FriendsOfMDRF.org - THE BLOG!

It's the first day in months that I won't be driving 1.5 hours down 95, looking for that exit to I-97 (the shortest interstate in the United States) and then the Crownsville exit.

It's the first day in months that I don't hear cannonfire to REALLY start my day.

It's the first day in months that I don't get the hugs and handshakes from the men and ladies that I consider the best friends I've ever had.

It's the first day in months that I can't rationalize having a hard cider or an ale at 1030 in the morning. . . and noticing I'm not alone in that rationalization.

It's the first day in months that I don't give a Klingon chest salute to Ray the guard and be granted either a hug or a wink from His Majesty, King Fred.

It's the first day in months that I won't growl at the O'Danny's first show when they ask men, "comfortable with their masculinity" to swoon. . . and have Daisy point at me and accuse me of creeping out the crowd!

It's the first day in months that I won't hear all the background noises of faire, from vendors to knights. . . . I won't smell the folding of iron from the blacksmith or the steak-on-a-stake. . . . I won't see the leaves changing from green to gold. . . I won't feel the sod/straw/chips/gravel/stone/dirt/mud of Revel Grove's lanes underfoot . . . and I won't taste an ice cold cider, washing down a Scotch Egg.

It's the first day in months that I'll be sad.

It will also be the first day in months that I get to experience the expectation of a new season of The Maryland Renaissance Festival and all the joy that suspense brings. Melancholy over the season that's spent but joyous in hope that the faire will do what it always does. . . . evolve into a spectacular event that exceeds every expectation. . . and brings with it more magic than the year before.

It's the first day to share a new season with everyone at www.friendsofmdrf.org

As in previous years, upon the Monday morning after the closing day of the season, I select who I think is a good representation of our membership and sings our praises.

Another man has been selected and will join the ranks of (2009) Sir Dragon/Ron Santos, (2008) Scotsman/Greg Moore, (2007) Captain Chelle/Michelle Campbell, (2006) Magpie/Angi Bynum, (2005) Amras Elfwine/Kevin Arrington, (2004) Lumpy/Ken Leyhe, (2003) Noir Cyn/Cynthia Kimball, (2002) Sir Black Fox/Steve Kimball as the 2010 Friend of the year. . . . . a mighty huzzah to. . . .

Sir Dante/Mike Dantuono

Mike is so devoted to our membership that he had the logo added to his RV's spare tire cover!

Mike is always at faire with his lovely wife Joanne (named after the fabric store) and is more than happy to share a story, a beer, and a smile. He's a wonderful friend and considered a brother to many of us.

Hearty Huzzahs to ye, Mike!

By Jennifer Tanko

Shorter days, colorful leaves and a stein that holds almost three draft beers; October may be my favorite month. It’s not too cold yet, I get to spend all month planning a killer costume, but most of all, it is when we Americans celebrate the German festival of Oktoberfest.

I was lucky enough this semester to be able to attend a whopping three Oktoberfest celebrations in a row.

The first Oktoberfest I attended was Oktoberfest Weekend at the Maryland Renaissance Festival.

I had never been to Renn Fest before and jumped on the excuse to kill two birds with one stone and go on that particular weekend.

The beer selection was a lot better than I’d anticipated, no urine-flavored water like Miller Lite and the like on draft. I also found myself taking a few breaks from beer to enjoy some mead or hard cider.

My next weekend was spent at the Maryland Brewer’s Oktoberfest, which featured local breweries from all over the state. The atmosphere was definitely more authentic, there was an Oompah band and tons of German food (and I do love the kraut). Thankfully my friends and I were dressed up for the occasion in good company.

Of course, due to the nature of this festival, the beer selection was absolutely fantastic. I tried my hardest to force myself to try new stuff, but I couldn’t stop going back to my favorites at The Brewer’s Art and Clipper City Brewing Co. In fact, the tasting selections at the former gave me “the thirst”—I was crazy for Brewer’s Art and found myself there the following Wednesday, and my cravings have definitely not been curbed.

See the rest at: http://www.thetowerlight.com/arts/going-german-1.2041851

"I didn't think about posting this earlier (as I naturally assume that *everybody* watches Pub Sing to the very end), but yesterday was the last performance Drake Mallard/Paul DiBlasi as a member of the Pyrates Royale (at least at Maryland, and at least as a regular member - I wouldn't be surprised to see him show up like Damon/Louis once a year or so). He said that he wanted to work with Janie (Meneely) more to help get her music heard, and presumably to spend more time with her. "

Thus said our good friend Will Paisley about the retirement of Mallard Drake of The Pyrates Royale. To Check out the followup responses to this announcement, check here: http://fomdrforg.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=facts&thread=1214&page=1

Just click the image below!

That’s the question that attaches to the following passage:

Here are some things you can do at the Maryland Renaissance Festival: You can drench a wench. You can hurl hatchets at tree stumps with red targets painted on them. You can ride elephants. You can participate in a game called rat-pucking, punting stuffed-rat toys across a lawn toward the gathered apron skirts of a matron assigned as the target. You can buy little puffy-tipped horns and walk around for the rest of the day with them attached to either side of your head, and no one will look at you funny. You can coast down a long wooden slide. You can’t carry a sword, or even a realistic-looking fake, but you can buy a dull-edged wooden one to go with your knight’s hood. You can attend lectures about Tudor-era crime and punishment, or medieval fashion. You (meaning you, legal adult) can walk around drinking a beer in what feels like a small town.

Well, the answer may not surprise those who’ve been following the new Washington Post Magazine.

The late-September re-launch of this not-that-storied publication was supposed to make it more friendly to both readers and advertisers. Shorter and lighter pieces, it was thought, would lead to a more profitable magazine, putting the Post a touch closer to viability in these terrible times for newspapers.

OK, fine. But do you really have to put the advertisement right in the article?

Pulled From: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/10/26/is-it-an-ad-or-is-it-wapo-mag/

By Rebecca Bengal

Near a tall oak by the jousting field stood a guy in a black leather vest, with metal-studded epaulets over billowy, cuffed pants in a deep shade of purple. Huge spider medallions hung around his neck and were affixed to the leather straps that held his tankard. His voice was loud and nasal, his expression fixated and intense, framed by a set of woolly eyebrows. A redheaded woman in harem pants and pointy-toe slippers had apparently sought his advice about her husband, who had refused to don a costume or even accompany her to the festival that day.

"Dude, that's so messed up!" he said. (He identified himself as Kilsek, which is the name of the dark elf character he plays in the medieval warrior reenactment game Darkon.) "You can't have any fun in street clothes! I mean, what's he going to do, sit there in a frickin' Budweiser shirt? Get him in the garb! It's so easy to put something together. Just pick up some hose thing, some breeches, and he's good to go."

