Faire: Should it be Fantasy or Historically Accurate or a Mix?

[brier patch charlie]

No the polyesters are a hybrid of Pygmy sheep from the Shetland island of Scotland.

[Sir Ironhead]

If a faire is open to the public, and I go as a playtron and are expected to be or not allowed in unless I'm HA, I'm also getting paid to be there.  Faire is supposed to be fun.  HA is neat, but it is not the end all be all.  I look at it this way:  Faire is an outline, you get the big picture.  The SCA is the in depth research paper that took all semester to write.

And I believe naugas are native to the southern United States.

[Lady L]

I always find it helpful to visit the actual site where the historical event took place, to get a better "feel" for it. Well, I pick up on vibes, I guess that's the best way to put it.

I watched something on PBS, I think it was Globe Trekker, where they went to a joust. WOW that was impressive! Perhaps, if one wants a more historical venue, visiting a European faire/event would be a better solution.
Just a suggestion.

[Angus]

I've seen Stormtroopers, Jedi Knights, Naked Fairies pushing a mundane stroller, Anime Characters, and Roman Centurions, dragons, even Civil War soldiers...
...I've even seen a Centaur.

None but the Civil War soldier, even warranted a second glance, (The Civil War soldier was extremely drunk...) and the fairy was not what I had expected...

I expect the Faire cast to be "Historically accurate", but as far as the general public is concerned, almost anything goes...
...and that just adds flavor to the day.

[Captain Cornelius Howard Duckman]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=N0EDrtEBsA8

This video I think ties in nicely with the topic.

[Count Adolfo]

I think it would be, well, extremely dull to attend a Faire where it was being imposed upon everyone that they had to be H/A
Why do people GO to RenFaires?  I don't know about you folks, but I love the escape... and part of that is fantasy.
At BARF, we have an overwhelming number of Pirates (go figure, those Tampa Buccaneers...) and most of them are attired as Elizabethan era even though the reigning king is Henry VIII.
We also have fairies and a troll.
Sure, there's a storyline going on and there're things that someone could take away from the Faire that are historical lessons... but the principal reason for being there is to have fun.

Here's how I figure it... if someone came up to me and told me I wasn't "Period Correct" or "Historically Accurate" at the Faire, I'd remind them that it would be completely "Period Correct" for me to knock their lights out for the insult... or challenge them to a duel...
but I'm not...
so perhaps they should be happy for the fantasy element?

[Peddlin]

Wow! Somebody else who has been around long enough to remember Naugahyde. I hear they make great upholstery material. 

[escherblacksmith]

If faires are re-enactment oriented (there are a few), then HA is fine.

But the term Renaissance Fair is already an anachronism, so, it seems kinda silly to even discuss it.

That said, even the most hardcore re-enactments I have ever seen, did not have anywhere near enough death, disease, mud, dirt and poop (both human and animal) to be considered HA.  Maybe HA lite.  The point of those groups is instruction and a certain amount of vicarious living.  RenFairs have not been that to date.

I believe Renaissance Fairs as a group (with a few exceptions) are already starting off based on fantasy.  Fantasy in the way of what we wish it was like.  It isn't real, and can't be so, it just makes you feel like what you see in movies or read in books.  The good stuff . . . romance, fun, mead, etc.

[analise]

I'd find it very hard to visit a faire where I couldn't wear my faerie wings if I felt like it. I love MDRF because it's got the HA aspect, of course, in the cast and the living history pavilion but?

There are people there dressed as faeries. There are knights from the Dark Ages. Crazy Viking barbarian dudes. People dressed in Victorian getup. Et cetera. It makes things more fun, as far as I'm concerned. I even like the stormtroopers.

[fluffy tail]

First off I love history. But to got to the faire is fun so fantasy is alright with me.
I do have a little problem with stormtroopers and star trek appearing, but if they can stand the heat of their garb. More power to you.

I have a squirrel puppet on my shoulder, kids think it real so why burst their bubble. Life will do it some enough.
So I go with both.

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

When encountering those free-roving nosebleeds who wish to critique, nitpick or otherwise annoy, I've found a simple "I reject your reality and substitute my own" takes care of things nicely.  

[maelstrom0370]

I believe Renaissance Fairs as a group (with a few exceptions) are already starting off based on fantasy.  Fantasy in the way of what we wish it was like.  It isn't real, and can't be so, it just makes you feel like what you see in movies or read in books.  The good stuff . . . romance, fun, mead, etc.

This!  Let's face it, an entirely and truly Historically Accurate faire would be...well...depressing at best.  It would smell awful, the food would be terrible (no faire food jokes) as the appearance of the food was far more important than taste (urine was occasionally used for food coloring), bowing to Royalty wouldn't just be something fun, it would be required and, depending on the current ruler, deadly if not done.
The history represented at faires is how we'd like it to have been.  Most of us have a tainted view of things thanks, in part, to LotR, PotC, various and sundry novels and so on. 
That said, to the 'Ren Nazis' and HA fans, enjoy SCA and other reenactments and think of a day at faire as an enjoyable, easy to read fantasy novel.

[Count Adolfo]

Aye!
Very well said, Maelstrom!

[tigrlily64]

I love Bristol, because it is both HA (the Court) and fantasy (the fairies).  The trekkies...Well, I could do without them. At the moment, however, I'm just glad my first faire wasn't like that Nebraska video.  I probably wouldn't go again.

[Synikul]

The average patron doesn't even know that Robin Hood and Elizabeth are separated by centuries. The fairs I attend are in the sticks of the midwest, most of the patrons are bumpkins and rednecks, and you have to consider that most people are a product of the public schools. To them, anything English that happened before 1776 is an amorphous historical mass.

My crew and I go to a lot of sci-fi conventions as well, and we wear our fair garb. I've never had any complaints from trekkies, and I wouldn't dream of complaining to them at a fair. A stormtrooper is a paying customer. Does anyone really want to turn them away at the gate?