For the first time during this season, I finally got to the fair before the door openings at 10 AM. I knew something occurred during the opening but had never seen what it was because I wasn’t there early enough. Now, I finally had. King Philip of Spain was on top of the gates speaking to the crowd that had already gathered together. He explained there would be activities that day including burning Protestants at the stake, “For fun!” It was a few minutes later that Sir Edmund Tylney burst through the gate and into the crowd exclaiming the Queen Mary was dead. King Philip did not seem very distraught that his wife just died. He called for Princess Elizabeth to be called out to inform her of the news. When she arrived, she was quite perturbed by King Philip, probably assuming she was to be burned at the stake. Instead, she was informed she was going to be coronated to be named Queen of England. Sir Robert Dudley, dutiful at her side, dropped to one knee proudly exclaiming “God save the Queen!” which rose the same reply from the crowd. Queen Elizabeth declared the coronation would take place at 11:30 AM in the Royal Glade. She then declared the cannons be fired and to open the gates. The crowd cheered after the cannon fire and everyone started making their way into the fair. This was a great way to kick off the day.

As I stepped into the village, I was greeted by various members of the newly designated Queen and members of the Royal Court. They all greeted people as they entered ensuring they received a very pleasant welcome. Sir Robert Dudley was very feisty openly kissing Queen Elizabeth on the cheek in front of Lady Kat Ashley.

I made my way around to find Lady Ophelia’s Dance by the Maypole which started at 10:30 AM. During this time, Lady Ophelia gathers members of the court and other people who wish to participate in it. As I was waiting I saw Ser Oakheartt the living tree trudging around the fair. The Maypole dance itself was quite beautiful and jovial to watch. The multicolored ribbons were held by everyone as they danced their way underneath each other and around the pole until they all reached the center and tied off the ribbons. The group then performed another dance in pairs where they danced around the pole and would switch partners after completing certain dance moves. The music was conducted by a violinist and a guitarist and was perfect. The participants provided glorious cheer and applause for the musicians and each other. It was a very entertaining event.

From there, I made my way over to the Brawling Claw Pub to catch the performance of Music the Gathering. An obvious play on words of the famous card game Magic the Gathering, this band performed folk music that ranged from fun and lively to emotional and somber. They use a variety of musical arrangements for their performances and let me say, Marco, Liv, and Clara are very talented performers. The ability for them to make such beautiful music with these arrangements is quite impressive. I loved their show. And they even have trading cards of themselves for sale! And yes, I bought a set.

I rushed over to the Royal Glade to capture the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, first of her name! It’s a wonderful ceremony and after she was crowned King Philip was hoping he would be asked to marry her so he could also become King of England. Instead, she titled Sir Robert Dudley as Master of the Horse and Sir Edmund Tylney to oversee festivities. The Queen also took a moment to knight two children before making her way with her court. She looked more regal than ever.

And then it was off to the first joust of the day held by Noble Cause Productions. After following their events over the past five weeks, they were still as entertaining as ever. Sir William of Whitehall acted as Master of Arms hosting the display of knight feats between Sir Michael with Squire Barb and Sir Lilith with Squire Lydia. Sir William introduced the guests of King Philip and his sister Princess Juana, a Duke and Duchess (can’t recall from where), and “those two guys”. The first joust is full of fun lines, quips, and jokes between the two including many referencing Lord of the Rings. There is a contest between Sir Michael and Sir Lilith to catch aerial rings for a flower garland. Sir Lilith misses the last one as she feels Squire Lydia threw it too high and charges Squire Lydia to run them down. Squire Lydia is too fast and nimble hopping the fence and running through the crowd to escape. Sir William suggests to the crowd wants to see a joust so Sir Michael and Sir Lilith gear up. The two knights then make their joust passes with each pass hitting harder until Sir Michael’s lance shatters declaring Sir Lilith the winner. Sir William invites the crowd to come back at 2:30 PM for their second joust of the day.