"I know," she said. They stood there for a moment in silence, thoughtful.

"It's all about adapting to your environment," Kilsek said. He paused to call out to a man strolling by in a black kilt spangled in metallic buttons, "Kickass dress, dude, I'm digging it!"

I was at the Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville observing the wildlife. Bands of adults with heavy metal hair, in full armor, with gauntlets and knee-high boots seemed to have arrived straight from a Nordic den and marched past entire families in costume, princesses in pink tulle with a gypsy for a mother and a knave for a dad. Never mind that the actual Viking raids on England predate 1543 by several centuries: The Renaissance Festival seemed to accept all eras, however fashionably or unfashionably late or early to the party. Women with brass-cupped breasts heatedly discussed the Powerball lottery; an elderly couple in peasant dress promenaded grandly past, arm in arm, like medieval mall-walkers, and a teenage Goth couple pranced lightly across the grassy field, black eye makeup somehow intact in the heat, their long black dusters fanning out ever so slightly behind them. Where else but this place would a hard-core teenage Goth willingly pay money to go hang out with a middle-aged mom and dad?

Here are some things you can do at the Maryland Renaissance Festival: You can drench a wench. You can hurl hatchets at tree stumps with red targets painted on them. You can ride elephants. You can participate in a game called rat-pucking, punting stuffed-rat toys across a lawn toward the gathered apron skirts of a matron assigned as the target. You can buy little puffy-tipped horns and walk around for the rest of the day with them attached to either side of your head, and no one will look at you funny. You can coast down a long wooden slide. You can't carry a sword, or even a realistic-looking fake, but you can buy a dull-edged wooden one to go with your knight's hood. You can attend lectures about Tudor-era crime and punishment, or medieval fashion. You (meaning you, legal adult) can walk around drinking a beer in what feels like a small town.

For many, though, there is a pull greater than this, something that drives grown women to squeeze themselves into tight bodices and inspires men to package themselves in codpieces for a day, to briefly escape to this bizarre and anachronistic world. But precisely what that draw was, I couldn't yet say.

Rest of the story is at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/16/AR2009101601708.html

Grown-ups play dress-up each fall at the Maryland Renaissance Festival.

Marvin Holt wears a warrior's garb at the Maryland Renaissance Festival outside of Crownsville. The event is in its 33rd season.
See the photo at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2009/10/22/GA2009102203759.html

Jenn: Since my outing to the Maryland Renaissance Festival got freezing-rained-out last weekend, I’m heading there Saturday come hell or high water. I don’t care, I want my oysters and mead!

Pulled From: http://www.welovedc.com/2009/10/22/we-love-weekends-october-24-25/

The Maryland Renaissance Festival wraps up its 2009 season Oct. 24-25, with a Chivalry Weekend. The event, which runs Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 23-25, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., off Route 97 in Crownsville, will feature a jousting tournament. The fair itself recreates the atmosphere of a 16th century English village, with actors playing the parts of King Henry VIII and his court. Admission at the gate is $18 general, $15 for seniors, $8 for children ages 7-15 and free for anyone younger. Call 800-296-7304. For a rundown of events, go to www.rennfest.com.

Pulled From: http://www.explorehoward.com/events-entertainment/66338/town/

For years now at MDRF, since I voiced my unpopular opinions in 2002, there have been those that "don't appreciate" my sardonic wit and very dark humours. Many of the folks who populate faires are of a tender and sensitive nature. . . . most of those can't take a joke.

Because folks consider Faire a serious hobby, one that makes them pine for it in the off-season, wishing away much of "real life" to get back to Revel Grove. Some make it their sole reason for living and MDRF and those who enjoy its fruits, the only people they consider friends. It's a bit sad in my opinion.

It is those type of folks who vandalized The Pyrates Way truck last weekend, giving a rotten end to an almost perfect day. If making me miserable in the short term was their goal then they won. If they think such actions would deter or even bother me long term then they're very sadly mistaken. Worst part of the situation is that m'luv Cynthia owns said vehicle and regardless of what anyone thinks of me. . . . why would they go out of their way to injure my wife in such a way?

Anyway it wasn't a lot of vandalizm. . . . just ripping apart one of the Pyrates Way logo magnets that I sported on each forward doors of the vehicle. Just enough damage to scratch a bit of paint and piss me off a bit. . . nothing more.

It does suck though that there are people who revel in such juvenile and criminal actions. Most humans interact when they have a problem with another. . . criminal cowards however, take a different path because deep down they know they're both wrong and a scared of facing me. No biggie. . . life goes on. . . but as I said. . .it DOES suck.

Click the image to go to the album!

By TISHA THOMPSON

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - From battle axes to busty corsets, there are plenty of things you can always count on at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. But between the rotten weather and this year’s economic downturn, you might think even the hardiest of ye olde faithful might think twice about that $18 admission ticket.

“Wild horse couldn’t keep me away from this place,” says Mary-Claude Tomlin, who goes by the moniker “Thistle Silverleaf” while at the fair. Garbed in a heavy woolen cloak while showing off the jewel-encrusted dragons crawling along her earlobes, Tomlin says she’s driven from her home in New Jersey four times already this fall to partake in the revelry.

Artisans here say loyal “Rennies” like Tomlin help them juggle tough times.

“I’m having a pretty good year,” says Bill Jezzard. He makes elaborate hair pieces out of bronze and sells them for roughly $100. He says many women come back again and again, owning more than 20 of his pieces.

Instead of hurting the Festival, Jezzard says the bad economy actually helped the Festival out this year. “I think people are having staycations and not going to the Bahamas."

Mark “Coop” Cooper carves complicated Celtic knots and other symbols out of Western red cedar. He says the Festival literally saved his business. "Across America I do shows all year and every show I did all year long was down 40-50%. It was tough; we were one rain storm away from disaster."

But Maryland’s prices are lower, he says. Food, admission, even the price he pays for his booth.

Plus, Cooper says, Maryland’s version has one major distinction. “As you walk through the show, all you see in the booth are genuine works of art created by the people selling it to you. Most other fairs have gone the way of Chinese imports."

Cooper says he’s now going to have the best year of his career.

The Festival’s art director, Carolyn Spedden, says the weather actually hurts them more than a bad economy. Rain and ankle-deep mud reduced this weekend’s “Scottish Games” from an estimated crowd of 20,000 down to about 3,000 brawny souls.

“We’re what we call diehard Rennies,” says Miriam Steiner. “We come rain or shine. We were here for Hurricane Katrina. We’re diehards."

And those die-hards are helping the Festival have a booming year, says Spedden. “We’re gearing up for if not the best, one of the absolute best years. We've been doing astoundingly well."

pulled from: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/101909_maryland_resnaissance_festival

Three Towson students spend their weekends working in the 16th century
By Lauren Slavin

For most Towson students, the weekend is a time of relaxation after a long week at school.

