| Editorial
RF 001 FANTASY CHARACTERS AT RENAISSANCE FAIRES Renaissance Faires were originally intended to be a Historical representation of the Renaissance and Medieval time period reflecting the History of Europe. As a cross reference look into any Mountain Man or Civil War reenactment event. The focus is on one period in History, and every attempt is made to keep the event on that focus. This is the intent and purpose of a Renaissance Faire. There are several big and older faires that are still true to this ideal, especially in Europe and they set a time and date for their event, like "This year the theme is Spain 1542" Over the years we have seen a steady widening of the ideal time frame so what happens in reality is a wide mix of participants at Faires: Vikings and Celts, Romans and Trojans groups have appeared. They are pre Medieval, not Renaissance, but at least are from Europe. We have seen Japanese Shoguns... well yes they are loosely connected to Europe, mostly Dutch and England, in the late 1500's till 1614, Native Americans..... well yes Columbus was definately Renaissance, and he most certainly interacted with them, and a few were brought to Europe for "display" to the court. Then we have the Arabic representations, mostly with Belly Dancers. While Europeans most certainly interacted with the Arab world {crusades} they would not have brought belly dancers back to Europe. But the Moors {aka Morrocans, Africans and Berbers} and Spain interactes a lot in the 1500's, and one result was Flamenco dancing. And finally we have the Fantasy people. Wizards, Druids, Elves, Faeries and others. Sure, its argued, Europeans believed in those beings. At our Faire in Vegas we have a Group called the "Wyldes" a barbarian pre-Conan group painted with zebra stripes. Yep, Barbarians were all over Europe, pillaging and effecting the politics and stabilty of whole regions. Klingons and Star Trekies have been spotted at several Faires. They have the answer of course... they just beamed down to a Medieval Planet....... IDEAL VS PRACTICAL Ideally it would be nice to be able to keep a Renaissance Faire pure and focused. Our group has even come up with a Faire layout that would accommodate several groups and time lines, simply by putting it in separate areas, like a "walk through time". That way your Renaissance groups, merchants and performers would be in one area, while the Middle Eastern groups and Belly dancers with appropriate vendors and food etc., would be in another. A Celtic section, early history {Roman etc.} and a fantasy section would then be able to fit in. The logistics would not be too difficult and we have had many people tell us it would be a great idea. {Note: Any organizer is more than welcome to take this idea and run with it and I am sure someone else already has ;-)} Practically however you run into many problems. I will list a few, but I am sure I am missing some. A} Event costs. The biggest problem from an organizers point of view is the tremendous cost of land rental, permits, insurance and entertainment costs. If you don't believe that just ask to see the books sometime. So eventually you face the fact that you must allow a mix to be able to pay the bills. B} For a Faire to be true to a Time Frame and Focus you would need many merchants, guilds and entertainers that fit that focus. With all the Faires around the Country competing with each other for dates, there are not enough to go around. For our planned event in Vegas we found only the beginning of March free to get those people we wanted and that is a very narrow margin to plan with. C} The Patrons. For years people have wanted to attend Faires in garb {costume}. Many "rennies" and re-creationists have come into this from a role playing fantasy game background {yes us too ;-P}. If you want purity, then you have to allow only those costumes that keep your focus in mind. Either that or allow no costumes at all for non participants. Well you can see the nightmare that would create, though I know of some venues that do not allow costumes on patrons. Imagine having to appoint someone to turn away patrons because a costume is not appropriate. There goes your gate receipts. And your merchants are not going to be too happy, because those in costume are going to be your best customers as they add to or seek to improve their wardrobe, accessories and armament. These people are also the most likely to join a true guild. D} The Guilds. There are many guilds from those that are true reenactors portraying a particular historical focus, whether Elizabethan, Tudor, Viking, or Roman to pure fantasy groups like the Wyldes {barbarians} or Tribe Fendren {truly awesome Faeries} These guilds seek out others that are of like mind and then expect you to follow guild rules and policy. Guilds will participate where ever they can, whether a faire is pure or not, depending on their own preferences. But in the long run, having a Guild or re-creation group that has no audience does not work very well, so we grimace and grit our teeth, but its "Off to Faire we go". The re-creation guilds tend to be more focused on historical aspects and set a time frame, and do not allow Fantasy characters but that will be discussed in another section. SOLUTION Other than the division of a Faire as we suggested with the "walk through time " idea, I don't think there is one that would be practical. Even many of the "purists" will admit that a narrow focus would make for a very small event. The general public comes for the entertainment, pure and simple. If, while entertaining them, we can send them home with a little historical knowledge so much the better. But Belly Dancers, Faeries and Elves, the Green man and such are certainly entertaining, especially if done right. And no matter what anyone says, they appeal to adults as much as children. In keeping with our goals and ideas we welcome any additions, ideas and comments on this editorial. You can mail them to editorial@standauffish.net. As we have sent this document to many web mailing lists PLEASE RESPOND DIRECTLY TO US and not to the board where you came across this topic. Thank You
The opinions expressed here are those of the management but do reflect the views of the majority of our membership. Additional Comment Spectators and patrons are the bread and butter of any event it's true. They can dress any way they like, drink themselves silly and have a great time - that's what the show we do is for... I am NOT asking for anything to be close to
100% period. I believe that to be a really impractical chore. My beef is
with events that promote themselves as a Ren Faire when in reality they
are nothing more than a joust/rock concert/Jingle Babes show with lots
of vendors thrown in too. Basically, blood and gore plus tits and ass to
a great drum beat with a guitar solo is NOT a Renaissance Festival.
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