Renaissance Festival War Stories. Lost Tales 2016-May 2019

I used to say, "I would never work at the Renaissance Festival, that's my play time." Somehow after performing burlesque the first two times, I got a bug to perform again, but it was on a stage I was a little more familiar and comfortable with.

Spring 2016

Early June, the opportunity presented itself to travel to the Siouxland Renaissance Festival, a one weekend festival in Siouxland South Dakota. The troupe: Peasants-for-Hire. I was acquainted with some of their members and they were looking for volunteers to do street character work for the weekend of the faire. One weekend? I can commit to that. I got in touch with their leadership, figured out rides to and from the festival, accommodations, and the game was on.

Much like preparing for burlesque, I did everything I could to be professional, respectful, and part of this team. I was joining their team. This was their house, their rules; I was representing them: don't screw this up.

I hadn't been to this festival before; I didn't know any of the local cast. I am not sure how it happened, but I found myself at the gates before open;I wanted to greet people as they arrived.

I handed out maps, told people to have fun, interacted with them using my newly-made "Peasant for Hire" sign. SIDE NOTE: One of the activities they offer children is if they see cast members wearing a designated badge with beads on it, they can interact with us in exchange for one. I had that badge and the children could do one of the activities on my sign, many chose jokes and high-fives.

When I stepped outside the gate, I noticed the ticket booth had two windows operating, and people were only lining up at one window - the second window was at an angle and was hard to see. Every hour or so, I went outside and signaled the line yelling, "THERE IS A SECOND WINDOW OPEN." And waved obnoxiously.

This cycle repeated through out the day: greeting, peasant sign, line signaling, and general entertaining. When the day got late and I got tired, I laid down right in the path in the shade of the tree and dubbed myself, "Her Royal Majesty's Speed Bump." It was a great way to still fully-interact with people and take a rest.

Towards the end of the second day, a gentleman who was under the employ for the festival as a photographer, who had seen me working over the course of the day, asked me how long I had been a Renaissance Faire street entertainer. I told him, "Never. This is my first time." He was shocked. Granted, I was a long time playtron and generally enjoy the atmosphere of the festival, but professionally, that weekend was a first.

May 2018

My next Renaissance faire/festival opportunity to perform came from a start up festival out of Lindstrom, MN called LARF - Lakes Area Renaissance Festival.

With the approval of the 'Peasants for Hire' Organization, I wore my sign I made previously for Siouxland. This time, I was working independently. This was a brand new faire held in a city park. There was no precedent, no history, no impression to make but my own. I was set on making a good one.

The way the faire ended up being set up was across a street: in part of a park with a pond and across the street in an open field. It was partially sectioned off with one narrow passageway in-between. This passageway became MY territory. It was the perfect spot to interact with every single person who wanted to explore the faire. If they wanted to hit both ends of it, they HAD TO pass by me.

This space became: Camp Tinka in 'The Bottleneck Pass'. I had a few comfortable camp chairs, an umbrella, a table, and some water. Very quickly, I became an unofficial 'Con-suite'. I became the luxury place to take a rest.

Early on in the day, two friends of mine visited and were enjoying the morning - visiting and chatting. These gal-pals of mine are long time renaissance festival attendees and playtrons too.

For the faire, the park was patrolled by two local police officers. One of the first interactions I had in character was with one of these officers. Now when I say this officer was young, I describe him as being, "just having been birthed out of the police academy." He was cute in the way puppies and kittens are cute. I wanted to pick him up, put him in my pocket, stroke the back of his head and say, "you enforce the law," the way you might say it to a child dressed as a police officer who's trick-or-treating. I'm pretty sure his gunn would fire a flag that would say *bang*...I digress. I flag him down and say, "Constable, oh constable! If you are in need of aquatic refreshment. Please feel free to stop by my table. You are welcome."

The young officer giggled, looked down, and thanked me for the offer. He never did take me up on it. After he walked away, my friends told me, "Tinka. You realize you made him blush?"

It really was a small town faire; how else can you explain making a cop blush by simply offering water?

...

It was a three day faire that saw nearly 1000 people. It was a grassroots effort and we were all quite proud of what we accomplished.

May 2019

LARF 2019 we were not so lucky. We did not get three days scheduled, we got two. And then two turned into one when the event was cancelled on Sunday due to poor weather. It ended up being for the best. It was freezing cold for a weekend in May. "You can't have all four seasons in one weekend!" Minnesota says, "Hold my beer."

Those of us who made it out Saturday made the best of what we could. We layered up and kept moving.

Our friendships kept us warm that day.