Huzzah! The LA Renaissance Faire

Sunday, May 8, 2022

Let's set the scene: Dinner- The other night- Three girls and some wine.

"I've never been, but I heard there's a renaissance faire nearb-" "OH MY GOSH LETS GO!"

And thus, exactly one week later, we found ourselves rolling up to the fairgrounds of the oldest renaissance faire in California (maybe even the country?). We, of course, dressed up for the fun of it, but were not prepared for the scale to which other people devoted themselves. I was SO impressed!

Here I am, night before, picking an outfit. Reformation top over a navy linen dress.

And then morning of, super early, getting ready to go to my friend Catherine's apartment so we could all leave together. I left my bedhead untouched until I got there, and then I twisted it into a crown-braid.

Before we even set foot in the faire, people were climbing out of cars dressed in full regalia. The event itself is set in Elizabethan times, so all the staff and actors are dressed period-accurately, but the guests are beholden to no such rules! I saw fairies, elves, musketeers, princesses, wenches, bards, and one person covered in blue.

These two trucks doubled as ships of course, and parking right behind them made for an easy time finding my car when it was time to leave.

10:45 am and ready to start exploring!!

Checking the map and schedule!

There was an extraordinary amount of vendors in booths and tents lining the path. Most of the items being sold looked like homemade pottery, woodworking, jewelry, candles and soaps, snacks, bone pins, and even some shoulder-dragons!

We also saw plenty of performers wandering through the crowds, and giving shows on small stages tucked between stalls.

First purchase of the day also doubled as breakfast for Serena and me. We saw the sign and couldn't help ourselves, she picked strawberries and I had to try the bacon (it counts as a breakfast food)!

I think the best thing I smelled all day was the roasted nuts stand, there were a couple of them, and I could have hung around all day just enjoying the scent of melted butter and brown sugar.

More exploring! I've always wondered what a proper maypole dance looked like, and this was the perfect display! The dancers were very enthusiastic and it was contagious.

We also spent a good deal of time walking into every interesting shop we found, which was almost every single one. This one sold handmade masks (I think they used leather).

More photos! The faire is held at the Santa Fe Dam and Recreational area, so the edge of the faire backs right up to the water. On an overcast day, the views were exceptional, and it was easy to forget we were in Southern California!

We LOVE a great spinning pic!

(Honestly I loved that red dress look.)

And to show off the 'fit in motion, and the hair.

A shoutout to the food-field, which we never did sit down to eat at, but some of those tents had great names- my favorite being "Steak on a Stake".

We passed the games and saw a turtle racing booth. Look at all the turtles! Most of them are hiding behind rocks or in the grass.

There was a petting zoo.

And plenty of games: crossbows, axe throwing, sword fighting, archery, a dunk-tank, darts, and many others. Catherine nearly schooled everyone on how to do the rotating pull-up bar (not pictured), but she did put the gym bros to shame.

We passed the Queen and her court having lunch and watching a lively storyteller.

We spent plenty of time trying on all the tiaras! As you should.

You must try on as many as possible to find the best one.

We picked matching ones!!!!!

I'm very excited about my new tiara, it has ribbons in the back and is wonderful.

This was my princess license that came with the tiara, it's official.

And at the very end of the whole route was the jousting arena! So we plopped down into some front-row bleachers and cheered on our knights.

Nobody was more excited than this little knight rooting for his big knight!

Under the banners, in the bleachers. We each picked a different knight (out of 4), but I think it was Kelsey's and my knights that won together as a team. Huzzah!

And on our way back out of the faire we stopped in every tent we'd missed on the way in. I found this giant fuzzy cloak made of tartan fleece and was so tempted to never take it off!

And I did find a corset of my very own!

It doesn't quite match my shirt, but I'll be prepared to come back next year! Let's do it again!!