I met up with my wife to grab some lunch. I hadn’t mentioned the fair’s food options in my other reviews, but it needs worth mentioning. The fair each year always had a nice variety of food. You could find burgers, pizza, cheesesteaks, and chicken tenders. Then you had more time-period items like kebobs, shepherd’s pie, Scottish eggs, and turkey legs. But, the winner this year for me was the tacos. While not Renaissance food that vendor’s tacos were just absolutely amazing. They offered BBQ Korean beef, barbacoa, and shredded pork. The only criticism is that booth ran out of the quesadillas after week 1 and I never got to try them.

It was then back to the Royal Glade for The Queen’s Feast where you could watch the Queen and her Royal Court eat! Yes, eat. All of them are literally eating lunch in character while attendees walk by or stop and watch. And the Queen and Court will happily interact with the attendees. One week my wife and I literally brought our lunches and sat down and ate with them. It was a pretty cool experience to eat lunch with royalty. That day King Philip and Queen Elizabeth were throwing grapes at two members of the court trying to catch them in their mouths. It was a hilarious game. Afterward, there was some light ribbing going on as Sir Robert Dudley was mimicking Lady Kat Ashley in her mannerisms and speech.

Then it was time for the second joust of the day. Sir William played Master at Arms and introduced Queen Elizabeth and her Royal Court. Sir Michael and Sir William tested the field lancing rings and aerial rings before getting to the actual joust. Once again the two knights fiercely attacked each other during each joust pass. But, this time it is Sir Lilith who breaks her lance on Sir Michael’s shield awarding the joust to Sir Michael. Sir William then recommends they perform a round of mounted combat. The mounted combat is fast and fierce and eventually, Sir Michael disarms Sir Lilith in winning the round. But, Sir Lilith offers to shake his hand graciously and instead yanks him off his horse! Sir Lilith points out the winner must make the opponent yield or be the last one of their horse, which she was. Sir William declares her the victor. The final round is hand-to-hand combat on the ground and Sir Michael and Sir Lilith are dueling with such skill, power, and grace. In the end, it is Sir Michael who is the better of the two disarming Sir Lilith. When he celebrates his victory, Sir Lilith comes from behind and guts him, spilling blood on the field. Sir William is outraged and ready to strike Sir Lilith down, but Sir Michael holds him at bay demanding justice for this dishonor. Sir Lilith demands a joust to the death. Queen Elizabeth agrees to allow the joust and the two will meet at 5:30 PM in a duel to the death.

I walked around for a bit checking out the vendors for the final time. I loved the wide variety of merchants the Brevard Renaissance Fair offered this year. Everything from art, to jewelry, to clothing, to armor, and weapons. And even specialized things like Scottish clothing, fur clothing, horns, and ears. You then had the games such as buried treasure (poorly buried as they kept calling out), the LARP game with Dice Knights, archery and axe throwing, and one of my favorite entertainment events to see, boffer weapon fighting! It is a great mix of vendors and look forward to seeing who they bring in next year.

Back at the joust field was the return of Equestrian Chaos! The group consists of women who show people the Amazonian warrior way between their skill in archery and horse riding. And also combined the two to show off some amazing archery feats. The women have amazing skills for horseback riding and archery and a flair for entertainment. I loved the show the first time I saw them years ago and loved them just as much this time around. I highly recommend seeing their performance whenever you can.

I made my way back over to the Royal Glade for the Meet the Queen event. The Queen and her Royal Court were enjoying the day keeping in the shade. The Queen asked for Lady Mary to sing for them and she provided the most beautiful song in French. I was blown away by her performance. Sir Henry then regaled us with a drinking song and everyone joined in. It was a very jovial event.

I made my way over to the Bard Stage to catch Boom Boom Shake. Two wonderfully skilled belly dancers performed for the crowd to Middle Eastern music. The balance and grace of these women were amazing and the crowd absolutely loved them. And they had a huge crowd around their stage.

I decided to check out Equestrian Chaos for a second time getting some pictures from a different angle. They were just as impressive as when I saw them for the first time that day. Their skill and strength to perform these athletic feats are seriously incredible.

