My Weekends Will Now Return

It's been a long Renaissance Festival season. For seven weeks in a row I awakened at 6am every Sunday morning and we were at the gates of the Realm for opening. Usually we didn't stay for the entire day, but we were always there until at least mid-afternoon. Yesterday was final day or "Pink Slip Sunday" as it is known among the players. Many of the acts have already signed contracts for the next several years, but individual cast members are never guaranteed.

The court gathers at the top of the Entry Gate wall to make their

final speeches, watch the performers, and we close by listening

to "William Shakespeare" quote from a Midsummer's Night Dream.

Our King has been part of the court in a variety of capacities for the past 32 years. My DH and I have been attending as a couple since 1979, so for 33 years, and my DH was involved in the founding of the festival in the early 1970's. We are Festies, we have Ren Fest in our blood and I can't imagine not attending. We've already purchased our season tickets for next year.

Oh, those crazy Tortuga Twins. There are actually six twins that play

the circuit, but these are our boys and they are delightful and so funny!

On last day we always stay for the entire day. We are there to open the gates in the morning and we are there to sing and hug our friends at night. It's a long day and a wonderful one. We have done many different activities throughout the years for final day, but what we enjoy the most are the "R" and "R"-"xXx" rated shows for Johnny Phoenix and The Tortuga Twins. There is nothing like a serious laugh amidst a rollicking half-drunk crowd to send us on our way. The humor, sexual innuendo, and serious drinking both in joke and reality are unique to Fest and We laugh so hard.

As usual we perched and moved as needed to get close to a speaker so that DH could hear well. He actually did pretty good, although he was really tired and found himself drifting off a couple of times during The Tortuga Twins show. I don't know how he could do that, but he managed. We had a great time, though, and exited the grounds in time to catch the court's final thank-you's from atop the Fest gate-wall and had a great time watching the fire performers. I took some video and if I get it edited tonight I'll post the link for it tomorrow, but this is one pic just in case my editing skills and posting skills fall short. The second night of the full Harvest Moon lit our road home. Yes - it was a totally magical day!

Those performers who deal with fire in their acts all

perform in front of the gates in a mass of flame,

motion and drumming. It's magic.

So we're now ready to start a new month, running into the last three months of the quarter and the year. This is when retail gears up - and like any other retail location, we count on these three months to bring in a lot of our income for the next year. So if you're in our area, come in and spend money - LOL. Actually, to be a bit more serious, if you are someone who likes to make gifts for Solstice, you should probably get into gear just about....NOW!