Sleeping, studying and the occasional party keep many students occupied on Saturday and Sunday.

But for three Towson students, the weekend is spent working nine hours a day in the 16th century.

These students are employed by the Maryland Renaissance Festival, an outdoor entertainment venue in Annapolis.

“I’m a normal person Monday through Friday,” junior theatre major Alex Li said.

“But Saturday morning I have to get up at seven o’clock in the morning, bright and early; I have to get dressed because we can’t wear normal clothes obviously working at the Renn Faire, we have to wear costumes; and we have to be out of the house by eight o’clock.”

Employees arrive at the fairgrounds around 9 a.m., many still in clothes from the 21st century.

But once the cannon goes off and the festival opens at 10 a.m., modern clothes and slang are replaced with old English and period costumes.

Li works at the Fantasy Guilde Studios where he sells clay nymph and satyr horns that are best sellers throughout the festival.

“Working [at the Renaissance Festival] is different, it’s not like any other job,” Li said.

“It’s a different environment. You don’t have an actual store front, you’re more like just little booths, and you don’t have a cash register or all the different things of modern stores.”

This is Li’s first year working at the Renaissance Festival, but he already benefits from several perks of employment.

“When you get off of work you can enjoy your rest of your day at the faire,” Li said.

“Technically, you’re just getting in for free; granted you work, but you’re also enjoying yourself, which is something I don’t think a lot of other [work] places do.”

The relationships that come from working at the festival are another great part about the job, according to Li.

“I’ve made a lot of friends since working there,” he said. “All the different vendors there are like a really close group, they’re like a family. Every year this is what they do.”

Senior biology major Allison Allen has been a part of this family since her childhood.

Her mother owned a booth at the Renaissance Festival when she was younger, and she started working at the battle axe throwing game when she was 15 years old.

At age 21, she is now the assistant manager.

“The job isn’t very easy; you have to be pretty bulked up to work there,” she said.

“You carry 50 pounds of axes back and forth every 40 seconds to two minutes.”

She works with senior digital art and design major Michael Vares. Because of the heavy lifting, the workers at the battle axe game are predominantly male. But that hasn’t stopped Allen from climbing to the top of the ladder.

“I get to make the men look really silly cause I’m better at it then they are,” Allen joked.

Both Allen and Vares have worked retail jobs, which lack in comparison to working at the Renaissance Festival.

“I was working at Michael’s the past few years. I’d probably get the same amount I get working one weekend [at the festival] over the two week cycle [at Michael’s],” Vares said. “I was only part time [at Michael’s], but still.”

Apart from the pay, there’s also the factor of gratitude from costomers and employers.

“People actually will appreciate you for the things that you do,” Vares said.

“We have some people who are like ‘I can’t believe you do this, this is the hardest job at the faire.’ When I’m at Michael’s I’m picking up crap that people leave all over the place all day, and that’s expected of you.”

Li sees the Renaissance Festival as a more ideal place for someone with his talents to work.

“I think for someone who makes costumes and does theatre it’s more or less a fitting place,” Li said.

The one downside to the job all three students could agree on: the commitment to give up their weekend.

“You are giving up a big chunk of your time to this. I haven’t had a free weekend since the last weekend of August,” Li said.

“But I think what you get out of it in return is really worth it.”

Pulled From: http://www.thetowerlight.com/arts/a-job-for-the-ages-1.2025974

By BOBBY MCMAHON Capital News Service

The economy is in shambles. A new and terrifying disease is spreading throughout the area. People are making the most of tough times.

Welcome to England, circa 1543.

Now in its final two weekends of this season, the Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville is bringing people from across the area together for some good very, very old-fashioned fun.

Despite the down economy, attendance is on par with past years, with about 14,000 people coming through the gates each day. Many visitors, including Annapolis resident Erin Higgins, consider the festival comparatively inexpensive.

"It's a cheap thrill," Higgins said, dressed for the occasion in a black corset and appropriately antiquated pants. "It's eight bucks more than a movie ticket (for admission to the festival) and you're here all day. And the people-watching is great."

The festival is a time warp back to the days of King Henry VIII, offering all manner of escapes from normal life. Wandering through the 27 acres of woodlands, visitors clap along with fiddlers and other traditional musicians, laugh as jesters in big floppy hats perform, and catch passing glances of men dressed as knights and women in bust-heaving dresses.

Tyler Petrini, a 23-year-old teacher from Catonsville, enjoys the unique experience of the festival, particularly the food.

"There's nothing like holding a turkey leg and drinking mead," Petrini said. "You can't do that anywhere else."

Jules Smith Jr., the general manager of the festival, said turkey legs are one of the most popular food items. To feed the turkey-leg-starved masses, he orders about 58 tons of the popular item in early spring.

The festival also offers a multitude of stick-mounted foods - macaroni and cheese on a stick, steak on a "stake" and chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick. All this food on a stick apparently makes people thirsty, as guests consume 250,000 glasses each of beer and soft drinks, as well as 200,000 bottles of water during a season.

Unusual food is not the only draw for visitors, as actors, acrobats and magicians perform at stages and in open areas throughout the venue. Many shows require a great deal of audience participation, and Carolyn Spedden, the artistic director of the festival for more than 20 years, thinks this full-on experience is what sets it apart from other forms of entertainment.

"We're trying to involve all the senses (with guests), instead of just sitting and visually watching TV or a movie," Spedden said. "I think that is what makes it a little unique."

Also special to the festival, Spedden said, is how visitors develop relationships with performers, as many have been taking the stage for a number of years.

"The closest relationship I can link it to is the way some people feel about their favorite characters on long-term TV sitcoms," Spedden said, comparing fan favorites like "O" and "The Renaissance Man" to characters on "Cheers" and "Friends."

Many of these performers - as well as the artists and craftsmen who make the festival run - travel a circuit of renaissance festivals throughout the country, starting in Arizona in February and ending their season in November. Smith said it's the creativity and outdoor environment that draws performers to this lifestyle.

"I know the sword swallower has told me he could be performing in a nightclub, but he'd only see klieg lights," Smith said. "Here, in daylight, in the woods, he gets to see people respond to every nuance he does. Not everybody will catch everything, but he knows the people who are appreciating what he does."

Smith also noted how those who work the festival appreciate the sense of community, a sentiment echoed by Kunji Rey, a henna tattoo artist at the festival and a trained massage therapist based in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Rey grew up in the circuit, selling jewelry and making garlands since she was little, and appreciates how she can travel to any festival and find someone she knows.

Rey also said that, for all the uncertainty in the economy and trouble throughout the world, people still need a good time.

"People are eager to be entertained, looking for a diversion, and that's why our theme this year is 'Escape to the Maryland Renaissance Festival,' " Smith said.

