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

[Noble Dreg]

No Stormtrooper showing up to fair would ruin my day...but it is my right to view them as inconsiderate paychecks, and I do.

Once saw a gentleman dolled up in a frilly sissy girl dress with a matching cabbage patch doll, his scant chain-mail clad mistress was leading him by a chain around his neck.  Did it 'ruin my day', no...was it appropriate for the Renaissance Festival, absolutely not!  There are lines to be drawn; each individual has their own level of tolerance.  In this case I was truley amazed the same management that banned visible belly-buttons on belly-dancers allowed this through the gate.

Showing up at fest dressed as a Bunny Rabbit, Goth Vampire, Stormtrooper, or Sissy Girl will not ruin my day but certainly would not earn my respect (for what that's worth).  Arriving at a wedding in a yellowed ripped T-shirt and cut-offs shows a certain lack of respect, same could be said here.

[Taffy Saltwater]

The faire's are the owners' playgrounds in which anyone w/$20, more or less, can play.  It is completely up to the owners to dictate the degree, if any, of h/a of their faires.  If the faires' standards don't meet mine, I can feel free to stay at home.  That, however, punishes no one but me.

[Noble Dreg]

The faire's are the owners' playgrounds in which anyone w/$20, more or less, can play.  It is completely up to the owners to dictate the degree, if any, of h/a of their faires.  If the faires' standards don't meet mine, I can feel free to stay at home.  That, however, punishes no one but me.

Absolutely true...It is also true that one can quietly accept the standards or ask management to change them.  Personally I like the mix at my fair but would not like to see it degenerate into an "anything goes" Mardi-Gras.  I stay away from Mardi-Gras and do not feel 'punished' in the least.  The most effective form of feedback is direct to the owners, pro and con.  It's a business, most will do what is good for the bottom line, if Stormtroopers bring in the bucks we will see more of them, if they bring in numerous complaints my guess is we would see less.  Express your views to fair management if you feel strongly enough, they may just listen.

[Welsh Wench]

At BARF I would say about 50% of paid attendees are in garb. I don't ever remember seeing Storm Troopers here or any other characters.
Yes, we do have Trollkenone.
Yes, we do have fairies.
Too cool.

I am sure there were no wenchwalks in the 16th century. Take away my Pepsi?
Perish the thought!
Tell that crying kid over there he can't have pizza because it isn't period?
Um..sure.

If we are historically accurate, do I have to give up my lip gloss?
NO WAY!

And...I love my faire pirates! 

Wear what you want. I don't care!

[Black Armor]

First of all, I'm not saying that any of this is going to "ruin my day".  I'm not going to go home and cry into my pillow because I saw a strom trooper, star trek guy or whatever.  I think CB is correct when he mentioned the "intent" of the faire and the INTENT of the faire is to create a "renaissance atmosphere".  I don't know why anyone would want to come in a sci-fi costume but again, the faire is not a free for all.     

[cowgrrl]

I keep seeing the phrase 'Lack of respect'.  To me, a person dressing in a Star Trek, Star Wars or other possibly period-inappropriate attire is just saying 'I want to play too!!'.  Now, I know what you'll say:  'If they want to play, they can do it in appropriate attire'.  But again, what's appropriate?  Is a woman dressed in a string bikini airbrush painted like a leopard (which I have seen) appropriate?  What about a Roman Gladiator or a guy dressed up like David Tennet Dr Who (both of which I've seen)? 
I honestly don't see it as a lack of respect.  They're not spitting on the King or Queen.  They're not using filthy language loudly at a kid-friendly show.  They're dressing up in a costume they like & going somewhere to 'play' with others who like to dress in costumes. 

One of the things I love about the Rennies I have met is that they are very welcoming & friendly.  This 'dress like I think you should or don't show up' seems to go against everything I've seen & experienced as a Ren Faire patron.

[Synikul]

However as we have seen in the responses to this post a good percentage of rennies feel scifi characters are fine at a faire.
 
However if stormtroopers and trekkies and furries and anime characters do not go, that will increase the authentic atmosphere of the faire which benefits the other 95% mundanes and the other 4.9% rennies.

I am sure since a certain percentage of rennies do not agree on preventing scifi characters from attending...that some might not go to a faire or have fun if scifi characters were prohibited.  Perhaps they might not go or have fun because they can't see stormtroopers?  Or perhaps they won't go or have fun out of a sense of kinship with the stormtroopers who are having their "rights" trampled on?

