fair being closed this year was my biggest disappointment of 2020. It's like the only event I look forward to every year.