Finally, it was time for the grand finale, the final joust of the day. The mood was somber as the sun was setting. Queen Elizabeth and her Royal Court were introduced by Sir William and they took their places on the podium. Sir Michael and Sir Lilith were introduced separately and they rode onto the field to cheers and applause. The Queen addressed the knights asking if there was no other way to settle their differences, but their words made it apparent there was not. They both had a chance to ride the field and found it suitable for combat. Sir William went through a presentation ceremony of their helmets and shields and then ordered them to their ends of the field and the joust to the death began. Each knight roared ahead eager to clash with the other. The sound of the lance against shield rang out through the field over and over, until Sir Michael’s lance broke, splintering into pieces all over the field.

Sir William ordered the knights to dismount and meet on the field in hand-to-hand combat. Sir Michael did, but Sir Lilith did not. Instead, she grabbed a lance and sped towards Sir Michael with hatred and rage on her face, ready to drive the lance into his heart. But, he saw what she had planned and raised his shield in time. The blow knocked Michael off his feet and Sir Lilith came around for another pass. This time, Sir Michael yanked the lance out of her hand, ready to use it at her. Sir Lilith dismounted and grabbed her sword and Sir Michael grabbed his own and they met in the middle bloodlust in their hearts. The battle was fierce and no punches were pulled but in the end, Sir Michael had Sir Lilith on the ground, sword at her throat, and hatred in his heart. And he showed her mercy. He declared to the Queen his honor was redeemed and walked away. Sir Lilith was disgusted and screamed his name and when he turned around, she launched the hidden dagger right into his eye. Sir Michael screamed as blood flew everywhere and then collapsed to the ground. Sir William looked on in horror and ran to Sir Michael, confirming he was dead.

The Queen was horrified once again at the dishonor of Sir Lilith and ordered Sir William to dispose of her. Sir William was happy to oblige, drawing his sword and moving forward. The two clashed in the middle of the field, but Sir William was too skilled, striking a blow to her abdomen and slicing her across. He then used his sword and her own to slice open her neck, killing her. Sir William then addressed the crowd after they cheered for his success and asked for a round of applause for both Sir Michael and Sir Lilith for their performances that day. The crowd cheered as they both stood up and took a quick bow. It was an amazing story throughout the three jousts that day.

The day ended with the burning of the Wicker Man, where people inserted their wishes into it all throughout the day. Afterward, those who were staying for the concert that evening were guided to the Brawling Crawling Pub for the Pub Sing. I had the opportunity to spend time with the Queen and Sir Robert during that time, enjoying the musical entertainment. When everything was ready, the staff guided people to the Queen’s Stage for Gaelic Storm. The Celtic rock band out of San Francisco, CA put on an amazing show filled with fun songs, humor, and great music. It was a great way to cap off the evening and for me the fair season.

I’m definitely looking forward to next year and highly recommend anyone who has not attended to come next season and see how much fun you’ll have at this fair.

The post REN FAIRE TRAVELS: BREVARD RENAISSANCE FAIR WEEK 5 – WICKHAM PARK – MELBOURNE FL – FEBRUARY 4, 2023 appeared first on The Ren Faire Traveler.

I like arriving early to catch as much of the fair as I can. This particular day was going to be long as I was staying to see Celtica Nova‘s evening performance. The moment I walked into the fair I was greeted by multiple people, including the Royal Court! King Philip of Spain and his guards were there, Queen Elizabeth and her entourage were there, along with a group of faeries, the living tree Ser Oakheartt and the harpist Kathleen Finnegan. If you have not seen her perform yet, she’s set up straight through the front entrance. Go take a moment and listen to beautiful melodies.

After browsing through a few of the vendors, I made my way over to see Daniel Greenwolf – Celtic Magic. Daniel and his wife Bella perform a variety of magic tricks while incorporating his wild sense of humor throughout the show. If you weren’t laughing at the jokes, you were enamored by his magic. There was a very large crowd there to see him and it was truly understandable as to why. Daniel and Bella’s fire breathing and fire eating was a great display to close out their show.