Roy William Cox - aka Sir William Westmoreland - a jouster who has been performing for more than 30 years, said that it's very important to put on a good show for an audience in need of escape, particularly when times are worse than they are now.

"When 9/11 happened they thought about closing the fair down, but then the powers that be decided 'No, we're going to go ahead and do it because people are going to want to get away,' " Cox said. "And it was one of best weekends ever … People want to escape, they want to get away from that. And even in this economy, people save for the year just to come here."

Pulled From: http://www.hometownglenburnie.com/news/Entertainment/2009/10/17-17/Renaissance+Festival+holds+steady+during+recession%0A.html

Park plan open to public input

A 214-acre regional park is in the planning stages for the area bounded by Md. 79, Md. 180 and Olive School Road.

Brunswick 's Planning and Zoning Department is welcoming ideas from the public concerning uses for the land. Zoning Administrator Bruce Dell said the park will be a combination of passive and active uses.

"If anybody has a wish list, please e-mail me," at planner@Brunswick md.gov, Dell said.

"All that acreage would be a good place for the Maryland Renaissance Festival," Councilman Tom Smith said.

pulled from: http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=96492

By Nicholas C. Stern

Mount Airy — Mead, a fermented honey beverage, may be the oldest alcoholic drink made by man, its production dating back some 6,000 years.

Beyond studying the history and culture behind the honeyed beverage, Linganore Wine Cellars winemaker Anthony Aellen makes about 7,000 to 8,000 gallons of it each year. He also makes about 120,000 gallons of wine.

Despite the storied use of mead in world culture, most Americans have never tried it.

Aellen thinks this lack of experience presents a great opportunity to not only introduce people to the sweet wine, but also to keep an ancient tradition alive.

The first clues about mead's production might be traced back to cave paintings in Scandinavia that depict the process, Aellen said.

Honey is too sweet to allow yeasts and other bacteria to grow, he said. However, people who processed honey would leave the comb and other honey dregs in vessels that eventually filled with rainwater. The water diluted the honey, allowing fermentation to take place.

Egyptian pharaohs were buried with jars of mead to drink in the afterlife; the libation was considered a gift from the sun god, Aellen said.

The tradition of a honeymoon after marriage can be traced to a Scandinavian custom where the man had to capture his bride-to-be for a month, or one full cycle of the moon, and then drank mead with her to celebrate their new marriage.

Mead and other honey products were popular around the world until the end of the 18th century, when refined sugar took over as a coveted product that became easier for people to buy, he said.

Much of Aellen's mead production goes to the Maryland Renaissance Festival, which ends later this month.

Drinking the beverage helps give visitors the feeling they are in medieval Europe, he said.

Bottles of the mead can be purchased at the winery's tasting room in Mount Airy .

"It's one of those old-time drinks to come back to," Aellen said, "doing the same thing cave men did."

Pulled from: http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=96444

Saturday, January 23, 2010
5:00pm - 11:00pm
4238 Wilson Blvd Arlington, VA 22204

Friends of MDRF Post-Holiday Par-tay will take place both before and after the O'Danny Girls: Winter Wonderbraland show @ the Comedy Spot (4238 Wilson Blvd Arlington, VA 22204)

Saturday, January 23, 2010
Dinner: 5 - 7:15pm
Show: 7:30pm - 9:00pm
Party: 9 - Close

Check back here for more info on dinner and party. . . get tix for the show at: www.comedyindc.com

First they acted like a couple. Then they became one.

It was love at first act for Mary Ann Jung and Tom Plott of Arnold, who met onstage at the Maryland Renaissance Festival more than 20 years ago and have been together ever since.

Plott was playing Robert Dudley, a favorite friend of Queen Elizabeth's, and Jung portrayed his love, Lettice Knollys.

"I didn't want to be at rehearsal," Jung said, smiling at Plott as she reminisced. "Then I walked up and (saw Tom) and said, 'Oh, I'm in love!' "

She was being a bit sarcastic initially, but the two did soon start dating. They eventually married in 1996 and all the while kept working at the Renaissance festival. This is actually Jung's 30th year there. Plott has "only" put in 22 - the year he met Jung was his first appearance at the Crownsville event. He came there from the Georgia Renaissance Festival.

"It's been a lot of years and they've done a lot of things," said Carolyn Spedden, artistic director of the Maryland festival. "They both have been some of the strongest performers we've had."

Over the years, Jung estimates the couple has taken on about 20 different roles between them.

This season, Jung is Capt. Jean the Pirate Queen in her "Pee Wee Pirate Show" and also serves as director of The Royal Court's group of actors with a story line set in 1543. Plott, meanwhile, switches between two very distinct roles: a rather unkempt hermit and a Scottish nobleman. He's also performance director at the festival.

"When you go home at the end of the day with a man who has a turtle shell on his head (Plott's hermit's take on a hat), you have to be patient," Spedden joked. "I think they complement each other well. They've always been a couple that's just gotten along."

Spedden said Plott tends to have a lot of ideas, and Jung is the one who puts those ideas into action. She said Plott has a "Southern, laid-back charm" (he's originally from Georgia) and Jung is "very efficient" and a "go-getter." She was raised in Landover.

When they're done with the festival, which is open on weekends, they often go out to dinner and then head home. At 45 and 49, Plott and Jung are tired by the time Revel Grove shuts down, but that doesn't mean they stop acting.

During the week, Jung transforms herself into everyone from Amelia Earhart and Clara Barton to Queen Elizabeth and Julia Child in her History Alive! shows. Plott, meanwhile, portrays several characters at Mount Vernon.

"I look forward to another good 20 to 25 years with them evolving into various characters," said Jules Smith, general manager of the Maryland Renaissance Festival.
Role models

Jung had two children onstage with her during her pirate act last weekend. She asked them to blow hard on a sheet so the "sail" would move. "Well, it's not moving, but you're making great faces," she told them. "Alas and alack."

The skit was meant as both a lesson on the necessity of wind in sailing and a clever way to get the audience involved. Jung then had everyone play a game of The Pirate Says, which bore a striking resemblance to Simon Says.

"Pirate says to swab the decks. Now, you must show off your pecs!" she told the crowd. Many fell for her ruse, flexing their arms without hearing "pirate says" first.

After the game ended, Jung had all the children back onstage to take a "pirate pledge" about good behavior before dismissing them for the day. It was hard to tell who was having more fun during the show - Jung, the children, or their parents and relatives.

"Oh, I have a ball," Jung said as she stepped off the stage. "It's barely controlled chaos, which is what I like. The hermit should be joining us later."

Sure enough, after a couple minutes Plott showed up, walking slightly off-kilter and with his mouth scrunched up at one end to reveal severely rotten teeth (he paints them black). "Ladies love the hermit," he said, "because he doesn't live with his parents anymore."

