28th Central Coast Renaissance Festival

21 & 22 ~ JUL ~ 2012

It was another splendid weekend in the 16th century. Music, dance, and shows ran continuously. And, as usual, there was a large and varied assortment of people in historic garb (authentic and otherwise). They, and colorful surroundings, offered many opportunities for photographers. As usual, my wife and I wandered the shire without agenda, catching the sights, shows and "street action" as we found them. I had made seven 8x10 prints from last year's event, so in addition to making photographs of the people, I had prints to give to some of them.

As often happens at Faire, there were a few people whom I expected to see but were apparently not in attendance this year. On balance, there were others attending whom I have met at other Faires but had not previously seen at the Central Coast Renaissance Festival. Also on hand were people whom I had not met before, and many of them offered good conversation and comeraderie. I made a point of requesting my free insult, and was summarily addressed as some sort of "malt worm." This was a clear harbinger of an enjoyable weekend ahead.

Herein follows a photographic summary of the event. This is a long page, with 118 photographs. My apologies to the dial-up people. I considered dividing the photographs among two or three pages, but there would still be 118 photographs to download. So here we go. We'll start with a varied collection of faire characters and activities.

The People of Faire

Next up, a lengthy gallery of Faire people. This is a diverse assortment of people of all stations and purpose.

Archery

The archery area was most active after the first joust. Ample instruction was given by competent instructors. The newbies didn't strike many bullseyes, but they seemed to enjoy the experience.

Boys will be Boys

Aye, the lads are growing so fast, they'll be men before their mothers are. Most of them are interested in knights and weaponry, but there is always something that gets their attention. There are not many "prince" types at the renaissance faires, but I've seen the fellow on the right before and he always looks genuinely aristocratic.

Barleycorn Country Dancers

This group dances on stage and throughout the Faire at various locations. Guests frequently join the dances.

Games

There is a name for the game of blocks, but I never remember it. There were several locations with stacked (or recently fallen) blocks. There were two or three locations for chess, and period games were also available for play.

Girls

The girls are more often in period clothing, loosely defined (the clothing, not the girls), than the boys. Nevertheless, fine fashion or otherwise, the girls join in games and silliness just as much as anyone else.

Justice

Justice was served (or imposed) throughout the shire. No crime was too small or too ludicrous to be ignored.

The Queen

As in previous years, Her Majesty was in playful good humor. She joked, danced, gave welcome audience to all, and tolerated a great myriad of people pointing little boxes toward her.