Again, regarding the issue of whether the faire can be a success without scifi characters...the faire management usually have strict rules for cast member garb and accent and so on.  Those cast rules and restrictions are put into place because management knows what will help and what will harm the faire.

Is this a huge problem at the fairs you attend? I've never seen more than two or three sci-fi people at once, and not even regularly. Maybe three or four days during the entire run of a fair I'll see a small group like that. It's not that I even disagree with you about it being a little rude, but to me it seems extremely petty to want to turn people away when they aren't causing a huge problem.

I'd have a problem with a fair that did that because if management is so anal retentive that they get their panties in a twist over a couple of stormtroopers, then WHAT ELSE are they going to be anal about? Someone else mentioned banning belly dancers with bare bellies at another fair, that's the kind of idiocy that would follow when someone actually takes the time to make policy and rule changes over a small number of people who wear out of the ordinary costumes. It would be oppressive.

[Phelyp, Lord Maydestone]

I agree with everyone that said Faire is about escape and fun.  Being a long time SCA member I do get my dose of historically accurate portrayal and socializing apart from Faire(s).  The one thing that I do find a bit strange, and utterly jarring, is when I see sci-fi characters roaming the streets.  Fairies and their kith and kin kind of 'go' with everything else that is going on at Faire, but not storm troopers and the like.

[Sitara]

What if the Stormtrooper is wearing a kilt?   

Oh and as far as the bellydancers having to cover their bellies, it wasn't all dancers, it was those that are workers who are not contracted to dance. 

[Dayna]

I believe you're talking about a Different faire than the other person.  A couple years ago it did indeed come down from faire management that bellybuttons were to be covered at all times during faire hours, whether you were dancing or not.  The only navels to be seen were on oranges or patrons.

[Elennare]

To the people who say things like Plimoth Plantation and Fort Mackinack show that a STRICTLY H/A faire can work...they are 2 very different things!  The living history attractions really are Museums.  Sure, there are people dressed in very acturate costumes, and all the buildings and stuff in them are period correct, and there are people demonstating crafts using the strictly historical methods, like some faires have, but the primary intent of the museum is to teach people about history and what life was like back then.  Do you EVER see someone who doesn't work at one of those places come in costume?  Not so much.  People go there to learn, not play.  Yes, they make learning fun, but it's not a faire.

People go to a renaissance festival to dress up in a fun costume, eat things like turkey legs, see entertaining shows, buy cool stuff, and, oh yeah, get a SMALL taste of what life might have been like back in the day.  But they're not going there to learn, they're going to a Theme Park to play all day.  If you start placing restrictions on what the people paying to go to a theme park can wear, they WILL stop coming.  If you want to make a living history museum set in the renaissance, go for it, but don't try to sell it as a faire.  They're very different.

Now, if you want to have a strict code for the employees, to set the atmosphere of your theme park better, by all means, go for it.  I personally like what MIRF does.  They have a historical court, and they have faeries, both on cast.  But the historical characters can't see the faeries!  It makes it fun, especially when the faeries occasionaly try to interact w/the historical characters.

[silverstah]

To the people who say things like Plimoth Plantation and Fort Mackinack show that a STRICTLY H/A faire can work...they are 2 very different things!  .... Do you EVER see someone who doesn't work at one of those places come in costume?  Not so much.  People go there to learn, not play.  Yes, they make learning fun, but it's not a faire.

Actually, yeah - I do know folks who dress up to go to Plimouth and C.Williamsburg in historic dress.  Why wouldn't they?  There is a huge interest in 17th and 18th c. costuming within the historical costume community, and just like faire folk, historic costumers are always looking for someplace to wear their garb.

[silverstah]

If you start placing restrictions on what the people paying to go to a theme park can wear, they WILL stop coming. 

I *will* agree with this, though.  Any faire or living history museum shouldn't place restrictions (beyond the grounds of common decency, of course!) what a visitor/patron can wear. 

[Taffy Saltwater]

AtAnd...I love my faire pirates! 

Ain't it the truth!  Faire pirates - yummy!

[maelstrom0370]

Admittedly, I only go to Opening Weekend and maybe one other throughout the course of MiRF, but aside from the 'Xena' lady, I've never seen anything too 'out of whack' as far as garb goes.  No Stormtroopers (kilted or otherwise), no Vampires or Chewbacca, Ewoks, Dr. Who...nuthin!  Geez, I miss ALL the fun!
Maybe this year I'll go as a Kilted-Furry-Vampire-Nun....Ooooo maybe skip the nun part.  Mother Superior would kill me!