The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Sarya]

It's so quiet lately, and I'm bored at work!

Who else goes to the ren faire? Do you dress up? My friends and I are going this weekend. It's going to be my first and probably only visit to the faire this year. I'm afraid to go more often because it will derail my weightloss.
I really like it though.. it's so much fun!

[Lauraly]

Ren Faires are so much fun. I don't usually dress up when I go, but I often come home with some corset thingy that I never wear again. Those things are uncomfortable!

I understand not wanting to derail. When I go to the one here in Arizona, I always look forward to the beef stew breadbowls and chocolate dipped strawberries! MMMm!

My favorite part of the fair is the shows. In AZ, they have this one show called "Villification Tennis". Two pairs stand at either end of a small court and hurl insults at eachother, taking turns. A referee awards points based on audience reaction. People ooo, and gasp and laugh all through it, and it gets quite ribald. I still remember the funniest insult from one show: "Your momma is so fat , she has smaller fat women orbiting her!" Ah, good times.

[Sarya]

Ah I do dress up in garb. I'm even a pin wearing wench I think bodices and corsets are very comfy, but they have to fit right and rarely ever do for most people without some adjustments.

I love the shows. I am particularly fond of the washing wenches. This weekend is celtic weekend so there will be fun music, bagpipes, and caber tossing!!

[dede4wd]

I love the faires,

I don't dress up, but as Laura, I come home with some wenchy corset I'll never wear and something for my head.

I always got a big turkey leg...I enjoy the shows too. I hardly ever get to time it right to go to the faire anymore...maybe next year!

have fun!

DeDe

[Prancer]

Here they have reinactments so people dress up for that. It is not uncommon to see people around town dressed like 18th century soldiers. We live between Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point.

[Elke]

I have never been, my mom took the kids one year but all she did was complain about the price. One day I will go.....maybe

[Dayna]

Ren Faires . . . fun memories! When I was 17, I went with a bunch of friends from high school, with my pretty pathetic home-made costume. Then one of the corset sellers convinced me to try one on, but they put it on me NOT in the privacy of dressing room, and instead out in front of God and everyone with much fanfare (with the ol' "lift and tighten" manuever, where the assistant kept telling me, "just stick your hand under there and lift 'em up!"). He then pulled me up on a hay bale, and shouted out to the crowd: "When this woman came in, she had the chest of a 12 year old boy. And now look at her! Come and see what our corsets can do!" All in front of a guy I really liked, of course. And then there were some tourists from Japan videoing the incident; my ever-faithful best friend convinced him to stop filming. I think I stopped blushing about two weeks later. Maybe.

The cream of leek soup in the sourdough bread bowl (fresh San Francisco sourdough, of course, since the faire was in Marin County), and all the guys running around in kilts (especially all the guys running around in kilts, and especially the one that came up with reasons why my friend and I both had to give him a kiss), and the parades, and the shows, and the costumes . . . Ren Faires are great. Wish we had one in Southern Oregon.

Have lots of fun!

[Serendipity]

Gee, I don't know where I've been all my life, but I've never heard of it. Sounds like fun though.

[Mike]

Renaissance Fairs (if you happened to not know what the Ren stood for) are lots of fun. I'm not the dress up kind of guy, but Diana and I went to one they had in Vacaville a few years back and we had a great time.
I especially loved the Jousting.

[Jan]

Don't feel bad Jo I was sitting here wondering what in the world they were too. I guess we don't have them around here ... at least I haven't heard of any.
jan

[Sarya]

Jo, You have one near you called the Greater Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival. If you search for that in google you will find a web page. That is the closest one.

Jan, Your state has a ton of faires, but I couldn't even begin to know which are close to you. Most people don't hear about ren faires unless they are looking for them. These are the ones in your state:

Camlann Medieval Faire
Greenspire Medieval Arts Festival
Kent Canterbury Faire
Washington Renaissance Fantasy Faire
Lilacs and Roses Renaissance Faire
Northwest Renaissance Festival
Ye Merrie Greenwood Faire

A "ren faire" is a medieval re-enactment for fantasy and fun purposes. They're usually held in some out of the way area probably due to rental costs of the property. Everyone who works at the faire is dressed up in what is considered period clothing for the time they have set their faire in. There's a Queen and a King. They have jousting and craziness. Everyone working the faire talks with a medieval accent. Some people (like me ) dress up like the people who work there when they go to faire. It gives you a little more immersion into the fun rather than being just a spectactor. There are people selling jewelry, swords, clothes, toys. They have crazy foods like turkey legs, steak on a stake, etc. No burgers and fries usually. I dunno.. it's fun!

I'm bad about taking pictures, but if I do I'll post them so you guys can see what I mean.

[Serendipity]

Ohhhhhhh, I think I know where it is. Every year about this time there's a huge field full of wierd tents and a gazillion cars.....near PGH, but out in the country just off of I-79. Always wondered what kind of "stuff" they did there, lol. At any rate, it's a huge attraction. I didn't know that outsiders were invited......hmmmmmm

[Diana]

Every year about this time there's a huge field full of wierd tents and a gazillion cars

That would be the place!!! They really are a lot of fun!

Have a great time, Sarya! I do hope you take (and post) pics, particularly of you in your costume.

[Sarya]

Ohhhhhhh, I think I know where it is. Every year about this time there's a huge field full of wierd tents and a gazillion cars.....near PGH, but out in the country just off of I-79. Always wondered what kind of "stuff" they did there, lol. At any rate, it's a huge attraction. I didn't know that outsiders were invited......hmmmmmm

HEEHEE.. no I think that is Pennsic you are thinking of. Pennsic is a HUGE SCA event where thousands of people converge on that camping area for two weeks and have tournaments and stuff. Search for Pennsic War in google, and the first link is that event. My coworker goes to that every year. He is a Fool and juggles for people.

SCA and Pennsic is a little more in depth on re-enactment than Ren Faires and those who go to them. They are much more picky about what is in period and what isn't. There is a little overlap between the two groups, but in general they are separate. SCA stands for Society for Creative Anachronism if you want to see what they are all about.

Heh this is kind of cool that you don't all know what this stuff is You should go to a ren faire if you have one in your area. You might have fun! They have games and stuff too. At one ren faire I went to they had pillow fights where you and your opponent sat on a log and gripped it with your legs and then tried to knock each other off with a pillow. They try to get couples to do it. Then they have the thingie where you try to ring the bell. Some places have sword fighting where you don gear with balloons hanging off of it and try to pop the other person's balloons. And uhm... knife throwing (not at people sadly). And then a lot of faires have the MUD PEOPLE. They have a big show where they make funnies and throw mud at each other.

[supermom]

Every day I get reminded about what a hick I really am. I don't know what one is, don't know what a wench is, don't know about the foods, would just be lost at one. But, would probably have fun anyway! I think I could have fun with nothing more than a paper bag and a stick! I could take a Texas transplant snipe hunting!