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| This is probably not a current photo of the cast of the MN Renaissance Festival, but it's not too off the mark, either. Aside from the obvious King, Queen and court, there are fairies, mermaids, and a variety of street and stage performers, all interacting with visitors to the "realm". It makes for a fun experience for everyone. |
Ren Fest started in 1971 on a 22-acre field and DH was there. He's been attending Ren Fest since its inception, although certainly not all of the time, or every weekend, or even every year since there were years he was either out of town or out of the country. I started attending when I moved up here in 1979, although I don't know if I actually was there that year or started the next instead. We started purchasing season tickets 10-12 years ago.
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| Twig the Fairy was a staple of Fest for many years. She's gone on to bigger Festivals now and hasn't been at ours for the past 2-3 years, but she started her act on the grounds of the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. She never spoke, only used her pipes to communicate with children and adults. She was really good at enchanting kids who would normally be afraid of strange adults. |
The festival grounds have 16 separate stages and usually has a total attendance of more than 300,000 people over multiple weekends. That's quite different from the State Fair which has an attendance of almost 2 MILLION people in a total of 12 days. (Attendance in 2017 was 1,997,320.) The State Fair pulls people in from all around the metro and the state. Once the Fair is over, Renaissance Festival attendance picks up and things really get into their groove.
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| The Festival grounds are heavily wooded with old, tall oak trees which take delight in pelting staff and visitors alike with acorns. I usually carry a Japanese parasol - a lovely thing I've had for several years. It protects me from the sun, but it's pretty good at protection from wayward acorns as well. |
Yesterday was really nice. The weather was just about perfect - a bit humid and hot, but we'll be shivering under cloaks by the time Fest ends in a few weeks. We settled down in the early afternoon to watch the Longbow Competition, actually under shade for the first time in years. Although some years have had a field of more than 30 archers, this year we had a little under 20 to start. Archers must hit the target with at least one of their allotted three arrows and may qualify to shoot under one of two categories - longbow or recurve bow. The winner of the longest flight (65 yards) won with a recurve, the winner of the longbow won at 55 yards, and the women's winner won at 50 yards. As always, it was fun to watch. I actually own four longbows inherited from my father-in-law, but I've never had a chance to practice with them and probably won't be able to get enough draw. Maybe one day ...
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| In the days of the height of the British longbow, the men of Britain would begin training at age 8 and would train weekly, a minimum of two hours. They were expected to pull a draw of more than 125 pounds and loose an average of 12 arrows per minute. Today's archers tend to draw at 40-60 pounds and shoot for a target, instead of raining arrows upon a massed army. |
This week will be a bit harder for me - Chickie is taking Thursday, Friday & Saturday for a quick vacation with friends visiting from out of town. I always have to work harder when Chickie isn't on the sales floor. I still have help in the shop - I always have two people on at all times - but different people have different strengths, and Chickie is really good with the customers (usually). Oh well, I'll get my revenge next week when I leave her alone while Sharon and I are at the Fair.
Have a truly excellent day. I'm going to find photos for this and wrap it up. I'll be back tomorrow with another page in the saga of the everyday life of a 60+-year-old hippie - LOL. Happy Monday!
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