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How did Renaissance fairs begin?
- ahazred8ta 1y agoSince 1963. The Byrds attended the first series of renfaires. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AFlBoxsAkI#ren https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AFlBoxsAkI#ren https://www.amazon.com/Well-Met-Renaissance-American-Counterculture/dp/0814771386 https://www.amazon.com/Well-Met-Renaissance-American-Counter...
- IAmBroom 1y agoIf you stretch the "Renaissance" back to the Middle Ages (1300s CE), Japan had them in the Renaissance itself. 1500s samurais popularized a pasttime of reenacting 1300s samurais. Except, being Japan, they had actual relics of the period in pristine condition. I know someone in the SCA who portrays a 1500s samurai who portrays a 1300s samurai - giving him two periods of costume to play with, without "changing persona" at all. Kinda.
- pyuser583 1y agoIn the Middle Ages, people would hold festivals where they would dress up as King Arthur, El Cid, etc. I don’t know about antiquity - did people dress up as mythological figures? The first plays were in Greece. Were there unscripted or ad hoc performances? I know what I’m going to ask AI next.
- A_D_E_P_T 1y agoOne could make the argument that you're off by about 125 years. The 1839 Eglinton Tournament, was, in a way, a Renaissance Fair. It was a massive spectacle at the time, became enduringly famous (or infamous), and helped to kick-off the Romantic 19th century fascination with the medieval: > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eglinton_Tournament https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eglinton_Tournament
- AfterHIA 1y agoAs a Roger McGuinn fanatic I'm thrilled to see this mentioned on HN. Have a spirited upvote and turn, turn, turn!
- Mistletoe 1y agoWhat interests me is why humans crave this one time in history (medieval?). It’s old enough to be different than now but not old enough to be like caveman times? Lower technology than now but not no technology. Do people in other countries that aren’t western civilization have similar cravings for that era or an era like it?
- Tsiklon 1y agoRenaissance fairs don’t really exist in Europe. Most countries have their own traditional festivals and customs which date back to that time period.
- Swizec 1y ago> Renaissance fairs don’t really exist in Europe. We have them in Slovenia. In the summer local castles will put on a fair for the tourists and kids. Sometimes multiple! Typically you get a visiting troupe or two from Italy, they like to do flag twirling shows. There’s always a group of folks from Czech who put on an armored fighting competition. I’ve seen jousting tournaments too. And then you have a slew of local artisans selling wares roughly inspired by the time period. There’s often an outdoor play or two, maybe belly dancing. It’s all great fun.
- A_D_E_P_T 1y agoThere were at least a dozen this past summer. There was one in Žovnek Castle two weeks ago. A couple of weeks before that, in Ptuj. Before that, in Celje. Before that, there was a Roman-era festival in Ptuj, which was seriously cool. And the best medieval-themed festival was in Žužemberk. I went to all of them because I have young kids and they love that stuff. It's a fun day out. Also gives us an excuse to wear all of the arms and armor we've collected, lol. There are lots of these in Austria, too, BTW. There was a two-week-long joust fair/festival by Millstätter See in early August! In truth, these festivals are all over Europe. They're just not well advertised, so you have to look for them. The next one in the region, by the way, is the medieval-themed Advent festival at the castle in Friesach. (Austria.) I'll be there for sure.
- mcv 1y agoWhere is the article? I'm getting something about Kevin Kostner's The West. Nothing about renaissance fairs.
- crazygringo 1y agoLoads fine for me.
- burkaman 1y agoI'm guessing this is a complaint about a full-screen ad that history.com is running. I can't confirm because I have like 5 different layers of ad-blocking that I'm not going to turn off to check this, but here's what the page looks like from a Finnish server: https://pikwy.com/web/68dd4ace6c4fe212122bdfe2 https://pikwy.com/web/68dd4ace6c4fe212122bdfe2
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- bill38 1y agoIt seems that history.com is geo-blocked. You can see it if you are in USA, not if you are in Europe or other countries.
- burkaman 1y agoOh that's crazy, you're right: https://support.history.com/hc/en-us/articles/4411049949079-Why-am-I-receiving-a-geographic-restriction-error-message https://support.history.com/hc/en-us/articles/4411049949079-... I wish there was a way for The Internet to eminent domain this URL from the History Channel, they clearly don't deserve it. Archive for anyone interested: https://archive.is/2xmAE https://archive.is/2xmAE
- afandian 1y agoIt's broken in the UK. Gives a 302 redirect to https://www.history.co.uk/ https://www.history.co.uk/ And VPN via Sweden, redirects to https://www.historytv.se https://www.historytv.se I don't think they want international visitors.
