Dancing at the Ren Faire

Just realized I never posted the videos I took of the dancers at the Ren Faire from last year as well as 2024...enjoy!

Courtly dancing-2024

Country Garden Dancers-2025

Scenes From A Faire

Renaissance Faire photography

Magical Renaissance Faire Mysteries

A series I just discovered to check out if you're interested:

When Adelaide “Laidey” Ryan dragged herself off the couch for a date at the Renaissance Faire, she didn’t expect to run into her cheating ex-fiancé. The day only gets better when she winds up trapped on the magical grounds and discovers she’s a witch. And the best part? She’s charged with a homicide she didn’t commit.
With the “help” of a snarky talking cat, this former Pilates teacher will have to wade through a turkey-leg sized list of suspects to find the real killer, all while juggling her new job as a broom maker’s apprentice. Despite her troubles, there’s a dashingly handsome pirate captain who has her heart aflutter. But time is running out on her sleuthing, and the lazy sheriff is eager to march her to the gallows.
Can Laidey catch the murderer, or will her snooping make her Faire game for the killer?

Coriander the Conjurer is trapped in a cursed Renaissance Faire, but that’s the good news. Her usual routine of reading patrons’ futures and compensating for her lopsided fairy wings is interrupted when a scuffle turns deadly. Now, in order to broker peace within the realm she must solve a mermaid's murder.

Convincing the gorgeous Mer prince to allow her to investigate seems the only option. But she’ll need the help of a dangerous vampire and her meddling toad familiar to uncover the real clues. With doxies, scoundrels, and panderers aplenty, it won’t be easy to suss out the truth!

Can Coriander’s fairy dust save the day, or will her inquiry end as a tragedy?

Fallen angel Olivia Swift still hasn’t come to terms with the wrongful accusation that got her kicked out of Heaven and stuck in this never ending Renaissance Faire. As she spends her days jousting as the Autumn Knight, the centuries bleed together. But when a routine tilt turns into murder with a packed arena bearing witness, this angel’s endless time in the Kingdom of Elbion could be cut short.
With the help of a criminally minded dove and a chivalrous fellow knight, Olivia has until that night’s Midsummer Feast to exonerate herself by finding the one who framed her. However, that’s easier said than done in a realm with so many spells, secrets, and grudges...
Will this knight complete her quest before the king and queen lop off her heavenly head?

Coriander the Conjurer is trapped in a cursed Renaissance Faire, and it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to her. But this fairy fortune teller veers off course when a corpse turns up in her storage wagon. While her bestie rots in jail for a crime she didn’t commit, the actual murderer walks free…
When a stolen unicorn horn leads her investigation into the protected realm of the Fae, Coriander must make promises that might prove too big to keep. She’ll need the help of a wily vampire, a brilliant blacksmith, and her meddling toad familiar to uncover the real killer. As her helpers disappear one by one, the case spirals out of control.
Can timid Coriander face the terrifying truth, or will her snooping seal a fate worse than death?

Autumn Knight Olivia Swift finally feels her angelic powers returning, and just in time. Because when an elf is found dead on a pile of feathers, the falconer who makes Olivia’s heart flutter falls accused of the crime. Certain he’s not the culprit, she must search through the tall tales of the Renaissance Faire to find a killer on the loose.
When she senses her sweetheart isn’t telling her everything he knows, her gift of truth-seeing feels more like a curse. And the deeper she digs, the less she can trust anyone around her, including herself…
Can this fallen angel unravel the case of the fallen elf before the wrong person goes down for the crime?

Adelaide “Laidey” Ryan is adjusting to her new life in a cursed Renaissance Faire. But it’s not all bad for this broom-crafting witch. Her snarky black cat familiar and the dashing pirate captain help make the fantastical faire feel like home, but trouble is brewing for this novice witch…
When a pirate is murdered and the handsome captain thrown behind bars, Laidey vows to get to the bottom of this murky case. With an enchanted broom on the lam, a centuries old vendetta against a sea sorceress, and mutinous scallywags threatening her life, she’s soon sailing into dangerous waters.
Can Laidey conjure the clues to catch the murderer, or will this new witch end up sleeping with the fishes?

While the heavenly knight Olivia Swift puts on quite the show in the jousting arena, she’s never harbored thespian aspirations. But when one of Elbion’s favorite theatrical attractions ends in murder, this angel has no choice but to enter stage left to set things right. With help from her criminally minded dove familiar, Olivia suspects that all the faire might be the stage for this crime, and all the magical beings merely players…
With no clear suspect in sight, Olivia searches for the truth at the heart of the murder. When the investigation takes an unexpected turn, this angel wonders if anything at the Renaissance Faire is as it seems.

