My good friend, Sarah, and I made the drive to
Upon our arrival, we felt out of place. It had never crossed my mind to dress up, and we were surrounded by groups who obvious took great joy in playing the part as court spectators and village inhabitants. If you ever wander in and find that you are out of costume, they have many elegant pieces of the time that you can rent for the day. And, many of the vendors sell clothes, both Renaissance and stuff that you can wear to work and not get funny looks.
We were immediately drawn to a small stage, where music was playing. The pan flute melody contrived by Cercamon set the scene instantly to the Renaissance.
CERCAMON MUSIC
This French group knew how to jam. You will find them at www.ensembleceramon.com I’ve got a link to it on our website. Fireflyacademy.org and click on PODCAST. The jigs played by various groups carried us through the scores of trees and medieval buildings…mixed in a symbiotic relationship.
I had expected something a little more theme-park-ish, but we were wholly integrated with nature. Something else that I immediately noticed what that there wasn’t any litter. The ground, the tables, and the benches were as if the village had just opened for the season. There was one program on the ground, and it was so out of place, Sarah had to pick it up and put it in the trash.
We tasted many different flavors of honey from the Bee Folks, including blueberry honey, buckwheat honey (which tastes like molasses) and orange blossom honey. Sarah winded up buying some raspberry honey. I can’t say that I didn’t coax her into getting that one. It was really good. On top of 20 different kinds of honey, they make honey soap and honey lip balm, too. Yum-yum. I got a Echinacea honey stick and suckled that while I watched the bees. Outside of their shop, they had a case with lots of combs and bees in it. A shoot allowed the bees to come and go from the roof. The worker honey bees follow the queen around. You could tell which one the queen was, because she stuck her back end up in the air like she knew she was all-that. Also, a lot of the bees would crowd around her, facing her. They would clean and feed the queen, so that she can lay eggs. She lays some insane number a day. The queen reigns the hive for about a year. When her time is up, the other bees give 4 of her eggs a special protein that makes them queen bees. The first queen to hatch kills the others, and takes the throne.
You can visit their website at www.beefolks.com.
There was a booth that could research the ancestry of your last name. We did Sarah’s name, which is of Germanic roots, and we found the history and family coat of arms that went along with it. My last name is English, but I am half Irish, so I like to learn about those roots.
My prized purchase was a wooden book of shadows. A pentagram is engraved and painted with silver leaf. The words BOOK OF SHADOWS is also woodburned around the circle, but in the runic language. It is a beautiful piece. The booth I picked it up at has not website, and only sells their items at the fair. However, I would make the trip from anywhere just to visit it again. One woman woodburns intricate designs. I don’t think that intricate is the word for them. They are friggin spectacular. Complex dragons and deep worldly goddess faces are just the beginning. Another woman paints and decorates each piece. Their husbands sell the finished product at the booth. Each year, they make one feature piece. This year, it was a large wooden chest, in which a dragon was finely burned and painted across the top.
There were so many other vendors. From swords and shields to jewelry and tarot…we could have spent two days just looking at the shops. But, we would have missed the rest of the fun. Villagers and courtiers of King Henry VIII populate Revel Grove. Character interaction with visitors is the cornerstone of a visit to the Renaissance Festival. There’s opportunity for close-up entertainment from a strolling magician, mingling with a mime, or listening to court gossip from a noble Lady. One vendor demonstrated perfecting the art of glass blowing next to three trapeze artists doing there thing in the trees. I have some pictures of those gymnasts on the website.
Each year is marked with a storyline and various parts of it are acted out on various stages throughout the day. The year is 1539. Henry VIII marks his thirtieth year as King of England. The
We did take a moment to stop and visit the crown jewels. Though they are only replicas one cannot help but to imagine what it would be like to sport them through the court.
In the Middle Ages a “lance” was a group of soldiers consisting of a knight, his squire, a valet and twelve men at arms. If a knight’s lord was to die or if the knight had not sworn fealty to a lord, then he and his followers were called a “free lance” and entitled to be hired as mercenaries by the highest bidder. The Free Lancers return for a season of action packed excitement. Years of formal research, professional stage credits, combat and stunt training has provided the know-how to keep presentations exciting and safe for humans and their steeds. Only the most dedicated and physically adept of players qualify as jousters. The Free Lancers are distinguished in the attention and care for the safety and well-being of human and animal performers.
Sarah and I took in just such a joust. Each contestant was decked out in full body armor. The skill involved was evident, and though it is a rough sport, there was one lady participating in the competition. However, her horse was not into the festivities, and would not stay on track. He sort of made up his own rules and refused to stay in his lane. At one point he chose the lane that the other horse was riding down, and ended up throwing the lady into one of the poles. Ouch. But, she got right back up like a fighter. There was one horse that galloped like lightning and was black as night. In fact, it looked like the horse of a black knight. Even though it was a friendly competition, I bet that none of the other jousters wanted to go up against him. He put a mean dent in one man’s armor, having struck him hard in the collar bone. For a moment, it had looked like he had knocked that rider out. He definitely won the joust.
There were so many interesting choices for lunch, such as smoked turkey leg, steak on a stake, and
We listened to The Rogues…a bag pipe group…while we ate. They seriously made bag pipes sound cool. A talented group. Therogues.com
This is only a snap shot of what one can find at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. For pictures, a list of vendors and websites, history, and events, check out www.rennfest.com.
