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Saturday, September 8, 2012

Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire ~ Kings Valley

Ah, the Renaissance Faire. I think this was our fourth or fifth visit. It is a heavenly spot located in a golden field in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by hills and trees and cotton-ball-clouded blue sky.

As we were driving along Kings Valley Road this morning, the sky was overcast and misty. The thermometer read 58 degrees! Then, about a half mile from the faire, the sky turned to blue, the sunshine appeared, and the temperature rose. Magical. It was a perfect day. 70s. Light breeze. Just perfect.

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There were a few new things this year. I loved walking through the added forest portion. The cool green darkness, the sun glimmering through the trees.

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The boys also paid for ‘rat hunting licenses.’ They were to search the faire for participants with a rat ‘mask’ (you could hear cries of ‘rat!’ through the faire). When the rats were tagged, they would tie a ribbon on the bracelet each boy was given with their license to show how many rats they had caught. They were also given a little bag with a coin and were to find a nobleman (or woman) and pay their taxes. When they paid their taxes, the nobleman gave them each a little vial of bubbles and a ‘dragon tear’ (a little plastic ball that looked just like the bubbles—which made for a fun magic trick!).

At noon the boys met the Pied Piper who played music for them. They danced and then followed the Pied Piper in a procession through the faire.

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Holly, Casey, Ilex, and Ivy joined us. The ladies looked lovely!!

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A HUGE number of faire-goers dress up in costumes. Some are simple; some are astonishingly elaborate. Some are lovely; some are what I’d call ‘fringe.’ (Ha!) It certainly makes the people-watching my favorite entertainment. There are paid, costumed participants who wander the faire. They are very good about engaging the kids.

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The jousting tournament wasn’t as good as it has been in the past. But we still enjoyed it.

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All in all, I'd call it a very successful day.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That looks like such a fun outing!!! Grandma