Can Olivia find the fiend before the curtain falls on another life?

Novice witch, Adelaide “Laidey” Ryan is up to her pointy hat in trouble. A hex lingers over the Renaissance Faire she now calls home, and an ancient prophesy hints that time is almost out for everyone inside the walls. But things go from bad to worse, when her black cat familiar Mort pulls a certain famous sword from the stone…

The same sword that’s used in a murder not a day later. Now Laidey must use her magic to prove Mort’s innocence before she can crack the curse. But when her unfolding powers go awry, she jeopardizes the entire faire’s future.
Will Laidey conjure a cure for the curse, or will this spell the end for the faire and everyone inside?

Coriander the Conjurer is queen of the fairy realm, and it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to her…even if she’s technically trapped within the kingdom’s walls. Now this fairy fortune teller hopes to tackle the confining curse that’s suspended Elbion in time for centuries. Unfortunately, her magical mission derails when someone burns a gingerbread house to the ground…Finding herself in a cauldron of trouble, Coriander must summon the help of a wily vampire, a brilliant blacksmith, and her meddling toad familiar to uncover the hidden killer. But she’s running into more alibis than allies, as suspicions threaten to bubble over.
Can Coriander crack the curse and corner the killer, or will the faire become her final resting place? (All via Amazon)

Faire novels

Faire season has arrived, so in celebration, here are novels I own set in a Faire:

  Assistant professor Jessie Morton spends her summers at the Renaissance Village honing her skills and finding the lady, lord, or serf whodunnit.

  This summer Jessie is the apprentice to Mary Shift, a basket-maker with a dark past as well as incredible weaving skills. One day a man is bid a deadly fare-thee-well with Mary's signature weave around his neck. It's up to Jessie to spring Mary from the stocks of the Myrtle Beach police station. Yet innocence is hard to prove in a place where there's a fine line between reality and good theater, and history is bound to repeat itself.

At her glass-blowing apprenticeship, Renaissance reveler Jessie Morton's crabby boss and his creepy nephew are causing her problems. But when the man playing the Grim Reaper is killed, Jess has to find the lady, lord or serf whodunit.

Jessie Morton's latest apprenticeship at the Renaissance Faire is in service to Daisy, the master swordsmith. But when a professional dueler-and Daisy's former flame-is murdered, it's up to Jessie to keep a sharp eye out for the killer.

Working as a hat-maker in the Renaissance Faire Village is pretty sweet for Jessie Morton-until one of the fair's chocolatiers is found drowned in a vat of chocolate in his shop. Now Jessie must sort through a long list of knaves, knights, and wenches who might have wanted to see the chocolatier double-dipped and dead.

Hail ye, hail ye, and welcome to the Renaissance Faire Village. Here, associate professor Jessie Morton spends her summers honing her skills and finding the lady, lord, or serf whodunit. But when she comes for Christmas, will murder mean a very unhappy holiday?

  Jessie Morton is getting just what she wished for this holiday season at the Renaissance Faire Village—working as an apprentice to the new toy maker. But when Chris Christmas is discovered dead just hours after her arrival, Jessie’s holiday plans start to melt away.

  Jessie can’t imagine who would want to silence the toy maker, but apparently the red-cheeked Chris Christmas liked toying with the ladies. Although it may be her shortest apprenticeship ever, she wants to unwrap the truth before word gets out in the village that it’s not safe to be Santa—or one of his helpers…

Wanda Le Fey is dead, and Renaissance Faire lover, Jessie Morton, looks suspiciously like the person who killed her. Jessie was simply returning the prank Wanda played on her by dyeing the other woman blue. It wasn’t her fault that Wanda was also stabbed in the chest by a sword as she tried to get out of her shower. Now Wanda’s blue ghost is prodding Jessie to find her killer. And a dead Wanda is far worse than a live Wanda. (This is a novella)

In less than two short weeks, Jessie Morton will marry Chase Manhattan at the Renaissance Faire Village and Marketplace. But so much can go wrong in that short time. A man is murdered in Jessie's new Arts and Crafts Museum and her assistant is being scrutinized for the deed. Chase's brother and parents have arrived and are still against their marriage. Wanda's ghost is busy making Jessie's life miserable. The Ren Faire wedding of her dreams may never take place. Can she talk Chase into eloping before it's too late?