Right following him was the Clan Tynker Family Circus. The troupe of five brothers and sisters perform in a “vaudeville” style bringing in silly to stylish to dangerous acts. Starting off with the Chinese linking rings, to juggling, to suddenly juggling machetes over her sister! Throw in some fire-eating and ribbon dancing for good measure. But, the finale is stupendous with three members juggling fire torches. It’s truly a sight to behold. Clan Tynker is a phenomenal act to see.

And then, of course, it was over to the jousting field to watch the knights of Noble Cause Productions put on their performance. King Philip made an appearance with his sister Juana to watch Master of Arms Sir William host some friendly test of skills between Sir Michael and Sir Lilith. After the tests of skill, Sir William recommends the two have a friendly joust and after a few passes, Sir William recommends the knights return later in the day for a true joust. The reason I love the opening joust is for the light-hearted affair. The jokes on Lord of the Rings, Lilith being sent back to her room, Michael about being hit by the quintain all provide the atmosphere for a fun and jovial event.

Afterward, I headed over to the Royal Glade for probably one of the most unique events, the Royal Feast. The Royal Feast is literally the cast of the Royal Court sitting outside and eating lunch in front of people. Literally. And all while staying in character. Even odder, did you know that you could bring your own lunch and sit down and join them? My wife and I did it the week before and it was hilarious. You have this unique opportunity to sit down and eat with royalty, yet barely anyone knows about it! Instead, you see attendees walking by and gawking at them eating lunch, maybe sometimes stopping to say hello before moving on. I decided to sit down and join them, taking the opportunity to snap some candid photos (after they had finished eating of course) and some of these were just priceless.

But, the best was seeing the interaction between Queen Elizabeth and Sir Robert Dudley. The two of them played out their roles so well and the chemistry between them is superb.

From there it was on to the second joust of the day when things start to heat up. The rivalry gets a little out of hand with chivalry on the line and Sir Lilith shows her true colors. The action sequences in this joust are well worth watching and both knights deserve all the cheers they get for their performances. The end scene with Sir William drawing his sword ready to get medieval on Sir Lilith will give you goosebumps. And this culminates over to the last joust of the day where it’s a fight to the death. Those sequences are by far the greatest ones ever and once again both knights put their bodies on the line for the performance. If anything, the joust is always my premiere event to watch, even though I’ve seen them so many times this season.

And then it was off to the Pub Sing! at the Queen’s Stage to wrap up the fair. And getting to see Queen Elizabeth chug down her drink was absolutely well worth it. The Pub Sing is great musical entertainment and a great way to close out the evening.

Now, for me, I was staying for the concert after the fair closed. First to the stage was the Black Velvet Band who provided a very fun performance with bawdy toasts and songs. Nothing too dirty but just enough the adults would understand but not the kids. Cu Dubh came on next going full out metal red lighting and all for their performance. They really are great musicians. And then we wrapped up the evening with Celtica Nova. Bagpipes, fire, and Irish Rock. What more do you need? They provided a great show for the fans and it was a fantastic way to close out the day.

The post REN FAIRE TRAVELS: BREVARD RENAISSANCE FAIR WEEK 4 – WICKHAM PARK – MELBOURNE FL – JANUARY 28, 2023 appeared first on The Ren Faire Traveler.

I arrived at the opening that morning and the parking lot wasn’t crowded. I wasn’t too surprised as not everyone gets off from work on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. But, it did pick up not too long after I arrived. I hooked up my cameras and made my way inside. I was greeted warmly, as always, by the fair staff and made a quick stop at the Royal Family tent for my drink token (Royal Family members get one per visit!) and then decided to head over to the Queen’s Stage to check out the band Cu Dubh. I absolutely loved what I was hearing from the band. They are a heavy metal band with a bagpipe player. Their garb and music screamed “Viking!” and if I had to describe them, it was Amon Amarth (Google if you don’t know them) with bagpipes and no vocals. Could you headbang to this band? Absolutely! Could you dance to their music? Absolutely as people were doing that as they performed. Their set was very enjoyable.

