Ren Faire 2025 Options

[SubRosa]

Here are some pics and very short videos from yesterday's visit to my local Renaissance Faire. (Imgur seems to usually fit the pics to you screen when you first click on them. But once it comes up you can click in it a second time to see it full size).

The little mini Viking village of Ulfgard had a Raven. You don't realize how much bigger these are than common crows until you see them up close.

Nevermore

This was my section's knight in the jousting match

He was definitely the Heel, but he was a still a crowd favorite, because who doesn't love a good villain?

A closer pic

I love this wavy things he does with his arms

Note that you are supposed to ride past at full speed and spear a bullseye in the hay bale

The only way to settle this is with lances

Disarmed

A foot battle that closed things out

[Renee]

nice. Interesting, our Renfest also begins some time in late August. Continues until October (weather permitting). Perhaps this is true in all states. When I was a kid it was held in our hometown, we could literally walk there, In high school we'd all get stoned as we walked footpaths. but nowadays it's in the (appropriately-named) town of Crownsville, about a half hour away by car. 🤴🏽

A while back I found a thread in Beth's Skyrim forums in which several devs (Vsions, Thunderjunk, etc.)talked about spending the day at the Maryland Rennfest. If I go this year I'll have my eye open for Todd, the only dev whose face I know, although he prob wears a helmet, being that famous and all.


Looks like mirocu made it. 🦆 Or perhaps January is nearby.

Sunny day in Michigan. Does your RF have a mud show too? Participants jump into and eat mud???? Blecch!

Yea that move the knight does with his arms almost looks like a disco move.

What's the guy in blue doing (waving his arms) in the hay bale clip? -- ARRRGH!! looks like!

Whoa, the lance broke, looks like! Even with a fullsuit of armor I'd flinch if that huge weapon was aimed at me!

The final melee is intense. Notice they get close enough to throw & land punches, it's not just swords. 🤺 What a cute girl having some apricot w/her tatted mommy!

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 19 2025, 12:49 AM

[Acadian]

Thanks for sharing. I love Ren Faires.

[SubRosa]

nice. Interesting, our Renfest also begins some time in late August. Continues until October (weather permitting). Perhaps this is true in all states. When I was a kid it was held in our hometown, we could literally walk there, In high school we'd all get stoned as we walked footpaths. but nowadays it's in the (appropriately-named) town of Crownsville, about a half hour away by car. 🤴🏽

A while back I found a thread in Beth's Skyrim forums in which several devs (Vsions, Thunderjunk, etc.)talked about spending the day at the Maryland Rennfest. If I go this year I'll have my eye open for Todd, the only dev whose face I know, although he prob wears a helmet, being that famous and all.


Looks like mirocu made it. 🦆 Or perhaps January is nearby.

Sunny day in Michigan. Does your RF have a mud show too? Participants jump into and eat mud???? Blecch!

Yea that move the knight does with his arms almost looks like a disco move.

What's the guy in blue doing (waving his arms) in the hay bale clip? -- ARRRGH!! looks like!

Whoa, the lance broke, looks like! Even with a fullsuit of armor I'd flinch if that huge weapon was aimed at me!

The final melee is intense. Notice they get close enough to throw & land punches, it's not just swords. 🤺 What a cute girl having some apricot w/her tatted mommy!

I think the Ren Fests are spread out through the warm months, so performers and merchants can go from one to another. But that is just my guess. Here in Michigan ours runs from mid-August to the end of September. I think it used to go to just mid September, but it got extended because its so popular.

We do not have a mud show! Yikes, that sounds gross!

In the Hay Bale clip, the woman in blue up close is just cheering. She was sort of our cheerleader for our section, and got everyone cheering for our knight.

The lances are made to break. You can see that brown section that makes up the end. That is hollow, so it will snap under force. That way no one gets impaled. Plus it looks exciting when the lances shatter.

That was a good infantry fight. Real sword-fighting was not just done with swords. It was punching and kicking and body checks and wrestling. Often it involved getting the other person on the ground and then stabbing them with a knife between the plates in their armor (which was hard to do unless you have immobilized them first).

[Renee]

I think the Ren Fests are spread out through the warm months, so performers and merchants can go from one one to another. But that is just my guess. Here in Michigan ours runs from mid-August to the end of September. I think it used to go to just mid September, but it got extended because its so popular.

We do not have a mud show! Yikes, that sounds gross!

In the Hay Bale clip, the woman in blue up close is just cheering. She was sort of our cheerleader for our section, and got everyone cheering for our knight.

The lances are made to break. You can see that brown section that makes up the end. That is hollow, so it will snap under force. That way no one gets impaled. Plus it looks exciting when the lances shatter.

That was a good infantry fight. Real sword-fighting was not just done with swords. It was punching and kicking and body checks and wrestling. Often it involved getting the other person on the ground and then stabbing them with a knife between the plates in their armor (which was hard to do unless you have immobilized them first).

True. had a friend years ago who worked Ren Fests and she made it sound almost like they were on tour, the entire group would travel different states. I've been to festivals in Maryland, Oregon, and California.

i tried finding an example of a mud show on YT, surprisingly couldn't find many videos entertaining or extensive enough. Here is a short though. That short clip is nowhere near what our hometown shows were like in the '80s; an entire hillside was muddy one year due to previous rains, and dozens of carnies were playing in mud! Really silly to watch!

My sister danced (Spanish dancing) at the Crownsville fest in 2011, which I believe is on YT somewhere, but I'll ask her if she can just email the footage to me, so I can share.

Okay that makes sense; a non-hollow lance could inflict some serious damage, maybe even pierce steel. So now I'm thinking original lances were not hollow, eh? Because viewers were there to view some real carnage.


See, I didn't know there was a lot of hand combat as well as weapons, no wonder our table-games included rules for punches and so on. This is something I hope makes it into ESVI, though I doubt it will

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Oh my! What a beautiful raven! Is that Huginn or Muninn?

That joust looked like lots of fun, and a Grande Melee to top it all off? Perfect!!

[Acadian]

What? No Archery Tournament?

[SubRosa]

Renee:
I have never seen that mud wizard guy. But they did have a gay pirate show that was hilarious. And included audience participation. It was this guy in fact!


CheshireCat:
I was thinking the same. I have plenty of crows that live around me. It is always great to hear their throaty cawws. But no ravens. So it is a treat to see one.


Acadian:
No, sadly there was no Torment Tournament of Archers. Though they did have stalls where you could pay to shoot arrows or throw axes at targets.

[Grits]

Oh wow, this looks super fun! Love slo-mo hay guy, and especially love his horse! Thank you for sharing these!

There is a Ren Faire a few hours away from me every fall. I have never gotten it together and gone to it. Maybe this is the year. I want to see a raven!

[SubRosa]

Mine is about an hour drive away. I have not gone to it in a while, so it was fun to go back again after all these years. The horses are one of the best parts. They only bring them out for the jousting though. But you can see them in their stalls in the back.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Renee:
I have never seen that mud wizard guy. But they did have a gay pirate show that was hilarious. And included audience participation. It was this guy in fact!

Magnificent codpiece on that guy.

[macole]

The Ren Faire in my area is a lot of fun. I like to see all the people who dress for the faire. I used to go a lot when it was held in the spring. They changed to the fall and I don't seem to go as often.

[SubRosa]

A lot of the fun is just seeing everyone in their costumes. Some of them are just amazing!