Since I enjoyed the Renaissance Fair last year, I determined to go again this year. However, I realized that I enjoyed it primarily as a matter of contrast to my circumstances at the time. Now that I am back to myself, I was mostly annoyed by what I saw and found that I enjoyed it less. Perhaps it's just a function of age, but it seems to me that most of the people at the Fair were there to pretend and escape reality more than out of true enjoyment for the venues or the time to which they allegedly pay homage.
I was somewhat annoyed by the preponderance of vendors relative to entertainers. Within ten minutes, I was accosted by a small boy who offered to teach me to spin a sword on my finger for $10.
I've also decided there's too much emphasis on cleavage and not enough on chivalry. Since I have been to the Joust in the U.K., albeit many years ago, I think naming it the "Age of Chivalry" and then filling the venue with scantily-clad wenches kind of aims at defeating the odds of chivalric behavior. The only thing that made any real attempt at chivalry was the joust, which was performed by elderly gentlemen near to retirement and seasoned with age. Most of the attendees took the opportunity to reveal skin, even when they should have kept covered.
When I finally left after five hours in the dust, din, and drunkenness, I felt and smelt as if I had spent the time in an Irish pub. No offense if you're Irish or a Pub. It was like many Americanized festivals more of an excuse to drink and indulge in the lusts of the flesh than to really enjoy history.
I was somewhat annoyed by the preponderance of vendors relative to entertainers. Within ten minutes, I was accosted by a small boy who offered to teach me to spin a sword on my finger for $10.
I've also decided there's too much emphasis on cleavage and not enough on chivalry. Since I have been to the Joust in the U.K., albeit many years ago, I think naming it the "Age of Chivalry" and then filling the venue with scantily-clad wenches kind of aims at defeating the odds of chivalric behavior. The only thing that made any real attempt at chivalry was the joust, which was performed by elderly gentlemen near to retirement and seasoned with age. Most of the attendees took the opportunity to reveal skin, even when they should have kept covered.
When I finally left after five hours in the dust, din, and drunkenness, I felt and smelt as if I had spent the time in an Irish pub. No offense if you're Irish or a Pub. It was like many Americanized festivals more of an excuse to drink and indulge in the lusts of the flesh than to really enjoy history.
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