"You can see why I'm so proud," quipped Jung.

As the couple sat down and shared a kiss, they got quite a few stares. After all, a grungy hermit and a dashing piratess getting friendly makes for quite a sight. The kiss itself was a bit of a challenge, too, given Capt. Jean's rather large red hat.

"I love her more than the first day I saw her," Plott said.

Jung said many of the patrons know both of them well but don't realize they're a couple. They aren't the only husband and wife who work at the festival, either. There are quite a few couples, although Jung and Plott may have the most seniority.

Plott said one of the keys to their marriage is that they're both in the same business.

"We totally relate, totally understand each other," he explained. "We understand the (acting) business. We understand the frustrations."

Both also said they keep coming to the festival because they continue to enjoy everything about it - the history, the visitors, the performances and the camaraderie among the cast.

"This is one of the few places that as a performer you're constantly having a good time," Plott said. "It really does have a community feel to it."

The other performers admire them greatly.

"They're the quintessential Renaissance couple - good at so many things," said Randy Dalmas of Baltimore, who plays the mayor of Revel Grove and also met his wife at the festival. "They're great role models."

For more information on the Maryland Renaissance Festival, visit the Web site at www.rennfest.com.

pulled from: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/lif/2009/10/11-34/Renaissance-romance-Couple-truly-married-to-their-work.html

Last weekend, I finally discovered a perfect fall outing: the harvest festival at the Agricultural History Farm Park in Gaithersburg, Maryland. We had such a great time on Saturday that we came back on Sunday - and I found myself actually looking forward to this double-header. So what defines a terrific family outing?

Not Needing Much Money
On the way to the festival, my husband and I loaded up with cash. At the end of the day, we found that we had spent exactly....none of it (except for the $10 fee per car). On the second day, I spent a grand total of $1.75 on various baked goods. That's it.

In contrast, when our family braved the Maryland Renaissance Festival last month, the opportunities to spend money were legion. Eateries loomed every six paces or so; each cute little game or activity cost at least $1 a pop (and usually more); face painting started at $10 – and that was in addition to the already hefty entrance fees. For your convenience (of course), ATMs were generously sprinkled throughout the medieval fantasyland. I have avoided calculating exactly how much cash we leaked that day.

Full Story: http://www.currentmom.com/currentmom/2009/10/fall-festivals-with-kids-how-to-keep-your-sanity-and-your-cash.html

From Southern Maryland Online by By BOBBY MCMAHON

CROWNSVILLE (October 8, 2009) -- The economy is in shambles. A new and terrifying disease is spreading throughout the area. People are making the most of tough times.

Welcome to England, circa 1543.

Now in its 33rd year, the Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville is bringing people from across the area together for some good very, very old-fashioned fun. The fair is open weekends now through Oct. 25.

Despite the down economy, attendance is on par with past years, with about 14,000 people coming through the gates each day. Many visitors, including Annapolis resident Erin Higgins, consider the festival comparatively inexpensive.

"It's a cheap thrill," Higgins said, dressed for the occasion in a black corset and appropriately antiquated pants. "It's eight bucks more than a movie ticket [for admission to the festival] and you're here all day. And the people-watching is great."

The festival is a time warp back to the days of King Henry VIII, offering all manner of escapes from normal life. Wandering through the 27 acres of woodlands, visitors clap along with fiddlers and other traditional musicians, laugh as jesters in big floppy hats perform, and catch passing glances of men dressed as knights and women in bust-heaving dresses.

Tyler Petrini, a 23-year-old teacher from Catonsville, enjoys the "you-can't-get-this-anywhere-else" experience of the festival, particularly the food.

"There's nothing like holding a turkey leg and drinking mead," Petrini said. "You can't do that anywhere else."

Jules Smith Jr., the general manager of the festival, said turkey legs are one of the most popular food items. To feed the turkey-leg-starved masses, he orders about 58 tons of the popular item in early spring.

The festival also offers a multitude of stick-mounted foods -- macaroni and cheese on a stick, steak on a "stake" and chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick. All this food on a stick apparently makes people thirsty, as guests consume 250,000 glasses each of beer and soft drinks, as well as 200,000 bottles of water during a season.

Unusual food is not the only draw for visitors, as actors, acrobats and magicians perform at stages and in open areas throughout the venue. Many shows require a great deal of audience participation, and Carolyn Spedden, the artistic director of the festival for more than 20 years, thinks this full-on experience is what sets it apart from other forms of entertainment.

"We're trying to involve all the senses [with guests], instead of just sitting and visually watching TV or a movie," Spedden said. "I think that is what makes it a little unique"

Also special to the festival, Spedden said, is how visitors develop relationships with performers, as many have been taking the stage for a number of years.

"The closest relationship I can link it to is the way some people feel about their favorite characters on long-term TV sitcoms," Spedden said, comparing fan favorites like "O" and "The Renaissance Man" to characters on "Cheers" and "Friends."

"People feel like they know them," Spedden said. "Our performers get that as well."

Many of these performers -- as well as the artists and craftsmen who make the festival run -- travel a circuit of renaissance festivals throughout the country, starting in Arizona in February and ending their season in November. Smith said it's the creativity and outdoor environment that draws performers to this lifestyle.

"I know the sword swallower has told me he could be performing in a nightclub, but he'd only see klieg lights," Smith said. "Here, in daylight, in the woods, he gets to see people respond to every nuance he does. Not everybody will catch everything, but he knows the people who are appreciating what he does."

Smith also noted how those who work the festival appreciate the sense of community, a sentiment echoed by Kunji Rey, a henna tattoo artist at the festival and a trained massage therapist based in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Rey grew up in the circuit, selling jewelry and making garlands since she was little, and appreciates how she can travel to any renaissance festival and find someone she knows.

"It's an amazing community to grow up in," Rey said. "I've known some of these people literally my entire life."

Rey also said that, for all the uncertainty in the economy and trouble throughout the world, people still need a good time. Walking through the gates into another time, visitors revel in the huzzah-shouting fun the festival provides, escaping -- if only for a moment -- the troubling world outside.

In planning for this year, Smith and his team were mindful that a constant stream of bad news would make people look for a distraction.

"People are eager to be entertained, looking for a diversion, and that's why our theme this year is 'Escape to the Maryland Renaissance Festival'," Smith said.

Roy William Cox -- aka Sir William Westmoreland -- a jouster who has been performing for more than 30 years, said that it's very important to put on a good show for an audience in need of escape, particularly when times are worse than they are now.

"When 9/11 happened they thought about closing the fair down, but then the powers that be decided 'no, we're going to go ahead and do it because people are going to want to get away,'" Cox said. "And it was one of best weekends ever ... People want to escape, they want to get away from that. And even in this economy, people save for the year just to come here."

