Wicked Renaissance 2016

I'm excited to share this year's Renaissance Faire photos! Mom and I went on a fairy/fantasy themed weekend, so we saw lots of different fairy wings. Some were on those who worked for the faire and some were on people who were visiting. I'm starting with one of my favorite photos from the day. I call this one the spider fairy, because she was weaving string into little webs.

She was weaving her little webs between tree trunks. There's this neat wooded area in the center of the faire grounds where you can count on seeing some fairies each year.

I always know that there are photo ops waiting to happen in that area. Did you notice her twiggy wings?

I see her as a dear.

I think he's a gremlin. This guy actually wasn't working for the fair, although the lady next to him is. Mom was talking to this kid's dad about the costume and he said that to get that gremlin spiked hair, he put toothpaste in it.

This fairy had a sea creature theme. That's the way I interpret her anyway. See the scales painted on her skin?

These were some of the fairy visitors to the faire:

 Feather fairy

Raver fairy?

These fairies and (I think) Pan were dancing along to the drum circle:

This man was somehow balancing on a ball and rolling it across the dance area with his feet.

I love the look on her face:

Speaking of dancing, Mom got the chance to take part in a folk dance lesson.

If you're wondering what's behind them, those ships swing forward and back as part of a ride.

After the folk dancing, we went to see The Royal Falconer who carried around his collection of hawks.

Notice the talons on the end of his carrier?

Not to mention the talons on the birds! Woo!

He explained how each group in society during Elizabethan times was allowed to hunt with only a certain type of bird. This was because some birds mangle their prey while others kill it in a more clean way. You can guess which people got which birds.

He also explained why the birds wear those little hoods. If they could see the audience as they came out, they might freak out a little. He did eventually take the hoods off so the birds could fly around and land near the audience.

As you can see, the audience was keeping an eye on them.

Right after the falconer presentation we went to The Royal Fashion show. This was the presenter of the show who talked about how long it took the women to get dressed (two hours) and the names for each piece of their clothing.

The back of her hat was really cool too. Check out that blue jewel!

If anyone can tell me what that symbol is that's stitched onto her collar, I'd appreciate it! Every time I look at it, I see something different. A 'V' or a bear trap with a nail sticking in it? Probably not.

I saw a few of these goblets. I think this is made of glass?

Here's part of the fashion show with that cool castle/fortress type structure in the background. This area always seems to serve as a place for the royal court to meet.

Aren't these sleeves something? They look like a woven basket to me.

There were also some men in the fashion show, like this character:

I think he has kind of a David Cameron thing going on. I compared pics side by side, and I'm sticking with that. The first pic more than the second.

After the fashion show, we had to quickly get dinner in before the "Joust to the Death"

We get tempura here every year, but I don't remember sharing pics of it before. There are vegetables hidden in there. What's funny about this pic is that the potato at the top looks like a cartoon frog to me. Do you see it?

So, on to the Joust to the Death. You know from past years that this is a lot like the regular joust, except for all the fake blood that gets spewing at the end.

This funny guy was selling pennants and keeping us entertained before the show.

 
She was the moderator who announced the knights:

I take basically this same photo every year, because I think the helmets and lances look so cool together.

Each section of the audience is assigned a different knight to cheer for. This was ours:

Check out the beautiful braids in this horse's mane:

This might be my favorite photo from this year's joust.

I know I said this was a "Joust to the Death" but I didn't end up with any photos that show that. This picture of an angry knight was as close as I got. The intense fighting on foot must not have been in view of my camera.

 So cute.

She knew how to beat the heat in that bra. I was surprised by that, but I really like this photo because she's so joyful and uninhibited. And when it comes down to it, it's no less coverage than a lot of the tops I've seen women wearing there.

This person in the wolf hat was taking photos directly across from me. I wonder if I showed up in any of theirs?

We saw a lot of braided hair at the joust for some reason. Fancy braids with ribbons and flowers. I only noticed this lady's earrings after looking at this photo. See the little beer mugs?

I'm tempted to make something like this autumn headdress.

There are a lot of little details to notice in this one. I thought her tattoos worked well with this look.

There were also some awesome women's hats this year. I think last year I put up a "men in hats" section but this year I saw more women in outstanding hats. Check out the little dragon on her shoulder.

These girls were playing some drums by the folk dancing area. I'm counting the goat as a hat.

Do you think this is a dinosaur? Maybe a Pokemon? I'm not really up on Pokemon, but it's looking vaguely familiar.

I tried a few hats on. This was like the deluxe pirate captain's hat. I've noticed this is the pose/expression I strike whenever I'm dressed as a pirate.

This shop sold both hats and clothing. Check out the tiny little hat on this figure:

A good view of a hoop skirt:

I love the setting for the Bristol Ren Faire. We're lucky to have a forest type area and some neat old buildings, like something out of a European fairy tale. Sometimes I look back at the landscape photos during winter and think back to how pretty this is.

The Dark Cloud Twiztid Leather shop:

That swinging boat ride I mentioned earlier:

"The Black Pearl" is a pearl jewelry store located inside this cool ship covered structure.

These are the main gates to the faire:

This belly dancing scarf display was hanging at the top of a building along the balcony. This photo is my computer wallpaper right now.

I feel inspired by these little tower type structures. I think it looks really cool and fitting for a fairy/gnome garden when natural materials are used. I would like to try bending and attaching some twigs to make something like this.

Some plant arranging inspiration:

The next grouping of photos is of different costumed people we saw standing or sitting around. People whose costumes I admired for one reason or another.

I wonder if these two were together or if she didn't know he was sneaking up on her?

Cool Maleficent type horns. I'm not sure what the wings are made of. Leather?

I think we've seen this guy every year at the faire since we've been going. I love the elf ears. There are a lot of little details to see on his vest. I'm still noticing new things in this photo.

These three are resting against the Maypole. I think that's a giant catfish puppet he's holding. 

 Mom with Puss in Boots:

I stood with this witch and warlock and had to really streeeeetch my arms to try and connect them. They weren't moving. The witch said "We can't move, we're Yeoman" which didn't really make sense to me but I thought it was funny.

I think she's a pirate?

Grumpy witch

This was the golden warlock or maybe he had jaundice?

You can see her curvy toe witch boots in this pic:

A gnome! I'm yet to see a garden gnome costume I haven't loved.

From one cottony beard to the next...

I was calling this guy "the tin foil wizard" because of his hat. I was getting a kick out of this outfit, from the cloak made from a Lion King sheet, to the different socks, to what I think is a walking stick/Swiffer duster. Maybe it's a different brand, but it's a duster. I thought of asking this guy about his costume but we were never that close to him. So if the tin foil wizard is reading this, please leave me a costume explanation in the comments!

I saved some of my favorite photos for last. We didn't see a whole lot of spooky characters at the faire, but there were these two.

I didn't notice all the details in her costume until I looked at my photos. I noticed later that she has a silver skull on her headdress along with some black roses. Leaning against this lady's leg is what I can best describe as a demonic cat. He peered over as I took my photos with that little side glance. Check out those teeth!

I moved to the front of them to get another shot.

And closer...

It would appear I had been spotted. I only noticed the color of his eyes after closing in on this photo.

Again, if either of you two spooky people are reading this, please reach out with a further description of your costumes. I'd like to hear more about what you had going here!

I hope you guys enjoyed seeing this year's photos. Let me know if you end up attending a Renaissance Faire this summer!