FriendsOfMDRF.org - THE BLOG!

Saturday was the opening day for the Maryland Renaissance Festival and we were there. Our family first attended “RenFest” three years ago, with the vague idea that it would be “educational.” Educational? Hmmm. Perhaps. But it certainly is entertaining.

So, how to describe it? RenFest is comprised of several acres of fantastical medieval-style buildings scattered in a lovely wooded setting, meant to evoke a 16th Century English village. There are artisan shops of all types, concessions selling every kind of foodstuff on a stick imaginable (cheesecake on a stick-yum!), pubs (mead and hard cider in addition to ale and wine), performance areas featuring musicians and stage acts, games of chance and skill, a climbing wall and play areas for kids…oh, and a jousting ring where actual jousting tournaments take place. [Factoid: Jousting is the official sport of the state of Maryland.]

But the true entertainment is the people watching. A weird and wonderful melange of serious Elizabethan re-enactors, Jack Sparrow wannabees and their saucy wenches, tartan-clad Braveheart types, D&amp/B&amp/Lord of the Rings-ian princes of Gondor, goth-punk-pixie-biker-gamer-wiccan hybrids, little girls in sparkly princess garb and little boys brandishing wooden swords and shields. And everything in between. Oh, and “normal” people.

In abundance: more tattoos than you can shake a stick at. In abundance: cleavage. Nonchalantly displayed, head-turning, what our family call “boobs on a platter” cleavage.

For all the unlikely mix–and the presence of alcohol–it’s a remarkably family friendly and genteel event.

But I have to ask. What is it with nerds gifted folks and renaissance festivals? Clearly there is a connection as cited by no less a cultural authority than Weird Al Yankovic in his “White and Nerdy” video:

I’m nerdy in the extreme and whiter than sour creme
I was in AV club and Glee club and even the chess team!
Only question I ever thought was hard
Was do I like Kirk or do I like Picard?
I spend every weekend
at the renaissance fair
I got my name on my under wear!

At RenFest I watched a hilarious 20 minute version of Macbeth during which the actors made extended Star Trek references. The audience roared. Clearly it’s a stereotype that festival goers embrace.

Well, a little googling around got me at least one theory. On the heels of Nerds: Who They are and Why We Need Them, comes American Nerd: The Story of My People,” by Benjamin Nugent. Nugent recently did a Q&A with the Los Angeles Times, and he offered this insight:

Wasn’t there someplace where they addressed you as “kind sir” or something like that? Some of the nerdy kids in my high school were very into Renaissance festivals.

I think with Renaissance festivals, that quasi-medieval language allows for a certain clarity and politeness in discourse which a lot of nerds miss in high school, and need to find a place where it’s spoken. And that sense of elaborate rules and hierarchies that are very clear and open to everyone – that’s something else high school does not allow. The hierarchies in high school are difficult to climb, it’s not clear how you do it. Everything is intuitive rather than rule-bound, all speech is elusive, etc. While the medieval society, the way it’s imagined, is this clear – everyone knows where everybody stands – honor society.

He’s onto something. Some are clearly drawn to the historic arcana of real and imagined Elizabethan life. Walking around RenFest I jokingly whispered to my husband, “What percentage would you guess are IT professionals?”

But I don’t think Nugent goes far enough. Creativity, artistry, imagination, the chance to re-invent one’s self–these are significant elements of RenFest as well. It was fun to wonder who these people are in real life. Those who immerse themselves in the RenFest experience aren’t afraid to be non-conformists, to be a bit silly and or dramatic. My guesses included art school students, theater crew members, gamers, Wiccans, professors, poetry girls, martial artists and generally people whose interests and talents and temperaments take them outside the mainstream of American life. Gifted folks. For several weeks a year they revel–literally–in the chance to take on a new persona and experience a different reality. Shared escapism and fantasy. A creative outlet.

M. in particular has been completely smitten by RenFest. Completely. So much so that after last year’s outing–softy that I am and guilted by a magician’s cape I had sewn a few years earlier for C.–I agreed to sew M. a renaissance outfit for this year’s festival. In early spring I made the trek to G Street Fabric and shelled out way more money than I would ever have imagined spending on a sewing project. The patterns for skirt, blouse and corset, the tapestry fabric, the yards of taffeta-like material, muslin for the blouse, the grommets and grommet punch, lining, interfacing, leather lacing, ribbon, thread…the whole thing ran me close to $300.

The project proceeded in fits and spurts all through the spring and into the summer. I figured I had lots of time. In the meantime M. cooked up a plan for a RenFest birthday extravaganza to make up for the birthday party she didn’t have in January. She would invite two friends, they would all dress up, go to the festival, come home and watch James Bond movies and drink way too much soda until the wee hours of Sunday. I was game.

And suddenly, the day was here and an hour before her friends were to arrive I was at the sewing machine trying to hem acres of the slippery skirt. The skirt was sized for an adult, so I had to shorten it substanially, and in my haste I cut too much. Ugh! I felt like a complete idiot. How to salvage it? I could see M. was crushed. But C. came to the rescue. “Here Mom, let me do it.” And so I did. She did a great job. Disaster averted. And M. and her friends had a wonderful day.

Originally found at: http://themorechild.com/2008/08/26/huzzah-for-non-conformists/