We had a nice time at the Ren. Fest (and Artisan’s Marketplace *sigh*). I asked Rasheedah from work to join us and she said she had a lot of fun. So it was us, Rasheedah, Brett and Pam. We all fit in one car. The event is quite big. There are about eight stages and shows run on heavy rotation so you can catch them throughout the day.
The good parts: The fest looked nice. The crowds were very civil and laughed at the right places. It was nice to see families and friends all out enjoying the day. The weather stayed cool and dry. It was overcast, but nice for walking around.
The not-so-good parts: Commercialism and historical innaccuracy. Maybe I’m spoiled by my thinking back to the days of my youth and the PA Ren. Faire, but there is no attempt to do anything historical. There is a generic King Edward who seems amiable enough, but everyone is a mishmash of styles, countries and accents. I miss Shakespeare and Raleigh and Queen Bess (I guess we should go to Roanoke for real history). It seems like the whole thing is about shops and begging. Some of the performers went so far as to work the begging right into the show, no longer just a pass the hat at the end, but spend 10 minutes of stage time panhandling the audience.
I noticed that most of the shops are selling stuff I can make for myself, or “Renaissance” tchotkes I don’t want. The nice stuff I would like is SO expensive. Oh, well, I guess that’s just a fact of life.
IRL, Tom’s mom is now staying at the Greensburg Personal Care Center. We hope it’s just temporary while she recuperates. Mike says she’s doing OK and settling in, but getting her to go and picking the right place was really difficult. Poor guy. I wish we could have done more to help.
Sparkly Things 