celtic rock festival

[ALS]

Geez, there have been people running around dressed as elves, faries and wizards as long as we had a booth there from '97 till '05. There was a fella in his i'd guess later 60's who dressed as Robin Hood every year right down to the tights. People going in out of period/fantasy gear is certainly nothing new in my years there as a vendor.

[SterlingFan]

Shakespear's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was based on Queen Elizabeth's stay at Kenilworth Castle in 1575 during one of her summer progresses.

From one of my blog posts:
Queen Elizabeth I visited Robert Dudley at Kenilworth Castle located in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England. in the years 1566, 1568, and 1575. No expense was spared during this final trip, which lasted for 19 days in mid July and cost Dudley £1000 per day. The splendor of the pageantry eclipsed anything that had been seen before in the whole of England.

On arriving at the first castle gate, six massive statues of trumpeters appeared upon the battlements, a fanfare welcomed the Queen, and she was presented with the gate keys. When the queen entered the gate and came into the court, she was met by the legendary Lady of the Lake, who, attended by two nymphs arrayed in silk, floated towards her from the middle of the pool upon a moveable island, blazing with torches. They made a speech to the Queen of the antiquity and the owner's of Kenilworth Castle, linking it's history to the Arthurian legends and offering the castle to the Queen, who was heard to say that she thought it was already hers .

When the Queen entered the base court she was greeted by gentlemen dressed as King Arthur's Knights (like her grandfather Henry VII, Elizabeth made much of her alleged decent from King Arthur, whose legends were a dominant theme in the pageantry of her reign).

According to the report, the sound of drums, fifes, and trumpets, the firing of guns, and a grand display of fireworks were heard twenty miles away !


William Shakespeare (who was from nearby Stratford-upon-Avon) was just 11 years old at the time of the 1575 Kenilworth events. He was likely among the crowd that witnessed the occasion with its expensive and complex arrangements. 20 years later he wrote Midsummer Night's Dream, which according to experts, bears strong evidence of his visit in 1575 to see the festivities.

Since Sterling is a Festival based on Queen Elizabeth I, it gives playtrons an opportunity to wear a myriad of styles from historical , mythical and fictional sources. Due to the Queen's arrival in Warwick, it's been declared that 'The rules of everyday life are suspended for this special day of play and feasting' (from the Festival program). Back in the day, one would have seen people dressed in costumes to entertain the Queen and her court as well as 'everyday' styles of dress.

So, Fairies, elves, wizards, Robin Hood, Arthurian characters, other Medieval and even Roman characters would not be out of place at an Elizabethan Renaissance Festival.  You would have seen people dressed in many different types of 'fantasy' costumes to entertain the Queen !

Here's the link to the blog post if you want to read the whole thing: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=406960469&blogId=482960336

[irish]

I remember the 'older' Robin Hood. He was a very sweet man! The kids loved seeing him. We went to a trade show in Toronto, one year and I was able to bring him back, a button that was from "Nottingham England". He was thrilled!
As far as the way people dress for faire........my cousin always wanted to be a fairy, and that is what I made for her.
People come dressed in what they are comfortable in........it may be period or it may be their fantasy. Afterall, the faire is a place to explore the fantasy and maybe the one, lurking inside.
Now if someone comes dressed as a nudist....... .....LOL!!!!
irish

If memory serves me..isn't there still a 'fairy ring' at faire???

[Tazworth]

I was just reminded of another character from Faire. I almost thing he was part of the Faire perhaps as a food vendor. He always walked around with a rubber frog strapped to his head. He was hilarious.

[MMario]

There was a fella in his i'd guess later 60's who dressed as Robin Hood every year right down to the tights.

He has been sadly missed by many,

[Khaalis]

I have to agree with SterlingFan here. Even though we are passed the real Midsummer, having a Midsummer Festival at the renaissance fair is not a bad thing.  In the days of Elizabeth, Midsummer (even though technically a pagan holiday) was a grand festival day with much drinking, eating, flowers, fire festival events, competitions of all sorts and what many would consider more akin to our modern "Halloween" with costumes and masks of various sorts.  For ourselves we won't be going outlandish, preferring to remain anachronistic to some degree. We will however be sporting some of Richard Thompson's wonderful leather masks with our attire for the midsummer festivities.

As for the Off-Season events, I have no problem with them. However, one thing I think Sir Douglas needs to remember is that some of those buildings are personal property of the shop proprietors (not owned by the faire) and that should be taken into account during these events. Certain parts of the grounds should remain off-limits to clients during these events. There are plenty of public areas for these events. JMHO.