What to expect - our first Renaissance Festival

[switch]

After reading through all of the responses, which we very much appreciate   I think I may go with some garb that is lighter and a bit more comfy.  22 acres is WAY more than what we expected.  The reason we chose MN to be our first, is we just love going to the cities to have fun, plus I'm a Wild fan.  Living in Rapid City, SD we missed the one in SF.

Some takeaways:

Eatery:  Lions Tap, Crepes (faire), Baja Sol Grill (looks good), Osakas (we love Japanese food, dislike sushi though), spinach pie, Crepes, popovers, Crepes.............Did I mention Crepes?  Would it be severely wrong to mention I've never had one? 

Garb:  I'll most likely try to have my mother-in-law make a light weight Renaissance costume from a mccalls pattern.  I gotta find good shoes to match, I sure don't want to be caught wearing my hiking boots!   

Shows:  We are interested in the Queens Tea, and don't worry about the naughty tongue-in-cheek humor of the other shows   We've had 2 boys and know what you mean    My wife has a funny, naughty sense of humor too!

Time:  We may be able to stay another day, I wasn't clear that the faire was closed on friday.  Our 2 boys, 15 months and 3 months (Irish twin jokes are acceptable ) will be staying with Grandma, and this'll be our first getaway since our new one arrived. 

Just curious, do all of you work there?
How many visitors dress as mundane and how many in garb?  ballpark, 30%?

[Gauwyn of Bracknell]

for shows I would suggest Puke & Snot and definetly the Tortuga Twins.  I know there are many other good ones, but these are two of our favs.

Be sure to plan on 2 days - you still won't see all the shows.

We live in Iowa and consider this our home faire.  We also just started dressing at last year's faire.  The bug has hit us - so far in 2009 we have been to Arizona, Scarby, Dubuque and Amana (both local), Colorado and going to KC over labor day, and Minnesota at least twice (first weekend for sure) - whew!!

[groomporter]

Just curious, do all of you work there?
How many visitors dress as mundane and how many in garb?  ballpark, 30%?

I'm a craft booth owner and there's a number of other participants here, but there's probably more who are paying customers.

I'ld say quite a bit less than 30% come in costume, maybe closer to 10, 0r 15%. MNRF doesn't really encourage it as much as some other Renfairs do.

[der idee_mann]

How upscale can Eden Prairie be they let me in, as a matter of fact they made me who I am today, kind of blows that whole theory doesn't it DB

I also would like to invite you to stop by our Fest Friends area out at the MRF near the Pavillion and check us out- www.festfriends.org while your there you can purchase a day pass for $5.00 which will grant you access to the members only area - a clean covered sitting area with free ice water & lemonade all day, also a safe & secure place to drop off your purchases or extra garb you don't want to carry around all day then just pick them up when your ready to leave, saving you many trips back and forth to the car throughout the day. We are located near most the important spots such as the Foaming Stein, The Mead Booth - a favorite R/F meeting place, the Crepe booth, Bread Bowl Soup, Mac'c Pub how can you go wrong...

[tcindie]

I work at the fencing booth.  Be sure you stop by.. it's fun, and all the money we raise goes to childrens charities... plus it's one of the cheapest non-free things you can do at fest..

I would agree the number of patrons who wear garb are much less than 30%.. I'd guess 5-10% occassionally peaking to 15 or 20%.

Garb:  I'll most likely try to have my mother-in-law make a light weight Renaissance costume from a mccalls pattern.  I gotta find good shoes to match, I sure don't want to be caught wearing my hiking boots!   

McCall's doesn't have much for men's renaissance era patterns...

Simplicity has a couple nice ones, I made the first one last year, and am adding the second to my selection for this year..

If you were to go with Simplicity Pattern #4059, I'd suggest the view on the left of the package cover (forget if it's A or B)

or, if you want to go more pirate, check out Simplicity #4923 (minus the Jack Sparrow looking wig, etc)

Butterick has a pattern (B4486) for some nice looking ren era shirts
or you could probably do something decent with this obviously robin hood inspired pattern, Butterick B4574.

McCall's has a decent pirate pattern, but it's decidedly less inspiring than the Simplicity one I linked above... M5446
just about the only other worthwhile pattern McCall has for men is the poet shirt pattern, M4862 combine that with a pair of pants made from a pajama pant pattern, and a loop belt over the shirt and you'd be set.

Unless you're going as upper class, it's also important to keep colors in mind... Since you're talking about light-weight, you'll probably want to go for more of a peasant style, which is what I've linked here, with the exception of the pirate stuff... Pirates, like upper class & royalty, wear their fortunes...

Upper class, and especially royalty garb gets pretty spendy to make, and isn't generally what one would consider light weight.  So I'd suggest more peasant-ish.  For that you'll want to stick to earthy colors, off whites, no satins and such.. go for cottons or linens in colors that are like green, yellow, rust/orange, browns, subdued reds.. the colors that would have been easy to come up with materials to make the dye (like grass or berries). Purple is almost exclusively a royal color, blues tend to be kind of in the same boat, though you could get by with a lighter blue without people looking at you too funny..

I think there's a post somewhere in the garbing section that covers this stuff better.. otherwise there's some good info on color/fabric options and such on the website for the Bristol Faire here.

[tcindie]

Almost forgot shoes...

There are two quick easy and cheap solutions for shoes.. first being to pick up a pair of cotton kung-fu shoes... they kinda look like mary janes, tend to be $10 or less.  You can get those with a natural sole or rubber.. if you can find rubber I'd suggest that.. with all the little rocks on the ground, your feet will thank you by mid-day..

