The Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire began in 1963 in Agoura
as a way to create what they call “living history” for school children and
their families. It has become an annual interactive fair for over 200,000
participants and guests (renfaire.com). Now
in the city of Irwindale, they are averaging about 20,000 visitors each
weekend. Attending the faire gives one the opportunity to walk in the life of a
time long away, enjoy the food, drinks, dress, music, artisans, acrobats,
comedy, dancing, games, jousting and more! Renaissance is a term for "rebirth" in French, and as its name suggests, this was a time of new ideas and time of new light, giving us the opportunity to step in and see an era in concepts of understanding. We are able to use our skills in the Natural Sciences to observe and test what we are seeing, hearing and learning at the faire. The Social Sciences uses the skills of surveying, interviewing and field research. The Mathematical Sciences help us use skills of data, equation's and logical reasoning. Lastly we can pertain to using the Humanities aspect in understanding the Fine Arts or Performing Arts in skills of imagination, participation, creativity, and critical analysis. All four of these concepts require critical thinking in order to be open-minded and informed of everything around us while attending The Renaissance Pleasure Faire.
When I got to the faire I was honestly a little nervous and
unsure about what to expect. I knew what it was and what to look for because
well, its all we have been reading, watching, and learning about the entire
quarter. After walking in for five minutes though, I could not stop looking
around at everyone and everything. Almost everyone there was dressed in
costume! I specifically chose to wait and go on May 9th to the faire
because the theme of the weekend was fairies. I am so glad that I went on that
day because there were so many unique and beautiful costumes that I could just
not stop staring at. My specific favorite was a young girl who had sewn a fairy
costume and incorporated flowers into it. I love flowers and I couldn’t stop
staring at her costume, I just think I might make myself a similar one. It was
also fun to see lots of people dressed as the character Link, we were having a
blast trying to count how many we saw.
May 9, 2015
May 9, 2015
My personal favorite moment of the faire was running into
Gandolf! As you can see in the photo, I was very happy. I ran to him and like a
young child and asked for a photo with Middle Earths greatest Wizard ever.
Definitely was the highlight of my time spent at the faire (I’m sort of a huge
Lord of the Rings fan).
It was during the English Renaissance that fashion trends came from different countries in Europe. For example, many trends came from Holland, Germany, or Italy and specific features came from the French or the Dutch (Mortimer, page 137). During the era, clothing was specifically tailored in style by social class, it was fun to see all the guests of faire styled in all classes, yet mainly those of middle class. The faire made it available for guests to rent or buy costumes there, truly taking the look as real as possible in fabric, color and style. As purple was a color of royalty and red and orange were rare as they were hard to obtain.
May 9, 2015
May 9, 2015
May 9, 2015
May 9, 2015
It was very traditional for women to wear smocks, stockings and hose, socks, waistcoats, bodies and farthingale. They would also wear petticoats, foreparts, kirtles, and gowns and more. Each of these clothing items had specific colors, lengths and kinds that went along with them. The Elizabethan women had a number of different footwear to choose from like slippers, shoes, pumps and boots. The hair and headwear were often expensive and a status of upper class along with accessories like a fan were considered to be a wonderful gift and treasure (Mortimer, pages 139-150). The men wore shirts, hosen, drawers, waistcoats, doublets, ruffs, gowns cloaks, hats, shoes and boots (Mortimer, pages 153-159).
There is only one word I can used to describe the food at this wonderful event, insane. The amount of options that we had was crazy! It took my friend and I a good 20 minutes to decide what we wanted to eat. Turkey legs, chili, ribs, pizza, corn, fruit ice, greek food, hot dogs, we just could not decide because it all just looked way too good. After 20 minutes of wandering around the food area, we settled for chili sandwiches…I think we made the right choice!
The turkey legs were a sight to see. After doing my part of the project on the chapter of What to Eat and Drink, I could not wait to see what I was going to witness people eat at the Renaissance Faire. Not only was the aspect of the meat clearly present at the faire, but the colorfulness of the food and unique presentations that can only be found there.
Although the book taught us that many of the people in Renaissance England ate just bread, everyone who attends the faire has the chance of eating like King Henry himself.
I was also able to visit our classmate at the faire! Even though we had just ate and were beyond full, I had thought we could get a meat pie. But the line was so long that we found ourselves shopping instead! Next year I'm just going to save my appetite for what clearly is a big hit at the faire!
May 9, 2015
All in all, the food was amazing and full of the fruit and meats that we learned about and although lots of water was being sold at the faire, we know the truth, they barely drank that because of how unsanitary it was. Instead, ale and beer were the foundations of staying hydrated in Elizabethan England.
I think it would be impossible to take part in every single aspect of the faire in one day. The amount of activities and live entertainment available was insane. From dancing to singing to acting the faire was filled with magicians, games, and art areas. If you wanted you could take part in archery, axe throwing, hair braiding, the Dragon Swing and plenty more.Walking through the faire, everywhere you look is another activity to take part of.
I was able to catch to new show Acrobatrix which was a two person comedy circus show. The show was full of so much energy and fun! Below are two videos I took during a show and a photo from right before she did a jump!
May 9, 2015
So not only was I able to walk and stop to watch any show I wanted, whatever interested me, I was able to take part in many activities. Just like it is mentioned in The Time Travelers Guide to Elizabethan England one of the most popular activities of the time was archery. Due to the Archery Act of 1542 "every man over the age of seventeen and under the age of sixty who is not lame or maimed, a nobleman, a clergyman, or a judge must keep a bow and four arrows in his house at all times of pay a fine of 6s 8d (Mortimer, page 292).
If you are 21 and over, an amazing time would come with taking part in the Pub Crawl for only $45. The alehouses and taverns are essential in Elizabethan
England. The people loved their beer and wine so it only made sense to sell
lots of beer around the pubs in the faire. With the beer you are getting the
surreal experience of indulgences with the food, drink, music and conversation.
I am Armenian and as a part of my culture and a lot of Middle
Eastern cultures it is very common and popular to take part in the social
activity of smoking hookah. Therefore, whilst walking through the faire, I
could not believe my eyes when I saw a Hookah tent. This made me laugh so hard,
bringing me back to a moment of realization that hookah is not just something my
family or friends do, but it’s a social activity everywhere.
