Why did you get started? And why do you stay?

[MorganaLightskirt]

My ex=boyfriend tool me back in 2001.  I went in in jeans and a t-shirt and came out in a dress and bodice.  After he moved away, I went by myself, met some great people and I'm still going.  Not as often as before, but I enjoy the camaraderie and everything else about Faire.

[Rani Zemirah]

When I was very young I read a story about a reluctant princess who would escape from the castle at night to go dance with the Gypsies who camped in the forest glade... and the first time I attended the Norman Medieval Festival I felt like I was IN that story!  As soon as I walked in I realized that most of the things in my wardrobe would just about pass for garb... although not exactly H/A garb... and I never looked back!  It wasn't until I actually performed there, probably almost 25 years later, that I bought my very first actual garb, though... and now my collection rivals some other's on here (although not anywhere near as fancy)! 

It wasn't until I attended Scarby for the first time, though, that I really learned anything about Fairmily...  I had heard of it on here for the year or so I was on before I got to go to a BIG Faire... but it wasn't until I experienced it for myself, meeting so very many of all of YOU, that I understood what I had been looking for the whole time.  All of the wonderful things about Faire are pale in comparison to that, for me, anyway. 

The camping is a huge part of that, because that's when we get to sit down and spend time with those people who are embedded in our hearts and minds forever, and make the memories that keep us warm during the times when we can't be with them... with all of YOU.  My daughter and I love just about everything about Faire... but that is what we love the most. 

[Dracconia]

Oh no!!!!! It's the thread pirate Fraser!!!!!!  Everyone stay on topic!!! Repeat this is not a drill ..... everyone stay on topic!

[Rani Zemirah]

Shouldn't that be the Thread Pirate Fraser?    LOL 




It sounds like, even though we have many different ways of saying it... for most of us Faire is simply the place that feels most like Home.  And what better reason to stay could there ever be? 

[Dracconia]

I agree....most heartaly. It is the best place with the best people.

But why stop here? I'm sure there are plenty more awesome stories on how folks got started in the faire world!

[DonaCatalina]

The general theme seems to be we came because of a love of history, or some childhood medieval fantasy that we loved. And then we stayed because we found so many kindred souls.

[Merlin the Elder]

Our first visit to a faire was in `89. One of my oldest friends was living the the Dallas area, and on a visit to him and his wife, we were taken to Scarborough. We found it to be great fun, despite (or because of) being attacked by the Kissing Wench. I suppose that because we told my Houston in-laws all about it, later that year, we were taken to TRF. It was big fun, but hotter than blue blazes.

Financial difficulties made it impossible for us to travel much at all, much less to attend a faire, but finally, in 2000, we had gotten back on our feet, and could spare some disposable income. We made a trip down to spend a day at the faire—as `danes. I bought a shirt at Dra's, and became cursed.

The following year—there were four of us from central Arkansas making the trip—my wife had gotten some garb, and to go with my shirt, she made me a kilt. Actually it was more like a skirt that a Catholic girl would wear to Academy, but that's inconsequential. Needless to say, I feel sure the entire Scottish Court of Scarborough had a good laugh over it.

The next season, my bride created a wizardly robe for me. She had always called me a wizard anyway, because of the work I did with computers (from the 70s forward). She had even called me Merlin that far back, so it was a natural progression for me to assume my rightful identity as Merlin.

We enjoyed being able to become something we weren't—or perhaps, wanted to be. It was all about letting go of the mundane world. We are both painfully shy, although those of you who we've met might find that hard to believe. I happened to stumble onto this forum a week after the RenDezvous at Scarborough.  We weren't at Scarby that weekend. Typically, we were only making the long trip once or twice a season, even though we had become Friends of Faire by that time.

Still, leaving the mundane world behind is a prime motivator for attending faire, but after meeting so many from this forum, it has also become a place to be with friends. We're about to attend our third RenDezvous to enjoy the company of those friends, and to visit yet another new (to us) festival.

After joining R/F, our first trip to faire was Scarby the following year. There were a couple of faces we saw that we recognized from here, and we approached them, looking like deer in the headlights. As I said, we are painfully shy. We were warmly greeted by Doña Catalina and Lady Kett, who introduced us around. They remain two of our dearest friends.

Pardon...old people talk too much....

[RefMom3]

My mom has often said there were two times specifically that proved how much she loved me: the day she took my brothers and me to Wrigley Field, and the time she took me to my first visit to King Richard's Faire (which did become Bristol) when I was in high school. She was not an adventurous soul, so these were major things.
I'm guessing that all of us reading the delightful memories shared here have been nodding our heads, murmuring,"Me, too." Once through the gates, all bets are off. For however long we're there, it's as though we're nestling into a space that feels comfortable and natural. You start coming for one thing, and it all morphs into something else.The familiar faces, food, garb, interaction with casts, music, jousting, artisans--I think it's all that, plus that extra something that just can't really be defined. That final ribbon on a bodice, or buckle on a belt, with the food on a stick--the harmonics tune to something that matches something inside, and you're hooked.

[Dracconia]

Oh no!!!!! It's the thread pirate Fraser!!!!!!  Everyone stay on topic!!! Repeat this is not a drill ..... everyone stay on topic!

Hey now!  I very rarely venture outside of the Texas threads!    

*waves cookies* Come on Fraser! Come see the rest of us! We lurves ya!

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

 ...

Me thinks i experienced a tech error over the weekend... or it could've been after a few brews and a touch of loki... 

[Dracconia]

...

Me thinks i experienced a tech error over the weekend... or it could've been after a few brews and a touch of loki... 

Loki is a grand reason to love faire!!!

[Merlin the Elder]

*** damned Scots *** 

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

Why, Thank you! 

[Dracconia]

But we love this Scot!


BACK ON TOPIC! (The Thread Pirate Fulfilled His Mission!)

When was your first faire? What did you think? And why do you keep coming back?

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

My Fairemily and people watching.  The drunken carousing and wenching are a plus too...