The Minnesota Renaissance Festival
The Minnesota Renaissance Festival is held every year from mid-August through October. I grew up at the "Ren Fest" as it's known to it's regulars. I haven't BEEN to the Ren Fest for YEARS, due to my living in Britain from 2003-2005. I missed the place terribly.
Whilst a child, I was actually a "Festy" which means I "worked" at the Fest as a performer. Since I grew up, and well... Became LESS the cute tow-headed six-year-old with a brilliant "English-Street-Urchin-accent" I stopped being a Festy, and became a "Paytron" (spelling emphasised). That doesn't mean that I do not want to be a performer at the Ren Fest. In fact, Fiona and I are planning on "trying out" next year to be a musical duo playing Scottish Folk music. We'll see if that happens. Anyhoo...
That's the background. As I've become "employed" this week... Fiona, my mother, and myself turned Saturday into our "celebrate Tucker no longer being a drain on society day" or CTNLBADOSD (which looks a bit like "continental bad arsed" and isn't actually a real acronym.) But I digress.
We went to the Ren Fest on Saturday. That's really how I should've started this entry into the Two-Artists' News, but I got carried away.
We had an absolute BALL. It was so fun to introduce Fiona to the "American" version of the Renaissance Fair. She's been talking to me about how "England" and "Britain" in general, handle the "reenactment" scene. And frankly... I found it rather boring. I'm not cutting in on Britain, here... Trust me. However, I think "reenactments" are wonderful teaching tools, and very important to children learning about their history. However, when one wants to go "carouse" and be silly... Stringently remaining true to "History" and reenactments just doesn't work for me.
I like the fact that the Minnesota Ren Fest doesn't actually make any sense. Seriously... It doesn't. It "leans" Elizabethan, but it has King Henry VIII as it's "monarch" which of course would be more "Tudor" in it's historical placement. There's people walking around as blue-painted Picts, and Viking warriors... Musicians do "Elvis songs" and impersonations tongue-and-cheek, along with traditional folk music... All in all it's the most anachronistic mess that ever existed.
Fiona was worried. She knew that I adored the "Fest" but was not impressed with the description of the affair as I had given it to her. I found out that her step-father Gavin, had done reenactments as a blacksmith for years, and that Fiona and her family were pretty "gung-ho" about true-to-history reenactments.
Needless to say, my descriptions worried her, 'cause she KNEW that I loved the "Fest" and wanted desperately to love it too... But as a purist... Well, she was nervous.
Luckily... Fiona discovered just how silly the whole thing was... And that we Yanks don't really care that it's not "true-to-history." We just want to have a good time.
And... We did. It was a blast!
Fiona's first mead, ever...
I had a wonderful "King Henry VIII Turkey Leg" for the first time in three years.
Yum!
Anyhoo... We capped off the day by my mother buying Fiona a dress and bodice-waist coat thing-gummy... And Fiona and I are planning on attending the Ren Fest as a Scottish-couple on the "Highland Fling" weekend in September.
It was great fun.
Anyhoo... That's it for today. Smiles!
-- Tucker
Whilst a child, I was actually a "Festy" which means I "worked" at the Fest as a performer. Since I grew up, and well... Became LESS the cute tow-headed six-year-old with a brilliant "English-Street-Urchin-accent" I stopped being a Festy, and became a "Paytron" (spelling emphasised). That doesn't mean that I do not want to be a performer at the Ren Fest. In fact, Fiona and I are planning on "trying out" next year to be a musical duo playing Scottish Folk music. We'll see if that happens. Anyhoo...
That's the background. As I've become "employed" this week... Fiona, my mother, and myself turned Saturday into our "celebrate Tucker no longer being a drain on society day" or CTNLBADOSD (which looks a bit like "continental bad arsed" and isn't actually a real acronym.) But I digress.
We went to the Ren Fest on Saturday. That's really how I should've started this entry into the Two-Artists' News, but I got carried away.
We had an absolute BALL. It was so fun to introduce Fiona to the "American" version of the Renaissance Fair. She's been talking to me about how "England" and "Britain" in general, handle the "reenactment" scene. And frankly... I found it rather boring. I'm not cutting in on Britain, here... Trust me. However, I think "reenactments" are wonderful teaching tools, and very important to children learning about their history. However, when one wants to go "carouse" and be silly... Stringently remaining true to "History" and reenactments just doesn't work for me.
I like the fact that the Minnesota Ren Fest doesn't actually make any sense. Seriously... It doesn't. It "leans" Elizabethan, but it has King Henry VIII as it's "monarch" which of course would be more "Tudor" in it's historical placement. There's people walking around as blue-painted Picts, and Viking warriors... Musicians do "Elvis songs" and impersonations tongue-and-cheek, along with traditional folk music... All in all it's the most anachronistic mess that ever existed.
Fiona was worried. She knew that I adored the "Fest" but was not impressed with the description of the affair as I had given it to her. I found out that her step-father Gavin, had done reenactments as a blacksmith for years, and that Fiona and her family were pretty "gung-ho" about true-to-history reenactments.
Needless to say, my descriptions worried her, 'cause she KNEW that I loved the "Fest" and wanted desperately to love it too... But as a purist... Well, she was nervous.
Luckily... Fiona discovered just how silly the whole thing was... And that we Yanks don't really care that it's not "true-to-history." We just want to have a good time.
And... We did. It was a blast!
Fiona's first mead, ever...
I had a wonderful "King Henry VIII Turkey Leg" for the first time in three years.
Yum!
Anyhoo... We capped off the day by my mother buying Fiona a dress and bodice-waist coat thing-gummy... And Fiona and I are planning on attending the Ren Fest as a Scottish-couple on the "Highland Fling" weekend in September.
It was great fun.
Anyhoo... That's it for today. Smiles!
-- Tucker
posted by tuckmac at 1:57 PM
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