For more information go to http://www.rennfest.com/ .

This article pulled from: http://somd.com/news/headlines/2009/10616.shtml

"A Revel Without A Grove"
A Seusian poem of MDRF
by Sir Black Fox (Steve Kimball)

It's 9:30 and you stand
and you wait and you wait,
you wait at the gate,
for you've learned not to be late.

You know that's early,
almost an hour before,
the opening of Revel Grove,
a village you adore.

For ten months you have waited,
right here in this spot.
You can tell by the looks,
and the smell. . oh, and the cot.

What would drive such a person
to enact such a plan?
"It's MDRF" you reply,
"You just can't understand."

The cast mounts the keep,
the show soon begins.
Here come the Royals,
It's King Henry again.

He stands and gives notice,
He yells out at the crowds.
He commands us to make merry,
The cannon then sounds.

The gates are now open,
sardine-like we shuffle.
Then into the arms of Stupina,
you huggle.

The atmosphere envelopes you,
like a comfortable quilt.
. . . and you just saw a wench,
with her hand up a kilt.

Ahhhh, the ale booths are open
and you've a tankard of meade.
"It's 12 0'clock somewhere,"
You rationalize the need.

You're grabbed by a Pyrate,
it's your brother Fletcher Moone.
With an arms-checked-full-handshake,
"here's a bucket for your tune."

He laughs at your jibe,
and waves you away.
RenFolks are incredible,
and your day has been made.

Another great fortune,
you're first in the line.
But you've emptied your tankard,
you're ready for wine.

With grape in your cup,
the royals you see.
They're meeting and greeting,
but you have to pee.

On to the porta-pots,
what luck you must have.
They're clean and they're spotless,
and don't smell quite too bad.

With a slam of plastic,
the door upon box.
You wash with some Wipey™,
to keep away "pox."

You gather yourself,
and head to the crowd.
Your friend Fred is King Henry,
you share a hug after a bow.

With a smile you leave him,
but you'll see him again soon.
At a Royale show somewhere,
an hour and half past noon.

You walk by the shops,
and gaze through the doors.
At the leather, ceramics,
wood, pewter, and swords.

Wood chips cover
the path at the faire
and kicking them up:
a sunlit cloud in the air.

You love this whole place,
and each nook and cranny.
From the beer-filled WhiteHart,
to the Girls of O'Danny.
(Daisy, Dee-Dee, and Daphne)

From the Chapel of St. George
and its mundane-ridden stocks,
To the agape-mouthed crowds
watching the adams apple of Johnny Fox.

Along comes mime Mimi,
on seven foot stilts.
and look there's more wenches,
with more hands up more kilts.

A small rodent, it hits you,
on the back of your head.
Emrys Fleet gives a laugh,
"Don't worry, she's dead."

By Three of the clock,
you're watching Squire Rosman walk cable.
Then you grab a smoked turkey leg,
a Renaissance Faire staple.

Ahhh Hilby's the thing,
your side splits when you laugh.
It's an amazing display,
and an ale you now quaff.

Feeling quite chipper,
but not over the edge.
You take in some theatre,
Shakespeare's Skum from a ledge.

It's a vantage point,
across from the Globe,
Where you can see the whole stage
and the strolling crowds below.

A break was whats needed,
you stare at the folks.
Whether garbed or in street clothes,
there's smiles on most.

At a quarter-till-six,
you must with the haste be make-ed.
It's back to the White Hart,
for Pub Sing and get waste-ed.

"One for the company,
and one for my lass. . ."
You know all the words,
from the first to the last.

You gaze a bit tearilly,
as the lamps are soon lit.
but a large wench's large corset
has just popped out a large. . . uh. . . bit.

As dusk starts to settle,
and your tankard's now dry.
But Pub Sing's not over,
but it might as well be. . .why?

Tradition is erased,
no management ever listening.
Our love of times passed,
old Pub Sings gone missing.

Remember King Henry,
who gave his Royal good bye.
Jack Rackham and Pyrates,
once finished with Ald Lang Syne.

Nymblewyke once breathed fire,
you miss cannonfire of the past.
You recognize the loss,
even in the eyes of the cast.

You raise a last toast,
you hug all your friends.
Whether past or the present,
or Pub Sing entertainment trends.

Still, it's a triumphant end,
to a glorious day.
And it's best if it's Maryland,
. . . the Renaissance Way.

From 2001:

This was your personal invitation (but is now a recap) to The Rather Mad, Slightly Priapic, Mostly Orgasmic, Lush-Filled, Absinthe-Driven, Teetotalers Warmly Welcomed Get Together AKA The First Annual Magnificent Maryland Renaissance Oktoberfest E2 Throwdown!

Read More and Pulled from: http://everything2.com/title/Welcome+to+the+First+Annual+Magnificent+Maryland+Renaissance+Oktoberfest+E2+Throwdown%2521

What annoys me most about this is. . . . "First Annual". . . . bad grammar (yes, spelled grammar NOT grammer . . . had an argument once with a moron who's mom taught English. . . but graduated her alma matta with a a "C" in English. . .can we get a "duh"? - even spellchecks highlight the word grammer). Anyway. . .one can NEVER celebrate a First Annual. . . . it's not annual until the second one actually happens. . .so it's FIRST. . .then Second Annual. . . . yeah. . .pet peeve. . .move on.

Visit my store!

Can't wait for the festival? Too far away to visit me in person? Dispair not, as you can purchase a CD of my work at my online store, now featuring Return to Revel Grove featuring 27 new compositions. Also available is my first CD, A Morrow At Revel Grove, featuring 29 Vignettes of original music, as well as a manuscript of said compositions.

pulled from: http://musicbythemaster.com/

Even with armor, it hurts. Even through the armor, it leaves bruises. But where else can you have such fun? Where you can deliberately try to knock your friend off a horse?
— Sir John Bashir, Earl of Bath
Ripper Moore as Sir Henry Clifford
Enlarge Courtesy Jacki Lyden

Modern jousters often adopt the names and colors of actual Renaissance knights. Ripper Moore, a 14-year veteran of the circuit, jousts as Sir Henry Clifford, Second Earl of Cumberland, and wears his coat of arms.
Ripper Moore as Sir Henry Clifford
Courtesy Jacki Lyden

Modern jousters often adopt the names and colors of actual Renaissance knights. Ripper Moore, a 14-year veteran of the circuit, jousts as Sir Henry Clifford, Second Earl of Cumberland, and wears his coat of arms.

What valorous sentiment lurks in the heart of the American jouster? What drives our modern-day knights to bash each other with heavy wooden lances? In 100 pounds of armor? On a 2,000-pound horse, moving something like 20 mph?

