The Do's and Don'ts of Visiting a Renaissance Faire/ Festival

[Dinobabe]

Speaking of fealty... having a monarch was the gold standard.  So even if you were in a foreign country you still understood and respected the monarchy.  It was just good manners.

Personally, I think it's great fun to play at all the bows to the upper class.  I had a friend that became a lord at Bristol.  We had know each other for years before this so we had a great time with the whole middle-upper class interaction!

[Rowan MacD]

I would much rather play a fictional character than an historical one, it allows for more diversification.  For an historical king you are too limited as to what you can do and cannot do.  

And how the public expects you to look. There are so many portraits of kings and queens that even the most casually educated Dane expects Henry VIII to look like Henry VIII.  A tall, skinny brunette just doesn't look right, and you can only have a Cathrine, Anne or a Jane for Queen (I have seen one Henry with a Margaret and another with a Mary on his arm), or you risk being picked on like R2D2 at a Star trek convention ^_^.
 

[Merlin the Elder]

That's one of the reasons why I like our (Scarby's) Henry VIII so much. I think he looks just like several of the famous portraits.

[BLAKDUKE]

Talk about looking the part, Some friends of mine, my wife and I went to his majestys feast in Orlando some time back nd the The guy looked like Olivier in Richard III.  God how dis-appointing.  

[Rowan MacD]

  Henry is probably the hardest to do, because he's the most recognizable.
  We ladies have the same problem with Elizabeth I:
Danes expect to see a tallish, wasp-waist redhead in white face, hair piled high with tons of jewels, and a huge lace collar (which in period would not have been worn by anyone outside of court, much less a faire). 
  The wasp waist is a big problem, since even art historians admit the portraits were painted to exaggerate an impossibly small waist.   Unfortunately, the Danes expect to see an 18" waist.
  Elizabeth is probably the most inaccurately portrayed royal at faire. I have seen a slew of brunettes and a blond, and some interesting gown choices from a different century  .  A couple even had Kings!
   

[Merlin the Elder]

You're right about Henry VIII. But that is what is so perfect about our Henry. The physical resemblance is not perfect, but it's close enough to carry it off well. Some of the others that I've seen make me think more of Richard the Lionhearted than Hank8.

[kcdcchef]

a big don't - don't outdress the royalty. i see it too often people who come in garb who's outfits have the colors of the monarchy and further outdress lord and lady mayor, king, queen, etc. It's like GET REAL, you are NOT royalty!!!!!

[Rowan MacD]

   Good point.  The cloth of golds, purples and whites, and furs, in particular, are what I think of when I visualize royals.
    Most nobles can get away with a goodly amount of bling, but crowns and coronets are a definite no-no.   

   Unless you are trying to portray a King or Queen, or some well known noble who you know is already represented at that court, you should have no problem.  Most of the larger faires have a 'year' and 'village' so that garbed visitors have some sort of expectation of the characters who will be there on cast.  It would be rude to show up dressed as the Sheriff or a prince, but OK to attend as a generic visiting noble.

   However, if a well dressed Playtron has never visited a particular faire before, and finds themselves better dressed than most of the court-I don't think that should be their fault. 
   If the faire is good sized you would expect the court would look like a court, and typical noble garb should blend right in.  This is part of the fun, and is welcomed in most places as long as the visiting nobles behave accordingly.
   It goes without saying that the acting Royalty should be easily recognizable as such too. IMHO,  If they have to be pointed out to you, then they aren't dressed or acting properly for the part. 
   They can wear crowns, or in the absence of obvious rank regalia, they should always be surrounded by fawning entourage, including heralds if needed.
 
 

   

[robert of armstrong]

I strongly recommend building your own character, rather than trying to emulate one.  Little chance of two anythings walking around the same Faire that way, forget about two kings.  Ever seen two Captain Jack Sparrows run into each other?  Uncomfortable - then one always comes off looking like their garb is lacking in the inevidable comparison.  I'd much rather see a bunch of unique pirate captains with their own personality traits.

On the royalty side, I have seen visiting royalty at Faires - but the characters were really different.  One playtron was a period-ish Russain Czar who was awsome in character with accent and everything.  He was of Russian decent, so he chose to use that.  If you want to be visiting, be visiting from another area, not easily identifiable royalty from another era.

If you are in garb, try to create a character, and think about staying in that character.  You are part of the beautiful tapestry of the Faire.  Mundanes don't know that you aren't paid to be there, and may be disappointed.  I try not to disappoint anyone who may err and hold me in a high regard.  Keep the fantasy alive.

Enjoy yourself.  There aren't that many people, realatively speaking, who go to Faire.  Think about how good you have it to go and have this much fun, to feel as good as you do with friends and the Faire surrounding you.

[daggrim]

kcdcchef...neither is the "Royalty", really.

[floater]

Interesting subject. One question, though - what's a $100 bill?

[Merlin the Elder]

Interesting subject. One question, though - what's a $100 bill?

A rarity...

[Kiss-me-Kate]

Also, if you pay in cash, don't use 100 dollar bills, please.  Use smaller bills.  We don't have a ye olde atm/bankbehind our booth.

I check with the vendor before paying with large bills. Eventually it's going to get spent - just depends on who is going to break it.

You are cirrect, my dear pet.   If you have a 100 dollar bill, and you are buying a four dollar item, check to see if it can be broken first.  Cuz we want your money! 

[FortuneRose]

Don't sit in the front row at the mud show.  Save that place for virgin 'danes.

THIS!  LOL!  My husband has been going to the festival for six years now with me but this year was his first time going to the mud show and we had our 4 year old son with us...  he kept trying to insist we go to the front so our little one could see.  I had to put my foot down on that one that it was absolutely NOT smart to sit in the first SEVERAL front rows.  He was wise to finally listen to me and quickly realized why.

[Merlin the Elder]

One of our first faires was TRF in `89. We went to the mud show and stood BEHIND the benches. Nimue's white blouse STILL got splattered.