From there I headed over to the Sherwood Forest area to catch the end of Unicorn Hugs. As I made my way to the bridge, I was greeted by Robyn Hood and her Merry Band who were sitting at the top of the bridge. I was shocked to see there were no fair attendees in this area at all. I walked over to the stage and was greeted by Lady Brittany who runs the Unicorn Hugs show. Unicorn Hugs, from their website, “is a not-for-profit specializing in bringing trained miniature therapy horses into children’s hospitals nationwide dressed as unicorns.” And she has a very special unicorn named Lucky Star who has a very special talent for performing math tricks. It’s a pretty cool thing to see. Brittany offered me the opportunity to do a photoshoot with her and Lucky Star that morning, which I loved. After we had finished, other attendees started making their way over right in time for the next scheduled show.

Next was Wyrd Friends Present: Robyn Hood. This appeared to be a new group to the fair that was performing a very interactive story of the classic Robin Hood tale. This was an interactive performance bringing up a child to play the Sherriff of Nottingham and getting the crowd to react every time certain words were said. I absolutely adored this show. It was lively, fun, and all the actors were very entertaining. I’d put this as one of the must-see shows for the pure entertainment and smiles it will bring you.

From there it was over to Flodden Field for the 12 PM Joust run by Noble Cause Productions. If you couldn’t tell, the Joust is by far my favorite event of this Fair every year. It has great performers, great actors, and fantastic action. My goal this day was to finally catch all three Jousts so I can see how the entire story unfolds. Most times if I’m with the family we get to the fair early but leave before the last one. Or we arrive late so I miss the first one. But, not this day! The first Joust sets up the story between Sir Michael (the honorable and good knight) and Sir Lilith (the win by any means necessary knight) showing off their skills.

The tone is light-hearted and you get to see the personalities of the knights truly shine. Everyone loves Sir Michael with his honor and chivalry. But, you can’t help but also love Sir Lilith with her me-first attitude and always wanting to smash something. And while she’s meant to be the villain, you can’t help but laugh with some of the things she says during the event. After some show of skills, Sir William the Master at Arms gets the knights to agree to return to the field at 2:30 PM for a joust to see who will be the victor. More on this later.

I ran back to Sherwood Forest to catch one of my favorite shows called Nature of Mercy. The Captain and Francesca provide a tale teaching kids to choose love and mercy over hate and violence in a very fun way. The Captain calls for all the children in the audience to come forward so they can play a part in the story and teaches them some lines and when to come forward at the right moment. The show also provides swashbuckling between the two of them with a huge amount of humor and some that are adult so parents would understand but the kids won’t. Nature of Mercy has been running for over 30 years and they’re two wonderful actors who absolutely get the audience laughing and engaged in the show. The Captain will pick a male adult in the audience to play the Earl of Leicester and get him to interact with the story. And Francesca has a way of getting that person to blush. I know from personal experience as I was chosen one time. And she got me again this year.

As The Captain was teaching the kids their lines, I was standing in the back of the rows with my camera taking pictures. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Francesca sneaking up to my right. She came right up beside me and in her Italian accent say, “Hey Earlllllll”. I couldn’t help but smile and laugh. The two of them have seen me at their shows so many times they recognize me, but this was the first time this year I was getting to see them so she wanted to say hi before jumping into her role. As the show went on, The Captain called out a family walking in late where the Dad was designated as the Earl of Leicester, but the Dad delegated it to his little boy which was hilarious. Francesca during the show always calls out to the Earl for various things. At one point she gets whacked on the butt by The Captain and Francesca always looks to the Earl for the next line. But, no. This time she eye-locked directly with me pointing at her butt saying, “Hey Earllllll, do you want to kiss this boo-boo.” I stood there stunned as I know this show inside and out and who is supposed to be the recipient of that line and it wasn’t supposed to be me! And then The Captain said, “Well, he didn’t say no” and then I started laughing.