Second option would be a pair of Minnetonka Moccassins.  I would suggest the Side lacing version... If you cut the fringe off the top they look very Renaissance-y.. in fact most of the guys at the fencing booth did just that for their first pair of boots -- they've since moved on from that, but in a pinch they work and look decent.  Not to mention they're pretty comfy.  


A little more expensive option would be basically anything from SCABoots.com.  One of our guys has a pair he bought ten years ago, he's beat them up pretty hard and they're still waterproof.. that's as good a recommendation as I can give for those.

I can also highly recommend Excalibur Leather for gloves, boots, hats and other accessories.. unfortunately they don't list boots on their website, but I bought a pair (that look like the SCABoots.com boots) from them at fest last year for $90 when I broke the pair, beyond repair, I'd made myself one saturday morning.

And then of course there are the much more expensive custom made options
Turtle Island
Sod Hoppers
Native Earth
and probably a bunch more I'm forgetting..

[Noble Dreg]

Don't forget "Heart and Sole" for shoes.  They are at the fest and the owners are members here on the forum!

[Lady L]

Greetings!
Yes, I have a shop at MNRF.  
If you haven't seen it yet, here's the link to the official website. ( I do wish they would update the entertainment and food menu pretty soon.)

http://www.renaissancefest.com/MRF/index.html

Hope you have a grand time visiting our faire!

[tcindie]

Don't forget "Heart and Sole" for shoes.  They are at the fest and the owners are members here on the forum!

I knew I was forgetting somebody! DOH!

[Will Gamwell]

Eatery:  Lions Tap, Crepes (faire), Baja Sol Grill (looks good), Osakas (we love Japanese food, dislike sushi though), spinach pie, Crepes, popovers, Crepes.............Did I mention Crepes?  Would it be severely wrong to mention I've never had one? 

The Mongolian Grill there is to die for.  I don't mind sushi myself, but have to be in the mood for it.  I believe they have other menu items as well from the kitchen.

Garb:  I'll most likely try to have my mother-in-law make a light weight Renaissance costume from a mccalls pattern.  I gotta find good shoes to match, I sure don't want to be caught wearing my hiking boots!   

Having previously worked Safety Services in past years (we walk anywhere from 30-40 miles per day) I wear Son of Sandlar boots.  They have a multitude of styles, colors and such.  They have a website, but it isn't update yet to include their product line.  However, you can google it and they do have a myspace and a facebook page with photos. 

I highly suggest that whatever you buy, get athletic insoles with arch supports.  The sole of most footwear you will buy that would be appropriate will be very flat on the inside.

Shows:  We are interested in the Queens Tea, and don't worry about the naughty tongue-in-cheek humor of the other shows   We've had 2 boys and know what you mean    My wife has a funny, naughty sense of humor too!

The Danger Committee is hilarious as well.  The Feast of Fantasy is an awesome experience as well.  7 course meal, all you can drink and great entertainment.

Just curious, do all of you work there?
How many visitors dress as mundane and how many in garb?  ballpark, 30%?

Not all of us work there.  Although the number of us here that work there has risen quite a bit over the past year it would seem.  If I'm not mistaken, the number of people who don't work they still outnumber the number that does.

As for the rough guess as to how many playtrons (garbed customers) vs. paytrons (mundanes).  It's hard to say really.  On some days you'll look around and hardly see a single person in garb.  Then other days, it's like it's the plague and that is all you get are customers in garb!!

I've heard a lot of comments over the years from people who have been to a lot of different faires all over the states and the most common thing I hear about ours is that we have a comraidarie unmatched by any other faire.  The number of actors on street is greater than most other faires.

I think you picked the right faire!

Rafe

[escherblacksmith]

A little late for this year (perhaps), but Margo's Patterns are considered by many to be the ultimate in Elizbethan patterns.

Very good stuff. 

For me personally, I work for a disreputable gaming booth.

[groomporter]

I resemble that remark.

[majikah]

My husband and I are crafters at Minnesota and have built a recreation of a Burton show wagon for our new display.  It is a beautiful piece and you should come and see it.  We also offer 10% off to renaissancefestival.com visitors on our hand blended perfume and hand blown glass bottles.  Just print this note out and take it to the booth.  We have over 400 original recipe perfumes available and specialize in custom scents.

We are # P-41, and are located next to the bear stage and across from Bad Manor.  We hope you have a lovely time and stop by and see our new attraction.

Adelia Ganson

[MissBubu]

I second the recommendation of the Son of Sandlar boots. You can buy them at fest and they have many styles on hand.

Don't forget to check out I' Arroganti's commedia del arte show at the Arbor Stage. I'm performing with them this year.

Make sure you have a good belt and pouch to carry your money. Butt-packs don't look good with garb.

Wear lots of sunscreen! Don't bring in water bottles unless they're empty. Management doesn't allow any outside food or beverage.

If you have any questions while you're at the faire, there's an information booth near the front gate, and a couple of information people wandering the grounds - look for the green and yellow outfits and the bell flags. Safety services wears red and yellow.

Did I forget anything? Oh yeah, don't forget to have fun!

[winterland]

You will love your first visit to the Faire.
Be prepared for any type of weather. Hot, cool, rainy. Umbrellas or rain ponchos.

Being you are bringing young ones, fill your stroller or whatever you haul them in full of supplies you might need. You can always go back to you car but unless you park close it could be a walk.

As far as garb wear whatever you are confortable in and like to wear. You will see all kinds of crazy costumes that are not really fitting in the peroid but it is more about having fun. Yes many do take the time and attention to be somewhat authentic which is great also.

Have fun.