- fireflash38 1y agoI went down a rabbit hole on Wikipedia about turkeys. Am I understanding it correctly in that turkeys went from South America to Europe then to North America? So it's native to the new world, but not native to North America? Anyway, 1500s is when they came to Europe, so maybe they did enjoy a good turkey leg...
- dabluecaboose 1y agoThat is incorrect. Both extant species of turkeys are native to North America.
- IAmBroom 1y agoAlso, Wild Turkey(tm) is native to North America. Kentucky, USA, specifically.
- ricree 1y ago>So it's native to the new world, but not native to North America? My understanding is that the wild turkey was common throughout North America, but was domesticated in Mexico, and modern turkey farming uses stock descending from that population. So the bird itself is native, but most Turkey farms in the US or Canada would have been Mexico->Europe->NA.
- onraglanroad 1y ago
- incomingpain 1y agoLast weekend I went to my local ren faire. What a fantastic time. If you havent been to one before, definitely go. At mine, I'd say 70% of people are in a costume of some kind. 95% of the costumes were period correct or related. I went in star trek blue. My favourite response a lady tells me that I'm violating the temporal prime directive for being in uniform. That was hilarious! Note, I was literally the only person dressed in star trek lol.
- ryoshu 1y agoThe Ren Faire in NY has a time traveller day. Trekies abound.
- cestith 1y agoBristol, WI and the TRF in Todd Mission, TX (outside Houston) have those days too, or sometimes a weekend. You see a handful of Doctors even when it’s not one of those. When it is, you’ll see a lot of Doctors, Starfleet, and others.
- IAmBroom 1y agoYou've recreated a famous Youtube comedy sketch.
- jadbox 1y agoI'm absolutely going to Ren Faire every year. It's the perfect way to end the summer in costume and festivities.
- carabiner 1y agoAre they all just focused on sex, debauchery, lots of drinking today? I went to the one near Pasadena around a decade ago, maybe related to the OG faire, and there was so much sexual humor in the open air (like jokes shouted by storekeepers, and in the play being run) where I'd consider it an adult environment. It was a little disappointing because I was expecting something like a live-action museum, sort of like colonial williamburg in VA, but it was more like a party with expensive shit (I think a bottle of water was like $7?) being sold and drunk people stumbling. The highlight was just talking to a blacksmith who was making nails by hand who seemed serious about his craft.
- modeless 1y agoIs that not authentic?
- tetromino_ 1y agoI recently went to the New York one. It seemed to mainly be about cosplay (showing off your own cosplay, vendors selling cosplay-related supplies) and various kids activities. Although there certainly was drinking, and a car crash - probably caused by the drinking - very soon after the exit from the parking lot.
- nameless912 1y ago> Are they all just focused on sex, debauchery, lots of drinking today? ...As opposed to the actual medieval period, which was famously chaste, calm, and sober?
- IAmBroom 1y agoYes, they are primarily based on moneymaking entertainment, as you have guessed. There are more historically-oriented "entertainments", but they tend to be both non-profit and not audience-based (everyone attending is in costume).
- wrp 1y agoComing from the experience in the PNW, 1960s onward, Renaissance fairs were never about serious historical reenacting. The sex/drugs/music were always focus, sort of like a Grateful Dead concert without the band.
- b112 1y agoNone of these answers are accurate. What happened is that this county gathering has been happening for centuries. Since 1253 in truth. First it was called a gathering, then a cobble, and finally in 1582, the Franks took it over. It was highly popularized as a French affair. The whimsical garb, the music, all something the stodgy English would have no part in. In fact, so stodge were they that it was forced outdoors, as none would rent to the Franks for this. Quite rude, in the rainy land of the Brits! Eventually it became Frank-aire, just as other loan words from French, like concessionaire or millionaire, and then just Faire. It's really the world's longest running annual gathering, where there's always a redhead in the same maid outfit. 538 years running, this year in fact! You can find it in the Guinness Book of World Records!
- fsckboy 1y agonext on history.com, "Whence Weebos?" right after "The Decline of Cowboys and Indians"
- hugs 1y ago"By 1965, it moved to Paramount Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains" Fun personal fact: Paramount Ranch was also the site of my high school's home cross country course (Westlake High School). During my high school days, the ranch's center was set up as a western town for filming Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. As a kid, you just accept all of that as normal, everyday things. "Doesn't everyone have Renaissance fairs and TV and movie sets in their town?" It took going to college thousands of miles away to realize and appreciate how delightfully weird Southern California can be.
- MandieD 1y agoI love how history.com, seeing that I am located in Germany, instantly redirected me to history.de, where this article is not present, so then dumped me on the homepage, because no one in Germany could bear to look at things not in German. /s No I don't - over-localization is one of the banes of my existence.