It’s the moments like this why I love the Nature of Mercy show so much and they are a must-see show. Trust me, you’ll enjoy it and if you have kids they will love it too.

Right after them was Unicorn Hugs where Lady Brittany brought out Lucky Star to perform for the crowd and explain the purpose of her organization. That is a super fun show for kids and adults and watching Lucky Star do addition, subtraction, and multiplication is pretty impressive. After the show, the kids have an opportunity to do a meet and greet with Lucky Star and get covered in unicorn dust that will stay with you forever.

I headed out to hit the Krusty Barnacle Pub to grab a mead and started walking through the Jackdaw Careening Camp when I started to hear this beautiful melodic singing coming from the Queen’s Stage. I immediately recognized who it was and headed over to catch Sirena – The Sirens. The trio of Raidne, Legeia, and Leucosia provide amazing harmonic performance of part acapella and part drumming and vocals to produce their songs. They are very impressive and extremely talented.

Now it was back to Flodden Field for the second Joust. Queen Elizabeth made an appearance with her Royal Court to oversee the event. Sir William had them compete in a ring catch before they prepared for the actual joust.

This is the time when things start to get serious when the actual joust occurs and after a few passes it turns into mounted combat and that ending takes an unexpected turn, before Sir Michael and Sir Lilith are dueling pretty hard against each other. I won’t spoil what happens (the pictures do! Fair warning!), but the end result causes a declaration of a joust to the death to take place at 5:30 PM.

Before I got to my next show I wanted to see I encountered the Happy Goat Trading Company who sells freeze dried candy so check them out. And yes, his cart is pulled by a goat. I also encountered the eerie creature of obsidian and ash known as Atmos Rising.

My next stop was to see Galiana the Living Fountain. The owner of the fountain explains she was discovered many years ago and only comes to life when songs are played. She performs to three Sarah Brightman songs and dances while controlling the water in the fountain during the songs. It’s a pretty cool display with the music and her costume and what it can do is truly neat. I enjoyed watching this show a lot.

I realized how late it had gotten and hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast that morning. So I grabbed some yummy tacos (those are renaissance, right?) and went back to the Royal Family tent to eat and give me a chance to put my cameras down. After getting my energy back it was off to the last Joust!

The sun was starting to come down and it gave this ominous feel to what was happening next. Sir Lilith was riding her horse Barossa (who is blind) up and down the field getting a feel for it before the event. Sir Michael was waiting in the back. Two knights would enter, only one would leave alive. When Queen Elizabeth arrived, even she put on a brave face urging the knights not to do this, but neither one would yield. Both knights spoke last words before Sir William went through the ceremony of the knights receiving their helmet and shield and a prayer before the joust to the death.

The intensity of the passes felt different and they rode at each other at full speed making five passes. At each pass a clang of the lance against shield and a cheer from the crowd, but no one dismounted. And at each pass, the crowd breathlessly waited to see if anyone would be dismounted, but it never happened. Sir William called for the knights to dismount and engage in hand-to-hand combat, but Sir Lilith wasn’t having it. After Sir Michael dismounted, Sir Lilith rode with all her might at Sir Michael with Sir William enraged at her dishonor. Sir Michael grabbed his shield and braced for the blow literally knocking him off his feet. (By far one of the coolest stunts I’ve seen during the joust.) Sir Michael was ready for Sir Lilith at her second pass, but I won’t give away what happens.

Sir Lilith finally dismounted and the two of them engaged in hand-to-hand combat. If you thought the 2:30 joust fight was good, this one is even better. The two knights don’t hold back in this fight and are willing to give it their all to survive. I definitely will not give away the ending (THE PHOTOS DO FAIR WARNING!), but it was a great ending to the story built throughout the day. In the end, the Queen initiates a ceremony with the burning of The Wicker Man filled with people’s wishes to make them all come true as they burn into the air. It was a perfect ending to the night.

