Guest Author - Helen B. Wharton

Spring will soon be here, and with the coming of Spring can the Renaissance Faire be far behind?

Until 1998 I lived in northern New Jersey, close to the New York state line and within forty minutes traveling time from the New York Renaissance Festival. I now live on the very same road where the St. Louis Renaissance Faire is held! If you've never been to one, a Renaissance Faire is an amazing, inspiring and fun event. Walking through the gates is like stepping back 500 years in time.

Everywhere you look people are dressed in period clothing; women in flowing gowns and tall, pointed hats, men in velvet and brocade jackets and hose. You'll see "wenches" in laced bodices serving tankards of mead as well as roasted turkey drumsticks. The aroma is mouthwatering!

But if turkey is not your thing there is the jester selling huge dill pickles from a barrel. Any pretty, young maiden he sees is asked to "wrap your lips around one of my pickles!"

Renaissance Faires usually take place on acres of open fields so there is always plenty of room for jousting tournaments and plays. But it's frequently hard to tell the actors from the audience and there are often opportunities for the audience to become the actors.

If you don't have a costume there are always vendors who can outfit you in style, but at some of the larger faires there are vendors who will rent you a costume for the day.

Which brings me to one of my favorite parts of any Renaissance Festival, the vendors. You can find items for sale here and no where else; clothing and linens, jewelry, pottery, live plants, dried herbs, books, essential fragrance oils, and the list goes on and on. For a fee someone will paint your face or braid your hair, tell your fortune or tell you a joke.

You will find classes and seminars in Renaissance and Medieval skills, and people demonstrating how to do many things, from wood carving to weaving. If you are looking for something to do that is both fun and educational, a Renaissance Festival is a great choice.

There are Renaissance Festivals and Faires scheduled for 2008 in all but five of the fifty United States and in six countries in Europe. A good reference website to look at is Renaissancefestival.com for dates and places of a Renaissance Festival near you.