Our visit to Bristol renaissance Faire - a trip report

[BarbarianQueen]

Well, we just go back from a weekend visit with friends to the Chicagoland area, and a visit to the Bristol Renaissance Faire!

I had posted earlier asking for information about it, and so I'll post my experience for those wanting to visit someday.

So to begin –
We had beautiful weather!!  Incredibly sunny, 85 degrees and almost no humidity.  Of course, most of the locals seemed to think this was really, really hot 
Getting to the faire was incredibly easy, though there was some construction.  We arrived Saturday about 10:00, and drove right off the highway into the parking lot.  Parking was $5, and we were able to park fairly close.

Truth be told – Lord Scott and I went in "Mundane" clothes to start. The thought was to check out the percentage of Playtron involvement, and also check out the range of costumes.  It was "Fantasy Weekend" so we were looking forward to seeing what people came in!
However, we were a bit surprised at the lack of Playtron activity.  At least for the first hours of the faire, I would say only about 5% of those there were in costume.  You could look at entire crowds for shows and not see a single costume.  Odd!  If I had to guess, I would say TRF has somewhere around 30-40% of its guests in at least some sort of costume.
However, there certainly were folks dressed and having a good time, and after we saw a couple of other barbarians and some lovely chain mail lasses, we couldn't wait any more and went back out to the camper to change!
I won't bore you with all the details, but will try to list some pertinent information.
Shows we saw –
-    The Tortuga Twins
-   Iris and Rose
-   Moonie the Magnificent
-   Barely Balanced
-   Sirena
-   Two Merry men
-   The Rambling Sailors
We enjoyed them all!  And the stages were quite a bit more intimate than at TRF, so you felt more in touch with the performers.  Our favorite was probably the Tortuga Twins. We caught their last show of the day, and from their own words, it got "out of hand" a little.  In a GOOD way, lol.

Here are the things we liked about Bristol –
-   Compact!   It looked almost like a mini-TRF, with the same types of buildings and signage, but about a third of TRF's size. Easy to get to everything!  The walking lanes were sometimes a bit tight, though.
-   Very clean and well taken care of!
-   Great performers!  Music was all fantastic
-   Friendly folks!  Mostly....(more later).  Every worker there was very friendly and happy.
-   The food and the booze!!!!  The Vegetable and shrimp Tempura was fantastic, and you could get mixed drinks!!  Long Island Iced Teas, all day, lol.
-   The sound systems all worked well for the entertainers. Come on, TRF, FIX THIS!
-    Weather was divine!

Here are the things we didn't like as much –
-   No central or established gathering  place for the "hard Core" festival folks, like the Sea Devil at TRF.  We kept looking for "the party", as it were, but after a full day of wandering around, realized it just wasn't there. No drunken Pirate sing-alongs, no fantastical unofficial parade of dozens or even hundreds of amazing costumes, etc.
-   NO "CLOSING!"  We were at the Tortuga twins show when it ended around 6:15 or so, and we thought, lets grab another Long Island and find the "hang out" or pub sing, or pirate sing along and settle in for rest of the evening.  However, as we exited the stage area and turned towards the direction of the Long island counter, a park employee stopped us and said, "Alright folks, the exit is THAT way, get moving!"  For a horrible moment I thought we were being kicked out of Bristol, much like we were at the Faire which shall go unnamed (spit!), but it wasn't that.  The faire was just over!  At 6:30!  With three hours of light left!!  No fireworks, no pirate sing-along, no beautiful lighting of the grounds, no drunken story-telling and costumed comparing at the See Devil or barbarian Inn... We were sort of crushed.  And of course, no camping,  no bonfire, or drum circle.  We went back to our vehicle wondering what to do with ourselves.
-   Much fewer costumes.  I had believed that Bristol was more of a "period authentic" faire, and had looked forward to seeing tons of folks in really nice Renaissance clothing.   I think we saw maybe 25 people in traditional ren garb.  To be sure, they WERE beautiful, but very similar to what you would see hundreds of at TRF.  Also, very little fantasy garb, almost no barbarians, and a WHOLE lot of polite mundanes 
-   Lord Scott was also a little disappointed at the lack of steel there, either as garb or for sale.  No biggie for me, but he kept remarking, "where are the weapons?? Swords?  And Sword venders?"  There were I think two venders on the grounds, and we visited them both.
-   Lastly, I had a couple of instances where I believe a costumed lady was trying to get me kicked out.  And this, with my "conservative" version of my garb ?.  She was giving us the stink-eye the entire time we enjoyed some tasty Mushrooms and watched the Barely Balanced act, just a really evil look.  Then, when a park attendant came by, she scuttled over to him and really bent his ear for a good minute or so.  He looked our way, shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, and politely disengaged himself from her.  This did not help her mood at all, and she continued to give me her best Rhonda Rousey stare down.  I mentioned it to Lord Scott, who was of coure blissfully ignorant of the drama, and he made me point her out.  I did, and he promptly whipped out his camera and walked over to take a picture of her, lol.  She stopped staring, then.  We saw her a couple of more times, and each time she seemed to radiate ill-will our way.  Oh well, can't make everyone happy.  Also, Maybe I imagined it and was putting words in her mouth that were really about something else.