Jacki Lyden took a trip to the Maryland Renaissance Festival to find out. (You can see the honorable gentlemen in action in the audio slideshow below.)

Retired jouster Richard Alvarez spent 11 years in the saddle. Now he has directed a documentary, American Jouster, on the life of these modern-day practitioners of an antique martial art.

It's not a life that is circumscribed by Rennaisance fairs, he explains. Other jousting opportunities include independent tournaments, stunt shows and medieval restaurants.

In fact, if you'd like to joust full time, there's a way. There are four major companies that work a year-round circuit; you could travel around the country with them, really living life as in medieval times: You sleep in a tent, traveling from "kingdom" to "kingdom," and as Alvarez explains, "you joust for the king who pays you the most money." For young people without much of a mortgage or other overhead, Alvarez says, it can be pretty good money.

Of course jousting isn't just about the loot.

"A lot of [people] want to escape the everyday mundane grind," says Roy William Cox, a former Marine who jousts as Sir William Westmoreland. "You know, sitting in a cubicle, listening to the boss, wanting to take that boss out and hit him with a 10-foot pole — my guys get to do that."

Alvarez says the life of a jouster has a pull for some military people. There's a "quasi-military camaraderie to risking your life with these guys," he says, "that appeals to the military mind." And make no mistake, it is a risk.

"Try as you might, there's no way to fake gravity," Alvarez says. "When you fall, you hit the ground." The last person killed in a jousting tournament in modern times — during a 2007 re-enactment staged for a British TV show — died from the same injury that killed Henry II of France: a lance splinter through the eye slot and into the brain.

If you're willing to risk it, you'll need to start small. To become a knight, you must first be a squire — a knight-in-training — learning to ride a horse and control a lance. Some of the squires' duties include putting armor on the horses and knights backstage.

Women can be jousters, too, though they're not seen as often as men. Cox's wife, Kate, is one of the world's best, says Alvarez, who features her in his documentary.

And Kate Cox's niece Nicole Zentgraf was on duty as a squire at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. She's 9 years old and already learning to ride.

taken from: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113429069

Link: http://www.gazette.net/stories/10022009/businew174504_32526.shtml

Thousands of gallons of honey-based mead, forerunner of today's beer, are transported each year to the metal coffers of people who look like cast members from "The Private Life of Henry VIII."

The anachronistic image stems from the partnership between Linganore Winecellars in Mount Airy and the Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville. It is one of the several partnerships the festival shares with businesses in Maryland, although its relationships with Linganore and another local winery feature the most reciprocity.

"People who never knew mead existed try it at the festival and come here," said Anthony Aellen, president and winemaker at Linganore.

The winery was established by Aellen's father in 1971. The Aellens have been making mead in basements since emigrating from Europe in 1912.

Linganore has provided mead and other wines to the festival for 20 years, including when the festival was still in Columbia. The drink, which was mostly popular in Europe and continues to be so today, usually takes about a year to prepare and, aside from the equipment involved, is made using the same methods as 6,000 years ago, Aellen said.

"The neat thing about it is that is exposes people to a product that is the oldest fermented product known to man," Aellen said. "People taste it and go, ‘Wow, it tastes like honey,' and you go, ‘Well, yeah, that's what it's made from.'"

Linganore Winecellars is the largest vineyard in Maryland, according to the Maryland Winery Association. Linganore planted its first vines in 1972 and has been selling wine since 1977. Aellen said previously that Linganore expects to sell more than 50,000 cases in 2009.

Mead dates to a time when everything was sweetened with honey, as sugar was a luxury until the mid-1800s, when it became the primary sweetener, Aellen said. The drink is also associated with darker legends of the honeymoon, which tell of grooms kidnapping their wives and hiding them for a month, toasting the "marriage" with mead upon eventual return to the family, he said.

"It's neat to re-create an old-time product and watch the reaction on someone's face," Aellen said. "It's also nice to have with ham or salmon — there's so many different things you can do with mead."

He said the partnership with the Renaissance festival complements both businesses, giving the festival a period beverage and Linganore happy customers eager to try it.

"Jules and Justin [Smith] are a charm to work with," Aellen said of the family that owns and operates the festival.

The other winery involved in the festival, Basignani Winery of Sparks, has sold three different wines to the festival for about six years, including chardonnay, Riesling and the blended Marisa.

"It gets our wine exposure. It's fabulous for us," owner Lynne Basignani said of the festival partnership. Basignani approached the festival about selling its wine and has provided about 50 cases to the event each year.

The winery is 23 years old and grows 80 percent of its own grapes.

Basignani said wine works for any type of festival atmosphere, and thinks the local touch lends something special to the Renaissance festival.

"We've had people come to our winery after trying at the festival. We're always happy to have our wine poured anywhere," she said.

Similar business synergy with the festival can also be found among Maryland's location for Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament restaurant, which began in Kissimmee, Fla. Medieval Times hosts meals served in period style and accompanied by medieval tournaments and re-enactments.

Medieval Times' Baltimore Castle at Arundel Mills in Hanover cross-promotes with the festival, offering family-of-four giveaways before each show and handing out festival brochures at both its gift shop and ticket office. In exchange, the Renaissance festival distributes Medieval Times brochures at information desks and invites Medieval Times actors to demonstrate at the festival to generate interest. This year, though, Medieval Times had to cut back on the demonstrations and had just two of its players greet festival-goers because of the recession.

"We've been doing it every year since we opened here in 2004," said RaeAnn Cinquanto, marketing manager for the Baltimore Castle. "People have left the festival and come here in the past."

Cinquanto said Medieval Times has partnerships with surrounding Renaissance festivals in its other locations, but its closeness to Maryland's festival works especially well. People also used to think Medieval Times was part of the Renaissance festival, she said.

"It's guerrilla marketing," she said. "The Maryland Renaissance Festival has been around for a long time and has a big audience."

pulled from: http://www.gazette.net/stories/10022009/businew174504_32526.shtml

Back in the day

Once he was one of the men charged with courting King Henry VIII's teenage bride, Catherine Howard, and was summarily beheaded. Today, Sir Thomas Culpepper spends his September and October weekends playing the fool for passers-by in Anne Arundel County.

"We entertainers never get respect," he comments to a nearby mime, as both are mocked and scolded by a lord before an audience attired in medieval gowns and jerkins — plus blue jeans and a Baltimore Ravens T-shirt.

Such is the other life of one Michael Burgtorf of Ellicott City for nine weekends each year.

Burgtorf is among the colorful cast that annually brings the Maryland Renaissance Festival to life among the open fields of Crownsville, hereby dubbed Revel Grove. His autumn weekend world is one of roaring jousting matches, dripping turkey legs, sword fights over chess matches, Shakespearean allusions and shop wenches eager to snatch unsuspecting maidens who venture too close and strap them into corsets.

