Fishers Renaissance Faire: Huzzah!

Parking was convenient and very well handled. Directions to parking lots were well marked, and fast and efficient shuttles from parking areas to the fair were plentiful and regular. Organizers did a great job with what was probably a logistically difficult task.

The Faire featured numerous clothing and merchandise vendors, staged theatrical and musical performances, strolling minstrels and players, mock fighting, a jousting tournament, and a craft/artisan village where you could see demonstrations of how households and merchants produced goods, all surrounding a Queen's Court situated on a hill above the jousting arena.

I was struck by the quality of the period clothing worn not just by staff, entertainers and merchants at the faire, but also by the fairgoers, who decked themselves out in some truly beautiful and elaborate gear. Several of the vendors had great clothing, but I hope to see even more variety and selection next year at the festival. There were several weapons sellers and leather goods shops with nice merchandise, but it seemed the largest group represented were jewelry sellers.

The Rogue Blades (Silly Men, Big Swords) perform a comedy and mock swordfighting routine and are regulars at Ren Faires throughout the country, with a traveling fan base.

The food vendors at the Faire must have been a bit overwhelmed by the larger than expected crowd, because they seemed to run out of food very quickly on Saturday, and we heard some scuttlebutt that some vendors weren't going to be ready for Sunday's crowd either. I'm sure that the difficulties where a "first of it's kind" kink that will be ironed out in future events.

In all there was a great deal to do and see, and we didn't even get a chance to cover all the events we thought would be entertaining throughout the day. In all the excitement, we didn't visit the mini-Shakespeare productions, or see the dancers or minstrels. We also only caught the tail end of the jousting tournament. Hopefully next year we'll be able to cram everything in.