Jessie Morton is thrilled when she finds Bill Warren, an old fashioned shoemaker, and he agrees to come back to Renaissance Faire Village with her. She’s not so thrilled when claims to have elf magic, and he falls for Princess Isabelle. The dancing slippers Bill makes for Isabelle make him a suspect when the princess takes a leap from the castle terrace. Now, Jessie must find the lady or lord who helped the princess with her last dance before she loses her star attraction.

When a fairy named Apple Blossom is found dead in a fountain, Ren Faire lover Jessie Morton makes a wish she lives to regret—that her husband, Chase Manhattan, is no longer the Renaissance Faire Village Bailiff so he doesn’t have to look for the fairy’s killer and ruin their plans to go away for their first wedding anniversary.
Trapped in a timeless ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ experience, Jessie is transported to a different Village to face the consequences of her wish where Chase isn’t the Bailiff, and he’s not married to her.

Jessie’s fairy godmother who granted the wish tells her that she must find a way to make Chase fall in love with her again, and they must discover who killed Apple Blossom, if she ever wants to go back to the life she knew. (all via Amazon.com)

Renaissance Pleasure Faire programs

After three years, it's once again Faire season! In honor, these are all the programs I've saved from every Faire I've attended, though for 2016 I turned up just as it was closing but they still gave me the program... I'm very much looking forward to hopefully attending this year! 🙂

Update: I attended! 😁

(I had one, but lost it, so luckily I found this one...I went on the 17th)

Well Met review

  The Renaissance Faire—a 50 year-long party, communal ritual, political challenge and cultural wellspring—receives its first sustained historical attention with Well Met. Beginning with the chaotic communal moment of its founding and early development in the 1960s through its incorporation as a major “family friendly” leisure site in the 2000s, Well Met tells the story of the thinkers, artists, clowns, mimes, and others performers who make the Faire.
  Well Met approaches the Faire from the perspective of labor, education, aesthetics, business, the opposition it faced, and the key figures involved. Drawing upon vibrant interview material and deep archival research, Rachel Lee Rubin reveals the way the faires established themselves as a pioneering and highly visible counter cultural referendum on how we live now—our family and sexual arrangements, our relationship to consumer goods, and our corporate entertainments.
  In order to understand the meaning of the faire to its devoted participants,both workers and visitors, Rubin has compiled a dazzling array of testimony, from extensive conversations with Faire founder Phyllis Patterson to interviews regarding the contemporary scene with performers, crafters, booth workers and “playtrons.” Well Met pays equal attention what came out of the faire—the transforming gifts bestowed by the faire’s innovations and experiments upon the broader American culture: the underground press of the 1960s and 1970s, experimentation with “ethnic” musical instruments and styles in popular music, the craft revival, and various forms of immersive theater are all connected back to their roots in the faire. Original, intrepid, and richly illustrated, Well Met puts the Renaissance Faire back at the historical center of the American counterculture.-Amazon review

I've had this book for a good while now, and would recommend it for anyone want a comprehensive history of the faire and a good read for off faire days when you're missing it!

Rugrats go to to the Faire

One of my favorite cartoons as a kid was Nickelodeon's Rugrats and last night one of the episodes shown on Teen Nick as part of their '90s Are All That segment was called "Faire Play/The Smell of Success" in which the kids attend their local faire. Things soon go haywire as only the Rugrats can do it. For your enjoyment, you can view the Rugrats episode here:

All's Faire in Love

Released in select theatres this past Friday, This uninspiring piece of work stars Christina Ricci, Bill Engvall, the legendary Ann Margaret (😮!) and Cederick the Entertainer among others...a surprisingly good cast that should've been given much more to work with. The story follows Kate (Ricci) an aspiring actress and Will (Owen Benjamin) a dumb jock who both take jobs for the summer working at Ye Olden Times Renaissance Pleasure Faire: Kate to earn money and spend time with her cousin (who also works at the faire), Will because he hast to get his professor (Cederick the Entertainer) to sign off on his many absences so he can play football next season. At the faire we meet Croket (Matthew Lillard), who befriends Will, Jester Roy and his puppet unicorn Horny, and the annoying Rank who keeps trying to get Kate to perform the grand finale production of Romeo and Juliet with him. In the end, Will and Kate find they're in love and Will finds that working at a faire isn't as bad as he originally thought. While the film's heart and story premise are in the right place, the lines and majority of acting in it are awful, and some things happen that would never happen at a faire. However, the costumes are decent, I'd have Ann Margaret as my faire's queen any day, and the look and feel of what faire is like is pretty much spot on. I give it 2 out of 5 stars