"There's a certain nature to it, a time that is lost. It's living in that time, if only for the weekend," Burgtorf said.

With 10 stages, 110 shows each airing about four times daily, 250 performers and 131 vendors, the festival generates about $19 million in economic impact each year, said Jules Smith, general manager of the festival. The festival employs 420 people, including six managers, along with numerous seasonal workers. Most of the performers are local, Smith said.

Smith is part of the family responsible for re-creating this time of knights and rogues. Others are his father, Julius, and brothers Marc, Justin and Adam. For 32 years, they have opened the medieval village to the public on weekends from the last week of August through October, originally operating out of the Merriweather Post Pavilion location in Columbia. Now, the festival covers almost 170 acres, with 75 acres of parking, and draws almost 300,000 people each year.

"I love the fact that it's a multi-weekend event, since people do plan to come to it," said Margot Amelia, state director of tourism for Maryland. "It's amazing how many people mention the Maryland Renaissance Festival in our travels out of state."

The ‘appeal' of going back in time

"We're mindful of pricing, although the food and beer are costly for us," Smith said, adding the admission price is among the lowest in the informal Renaissance circuit. "Our motivation isn't solely money. We just like to watch people have fun."

Adult tickets cost $18, compared with $19.95 at festivals belonging to the Mid-America Festival in Michigan, Kansas, Florida and Minnesota. Children get in for $8 in Maryland and $8.50 at the others.

David B. Sicilia, associate history professor and an expert on economic history at the University of Maryland, College Park, said the festival represents cultural tourism, or people's interest in seeing people who look different.

"One can understand the appeal in going back to the past in a time when modern life seems bewildering and overly complex. People can return to a time when roles and identities were well defined," Sicilia said.

But he also emphasized that most people are unaware of the complexities that existed in the Renaissance period as well.

"It's a romanticized version of the past," he said.

A chat with James Rouse

The Smith family began its festival career in the late 1960s, when Julius Smith, now the Maryland festival's president, worked with Henry McKnight on the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, inspired by California's Pleasure Faire. Although Smith originally got involved to help McKnight obtain liquor permits, he decided he wanted to start his own festival after McKnight sold the Minnesota festival in 1977. A fateful chat with James Rouse of The Rouse Co., then in the process of developing the planned community of Columbia, resulted in Rouse suggesting that Smith set up a Maryland festival in the new area.

During its time in Columbia, the festival called upon the services of the Markland Medieval Military Militia, a re-enactment group that started at the University of Maryland, College Park. Jules Smith recalls when eight ambulances had to be called following the group's rendition of the 1066 Battle of Hastings.

Eight years later, the festival had grown from 4,000 attendees to 85,000 and required larger quarters, which Smith discovered in Crownsville. Revel Grove was constructed, setting the scene for players and attendees to relive the days of Henry VIII, with each year telling a different chapter of the history.

From 1996 to 2004, the Smiths also ran the Ontario Renaissance Festival throughout the summer and also hosted a domed summer beach party for Minneapolis in February 1988.

"I personally don't entertain a lot at home," Jules Smith joked, explaining how he can put all his energy into the festival.

As much sales as entertainment

But the festival is just as much about sales as entertainment, and the Smiths set high standards for their craft and specialty vendors, both local and out-of-state.

Applicants used to be reviewed by a festival committee to see whether their wares or services fit into the atmosphere and feature a handmade quality. Four years ago, Jules Smith took over this role by himself. Of the festival's 131 vendors — 110 craftsmen, eight specialty vendors, eight game vendors and five food vendors — about 18 each year are guest vendors testing their products at the festival for the first time. Smith said turnover for permanent vendor shops is low, usually for health reasons, and he may see as many as 90 applications for a couple of open spots. Aside from being juried in, permanent vendors must also invest in their own shops.

Debra Hathaway and Eric Heath of Easton, together known as the Heathaways, have sold their marionette puppets and feathered accessories near the festival entrance for almost 20 years. The couple started out selling pretzels at the festival, and they also show at festivals in Arizona and Texas. Hathaway started her festival career working as an ale wench at the California Pleasure Faire. Although the Heathaways also offer their wares online, they say most of their sales come from the festivals.

"We don't enjoy art shows, since they're so dry. Here, it's like a living stage. You're expected to interact with people in every way," Hathaway said. "It's a wonderful way to make a living as an artist."

Steve Tipton of Odenton, a regular festival-goer who visits with his wife and two children, said people — the ones who are really into it — spend the most at the festival.

"We're supporting the place, buying the expensive costumes and pieces. We're the target market," said Tipton, who was dressed in a medieval tunic and a long-nosed clay mask. "We always dress up. When we don't, it feels weird."

Tipton was introduced to the festival scene by friend Brian Pruett of Jessup, another regular who can often be found sporting an authentic Scottish kilt and hanging out at the Dragon's Lair pub. Pruett, who often brings new people to the festival, said he most appreciates the 11 outdoor bars surrounding the place, emphasizing their friendly ambience.

"I make a point to talk to everyone there," he said.

Some guests, such as Bob Wayt Smith, who sells fantasy artworks as Bob Wayt, have made the transition to participant. The Waldorf resident started at the festival as a guest vendor and has hawked his paintings for 10 years since.

"It's a perfect fit for my style," Bob Smith said of the festival. "You can do fantastic here, as long as the sun's out."

Jules Smith echoes the vendor's warning about the weather, saying that it remains the festival's biggest challenge. He lamented that it was snowed out one year.

Larger space debated for festival

Aside from weather, the festival's major focus is keeping up enthusiasm among everyone involved.

"Everything else is secondary to that," he said. "You have to get the artists and the players to move in the same general direction and keep them all energized each morning."

He said that while the Maryland Renaissance Festival hosts a relatively small collection of vendors — most festivals have about 300 — it still boasts one of the largest attendances on the circuit.

The Minnesota Renaissance Festival, part of the Mid-America Festival group, runs for seven weekends and usually sees 280,000 guests.

"There's so many things you can do for one day of entertainment," said Minnesota festival spokeswoman Deb Chamber.

For some years, there have been mutterings about the Maryland festival leaving its wooded Crownsville home, but Smith said management is still examining opportunities. He said larger space could allow the festival to bring in related business ventures and expand to multi-seasonal operation, but there are no concrete plans to move.

"We very much like our present facility," he said. "I saw people dressed up at a gas station along the way. They weren't even getting a second glance. It's just kind of accepted here."

"When you see a family leave at the end of the day and son with a Robin Hood sword and daughter with a princess hat and Dad's shirt is un-tucked — that kind of atmosphere is relaxing. That's the reward," Smith said. "This first is a business and it does well for the participants. That's our motivation in doing better jobs."

pulled from: http://www.gazette.net/stories/10022009/businew174454_32522.shtml