A Walk-through the Renaissance Faire

The Renaissance Faire is a festival that recreates the look and feel of 16th-century England. The event combines reenactments, performances, crafts, games, and vendors to immerse attendees. This year I went to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale, California. Walk with me through the event and explore how CCI’s come together to create this unique experience!

Vendors

The most prominent part of the faire in my opinion is the vendors! Lining each path of the fair are vendor booths. These businesses sell a wide variety of fantastical items including clothes, jewelry, trinkets, wands, crystals, DnD dice and toys. The faire employs small businesses who use their skills to the 16th century. 

One of our favorite booths was potion making. This shop full of crystal trinkets had an interactive section where patrons can select what spell they wish to cast. Then, we worked with the vendor to create custom jars of crystal pieces. 

We also loved a booth that sold hand crafted wands inspired by Harry Potter and a bead shop with wide collections of wooden figurines. 

Image provided by Izzy Medvitz

Clothing

Attendees of the fair all arrive dressed up in themed apparel. Costumes range from highly accurate era-specific clothing to fantasy characters such as fairies, mermaids or pirates. 

Walking through the thousands of people in attendance, we did not see a single person wearing normal clothing. This really helps create the immersive atmosphere. 

Getting to dress up in costume also let the patrons take part in the creative aspects of the faire. Costumes help everyone to show their personality and fully enter into a new world. 

Image provided by Izzy Medvitz

Performances

When you need a break from walking around, there are always multiple shows you can watch. Stages act as markers throughout the faire’s path. These entertainers have highly unique skills that often can only be displayed in venues like this one. 

We saw a sword swallower, whip tricks, and multiple musical performances. These shows are almost circus-like in nature. They present audiences with things they likely have never seen before. The shows are not created to have some deeper meaning or to prompt reflection - they are there to simply entertain. 

Crafts & Games

There are so many opportunities to get hands-on at the faire. Games include everything from ninja star throwing to betting on turtle races. Similar to the performances, games are not your typical backyard fun. These games are chosen to be unique experiences one can only do while at the faire! Making games available at the faire also further keeps guests interacting and entertained. 

Image provided by Izzy Medvitz

We loved the crafts offered at the faire! There was candle making, parasol painting, and our favorite, building fairy houses! For this craft, we were given a base made from an old tree stump and decorated it with flower petals and gems. It truly made the faire feel very whimsical. 

The Renaissance Faire is a one-of-a-kind experience. It combines so many creative industries in unexpected ways. The faire brings together professionals from different fields and challenges them to make something completely new. The faire is the perfect place to explore what CCI can do. It is more than traditional live theater or special events - it is a transportive experience that challenges CCIs to push themselves beyond their typical uses. 

For those looking to experience the Renaissance Fair, you still have a little time as the Faire is running through this Sunday, May 18th, Saturdays and Sundays hours are 10 a.m. – 7 p.m, located at 15501 E. Arrow Highway, Irwindale, CA. Tickets available online at https://renfair.com/socal/tickets/