Life Resumes, Huzzah!

September 15, 2022.Reading time 4 minutes.

When we started LadyFaire in the autumn of 2020, the world had shut down. Faires and Festivals were canceled all over the country, and we all missed the community we’d grown to love. Our team wanted to fill that void. As faire musician Lojo Russo sings in her song “Where We Left Off”: Hello, my […]

Forest Dark and Water Deep: Slavic Spirits and Stories

January 21, 2022.Reading time 15 minutes.

As winter descends in the northern hemisphere and those who are blessed with home and hearth settle in with warm beverages and toasty blankets, there’s a sense of snug security in these shorter, colder days. But sometimes, magical creatures lurk in the long winter nights, especially in the colder climes of Nordic and Slavic regions. […]

Folklore and Humanity – a review of Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland

May 27, 2021.Reading time 9 minutes.

Have you ever noticed that when you’re walking the lanes of a Renaissance or medieval faire, there is a distinct love of all things connected to the United Kingdom? A generalization, to be sure, but Renfest enthusiasts are often devoted Anglophiles who love tea, kilts, Celtic knotwork, and may even be able to quote sumptuary […]

Flower Tales: Renaissance Spring

May 11, 2021.Reading time 19 minutes.

It’s finally May and spring is in full bloom! Renaissance and medieval faires across the country have opened their doors. The light is soft and beautiful. The evenings are deliciously warm. Pour yourself a cocktail and curl up on your patio for a few floral tales of yore, beautifully written by staff writer VC Audley. […]

Falling in love at the Renaissance Festival

February 3, 2021.Reading time 10 minutes.

“The God of love, a benedicite! How myghty and how greet a lord is he! Ayeyns his myght ther gayneth none obstacles, He may be cleped a god for his myracles, For he kan maken at his owene gyse Of everich herte as that hym list divyse.”- Chaucer, “The Knight’s Tale” Chaucer’s Knight weaves […]

Enchanted Desire: Love in Myth and Fairy Tale

February 3, 2021.Reading time 20 minutes.

For those of us who love the world of the Renaissance Festival, the fairy tales of old are a cherished source of wisdom and beauty. We’ve all loved seeing the knights and ladies strolling the lanes of our faires. Read on to discover how romance worked in story, and how it might make its way […]

Diversity in the realm: part two

December 1, 2020.Reading time 21 minutes.

From Part One of this series by Hilary Bryant, originally published October 1: A Renaissance Festival is many things to many people. Just about every kind of person, in fact. What started out in Southern California as a small bit of countercultural rebellion has grown into a rather mainstream phenomenon. RenFaire culture is a convergence […]

Winter’s chill in fairy tales of old

December 1, 2020.Reading time 15 minutes.

For those of us who love the world of the Renaissance Festival, the fairy tales of old are a cherished source of wisdom and beauty. Read on to discover how Snow White became so fair, and for a few lesser-known stories of wintry trolls and frigid curses. By Victoria Audley Winter’s chill and darkness are […]

A Cozy WInter: Comfort and Joy in Old rituals and New traditions, A note from the editor

December 1, 2020.Reading time 5 minutes.

I had my first cup of hot chocolate last night after a brisk walk with my mini schnauzer, Molly. Our neighborhood, the residents of which are very competitive in the township’s Holiday Decorating Contest, is in the midst of transformation, professional light installers were still on tall ladders, tucking white C9 bulbs along roof lines […]

Diversity in the realm

October 1, 2020.Reading time 26 minutes.

part one of a series by Hilary Bryant “CANNON FIRE! CANNON FIRE!” These words ring out across the entryway to the faire – both a warning (plug your ears, folks) and a proud invitation. With a singular and emphatic BOOM, it begins. Music plays, gentle and lively. Excited cries from vendors layer on top of […]