What's to do at a rennaisance fair?

[Callmecrazy]

I just got invited to one in Deerfield Beach, Fl.
What is there to do? Besides watching a bunch of People dressing up like it's 1972 and saying "M'Lady" to all the chicks?

[seabeyond]

2. when i was younger. drink, hang out with friends, enjoy a beautiful day and check out the guys. nt

[Callmecrazy]

3. It's such a nice day...

Sunny, 80 degrees.
I'd be a fool to stay inside today.
Lawd, I love the So. Fla. weather.

[In_The_Wind]

4. I was there! Stop across the street at The Golden Cockatoo.!!!

[img][/img] [img][/img]

[Callmecrazy]

5. What the hell are you doing in Deerfield Beach?

What bar are you at?
I can be there in twenty minutes. We'll get the band back together and ROCK that mother!

[LiberalEsto]

6. frolicke amongst the knaves and wenches

joust
be merrie
party like it's 1372

[magical thyme]

7. eat, drink and be merry

for tomorrow ye may die, m'lord!

[lastlib]

8. Eat Turkey Legs!!

(suck in all that rich, scrumptious turkey jelly to clog those arteries!) -- YUMMY!!!

[talkingmime]

9. Some of them have ale.

[hedgehog]

10. Watch out for the mead!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

11. I went to one in the 1970s and saw a couple of guys get seriously injured

I went with my 12 year old cousin who was into LOTR and the Conan books and collected armor (he had a set of recreated Persian cavalryman armor from the middle ages). He was fascinated by the war re-enactors who used shields, swords, pikes and the like. The battle these re-enactors staged got so heated as their emotions got into it that they ended up trying to hurt each other. One guy got his arm broken and you could see bone sticking out (they used blunt swords) and they had to call an ambulance for another guy who got hit on the head on his helmet so hard he lost consciousness. It was the first and only time I've ever been to one of these fairs.

[struggle4progress]

12. Learn about the curious bygone habits of yesteryear. These guys, for example,

are trying to buckle their swashes



And this lady is educating everybody about how the world looked to the peasants who ate moldy rye



I haven't figured out just what these two guys doing, but I'm sure it was culturally important to the Middle Aged

[olddots]

13. search for the exit

that's hopefully not the case at all renaissance fairs but in 1977 in the San Fernando valley that's what I did and it cost like 30 bucks in todays money to get in.
Imagine out law bikers wearing swords , food that looked evil ,I'm far from a yuppy tight ass but it really lame but they must be better now ---bring money though .

[MiddleFingerMom]

14. One of my favorite low-budget movies ever is about a Renaissence troupe on motorcycles...

.
.
.
... who actually try to live by the Arthurian code (I've never been to a Faire, but I imagine there's
some accurate and wildly fictional aspects to the story). Directed by George Romero and starring
one of my favorite actors, a very young (1981) Ed Harris in the Arthurian role.
.
There's a very funny, very stupid cameo by Stephen King as a drunken spectator who dumps most
of the contents of his hoagie (??) onto his belly (I did that with my first-ever gyro at a street fair)
.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082622/
.
.
.
I highly recommend it.
.
.
.

[ms liberty]

21. That was a great movie...at least my memory of it is! n/t

[MADem]

15. Well, I took the crew to one a year or so ago.

There are all sorts of costumes....wenches, monks, fellers in tights, looking like Robin Hood, etc.

You're probably better off, if you want to wear a costume, to get one ahead of time--the ones that they sell at the place are overpriced.

They sell a lot of beer. They had Yards of Beer (it's three beers in a long plastic tube) at one place. They have junk food--sausages, even burritos (not terribly Renaissance, but they gave 'em a Ye Olde name)...oh, and Ye Olde French Fries, too. It's rather like fair food.

They had a magician, they had a little playlet that ran regularly with audience participation, they had jousting (which was kinda fun to watch), they had musical acts, they had people who told fortunes, who did henna tattoos, they had specialty events for little children, and they didn't have enough porta potties--there was always a line!

It was a fun day--not at all cheap, though. Those rackets make money hand over fist!

[Helen Reddy]

16. Surely you joust! n/t

[IrishEyes]

17. I go every year to the renaissance fair in New York.

Yes, I'm a geek. They are silly but fun if you go with the right people. It is a good place to take kids.

You eat, drink and shop. You look at all the people in costumes. Many people dress up in costumes. There are a bunch of shows you can watch like jousting, human chess and shakespeare plays. You can also play games like archery, knife throwing, etc.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

18. No. 1 rule: find out the difference between medieval culture/dress/etc. and the Renaissance

Seems to me most Renaissance fairs have nothing to do with the Renaissance, but more to do with the medieval/feudal time period which occurred earlier. Often, these fairs have little to do with reality, but more to do with fiction and movies/TV shows. The Renaissance was the re-birth of reason, architecture, science, art, Roman/Greek ideals, etc. The medieval period was about death, pestilence, feudalism, ignorance, courtly love, rejection of science, etc.

[malthaussen]

19. Make music:

-- Mal

[KG]

20. jousting, human chess, various entertainment on stages, food..

nothing epic; an enjoyable afternoon, I found it be.