Anyway, we had a great time!  Thanks, Bristol, for putting on such a well-run, beautiful faire!

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

Glad you enjoyed yourself BQ.  Bristol is our home faire for 19 years, so I would like to respond to a couple of your points.  There is a Friends of Faire Garden where the hard corers go.  We have a season membership, but you can buy a daily pass for $5.  Free water, Gatorade, and the cleanest privies anywhere.  People shoot the breeze and performers wander in an out to entertain.

The faire closes at 7, and somehow, you missed the drum jam (not sure how, you can hear it all over the faire, lol).  It starts around 6:20 and goes to the end.  From 6 to 7, there is the musicians revel, where a huge group of musicians from the different acts jam together with audience sing alongs.  There's something to do with the queen and cast sing along, but we never go, so I can't tell you much about that.  And from 6 to the end, there is probably the funniest thing at the whole faire.  Moonie, singer Dylan Robertson, and Adam Crack the whip guy, do a completely improv show.  No script, but it usually has something to do with juggling fire, including unintentionally setting the stage on fire - we were there for that one!

They are all listed in the program.  I'm sorry you missed all of that.  We wer there yesterday, and there were tons of people in garb.  Probably you didn't see as many at the shows, because honestly, as regulars, we don't go to most of the shows unless we take someone whose never been.  As for the costumed lady who was harassing you, sadly, you will find jerks everywhere, and truly, at Bristol, just about anything street legal goes, and regular attendees don't bat an eye at the costumes they see.

Sorry we missed you.  Hope you will come back again and enou if home faire!

[LadyJessica]

Thank you BarbarianQueen for your review!  Bristol is one that I would very much love to visit in the future and With what you said combined with What Lady Renee has said I think I'll have a marvelous time!

[Merlin the Elder]

We will be at Bristol for the final weekend. Perhaps we'll see you Lady Renee?

[RefMom3]

My daughter and I were there on Saturday; in fact, I was also at the Tortuga show with a friend and his friends. (Master Merlin, I am sure Dave would be an excellent candidate for the Game; he is very familiar with it ). We are honestly going to have to come up with some sort of "see me" signal;" carnations somewhere, maybe. But the Drum Jam of which Lady Renee spoke was very audible from the Globe Stage, which is where we were with the Tortugas. Drum Jam is one of my favorite parts of the day; many of the musicians gather there and dozens of people just dance around in the circle. I love to see parents with their little ones just bopping all over.
It's true there isn't a sort of central, roofed pavilion there. I don't know why; maybe they just didn't want one. There are picnic tables along the High Street, across from the Midsummer Stage, plus more tables by the Buttery and Pig and Whistle Tavern(Iris and Rose do their shows in there). We don't have a pub sing, either; that could be fun. Again, I don't know why some of those activities don't happen here; it may simply be the way things have evolved over the years.
I'm a little puzzled about how few you saw in garb; I don't see a lot of people in elaborate court-type clothing, but the "regular" type of garb is very common. It was fantasy weekend, so there were a lot of the more unusual outfits about, too. I guess I just don't notice it much anymore. I go from show to show all day; I don't shop, and my kids will usually abandon me at some early point so I entertain myself with the entertainment. Trotting from one stage to another all day will definitely make the day pass wonderfully
I hope you enjoyed it well enough to want to come back!

[BarbarianQueen]

Oh, we'll definitely be back at some point!  Some of our best friends in the world are in Chicago, and its too good of an excuse!
Lady Renee, thanks for the info!  I knew it was something like that - that we were missing SOMETHING, lol.
But seriously, right after the Tortuga Twins show, the nice young lady was inviting us to head to the exit.  It may have been around 6:30, but it felt WAY too early :/
The drum jam sounds like fun, and the improv show DEFINITELY sounds like my kind of thing.  Next time!

But all in all, a beautiful faire, beautiful grounds, and beautiful people.
Thanks again!