Which always confounds me - when I went to one in college it was a counter-culture geekfest. This one has become so industrial and corporate, I keep expecting to see a mouse in shorts walking around.
Still, the people were trying hard to make us happy. We walked through the gates and some girls threw beads down to the kids. There were belly dancers, and more belly dancers - which I'm pretty sure weren't authentic, BTW, and there were musicians and, of course, the queen of England. I'm pretty sure she wasn't authentic, either, but I believe that the pirate wench was.
The best of the lot was an acrobatic troupe called Barely Balanced. They did a variety of tricks involving stilts, juggling and fire breathing. It was obvious they were a bunch of real swingers and it was scary how strong even the smallest member was . (At one point, she commented "if you think this is easy, go home and do 400 sit ups.")
Later there was the usual human chess. I don't think the plot has changed in 20 years, but the fights weren't badly choreographed. There were also more belly dancers. They were everywhere. Kind of like pigeons.
So, we went to a Ren Fest on Sunday.
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Tue, 2007-08-28 21:14
Now, Mike... I was AT that Rennfest with you back in college, and I seem to recall that you made at least one new friend there (see Round Table picture #12). Maybe that's why you feel qualified to judge the authenticity of the pirate wench?
As for the Pa Rennfest, I have heard it described (I think by the staff) as a "theme park", so I'm not surprised to hear that it was quite Disney-fied. By coincidence, your first picture happened to catch the sign for the Bee Folks, who have become friends of ours in recent years. Certainly there were bellydancers in the 16th century, but what they would be doing in England I don't know (dancing, I guess). Compared to some that I've seen, the queen looked reasonably authentic to me, for a young Liz. I thought that the stilts picture bordered on the obscene (which, of course, I wholeheartedly encourage).
It was great to hear from you, and I will try to check your site from time to time. The Round Table pictures are great! By the way, I got talked into buying the Drexel alumni directory (which is surprisingly complete), if you want to try to find anybody. Keep smiling, and I'll try to do the same.
Scott II