Now, the fair has one more event called the Pub Sing at 6 PM over at the Queen’s Stage, I was just so tired from the long day I called it a night with an hour ride home. Overall, it really was a fantastic day with all the events I got to see and photograph and I had the best time. Now, with that in mind, I didn’t even get the chance to stop at any of the shops! And there are so many great vendors around the fair.

The Brevard Renaissance Fair is truly a fun time for yourself, your family, and your friends. If you live in the Central Florida area or plan on visiting between January to first week of February 2024, add this fair to your plans. Keep your eyes out for their 2024 schedule over at https://brevardrenaissancefair.com/.

The post REN FAIRE TRAVELS: BREVARD RENAISSANCE FAIR – WICKHAM PARK – MELBOURNE FL – JANUARY 16, 2023 appeared first on The Ren Faire Traveler.

Side note, while my website uses the spelling “faire”, you will find many of these events will use either “faire”, “fair”, or “festival”. For these reviews, I’ll use the word and spelling they provide for the event.

The fair ran every Saturday and Sunday for five weeks starting on January 7th and 8th and ended on February 4th and 5th. The fair has free parking for the event and ticket prices separated for adult and children. They also offer a VIP style ticket known as a Royal Family member. The Royal Family ticket is essentially a season passholder for all 5 weekends with a lot of great perks including closer parking, a private tent to sit in for some shade (did I mention the Royal Tent has its own bar?), 1 free drink token per visit per member, and private air-conditioned bathrooms. And Royal Family member gets two free guest single-day tickets so you can bring your friends. The Royal Family passes are sold out quickly for 2023. If you live in the Central Florida area, I highly recommend purchasing the pass for 2024. It is absolutely well worth the money. Tickets were cheaper if you bought them online instead of buying them at the gate. And there were options to buy multi-day tickets too.

There were additional add-ons you can purchase including pub crawls, beer tasting, and there is even a concert series! Every Saturday a band performed after the fair is closed. The concert series for this year was:

• January 7th – Musical Blades & The Bawdy Boys
• January 14th – Sanctus with Star Shanties
• January 21st – Albannach
• January 28th – Celtica Nova & Black Velvet Band
• February 4th – Gaelic Storm

The concert series was an additional cost, but Royal Family members got admission to these concerts as part of their pass.

When you enter the fair you’ll found yourself immediately greeted by a plethora of artisans. These artisans brought a variety of merchandise for sale from jewelry to clothing to armor to books and there was even a tabletop and board gaming vendor selling a variety of games and dice. And the food selection was amazing. This year were are two separate food areas that sold everything from kabobs to pizza to shepherd’s pie and even tacos. And there were pastries and other snacks for those with a sweet tooth. For those who do attend Renaissance fairs regularly, you’ll had a great selection of mead for your taste buds!

While I didn’t get the chance to see all the events I wanted to on opening weekend, I did get to see some very memorable ones. The first was the Blades of Death show. Ichabod Wainwright and his assistant Jimmy already have great personalities for the stage. Performing right outside of the Royal Family Tent, the pair made the crowd laugh while doing some amazing juggling. Jimmy made the crowd cringe at times juggling two bowling balls…..with his feet. There was a moment when you thought one was coming crash down on him, but Jimmy had it well in hand, or feet in his case. But, balancing a long flaming pipe with his feet and even spinning it inches from his face made the crowd gasp numerous times over.

Ichabod went with the more death-defying style of stunts stacking chairs on top of one another to form a tower. And note, these chairs were not linked in any way to one other. Ichabod showed how easily they could slip out. He climbed the chairs and stood on top of them all, having him pretty high in the air. Jimmy then lit three axes on fire and then one by one threw them up to Ichabod. Once he had them all, Ichabod juggled the flaming axes for a bit before coming down and thanking the crowd. They were one of my favorite acts from 2023.

I also had the opportunity to catch that weekend Cirque Du Sewer. Comedy and pet tricks including rats and cats. What could go wrong? OK, the rats and cats weren’t out at the same time, but both are a lot of fun. One of the rats ran through an obstacle course, which is impressive, but the cats might do tricks that day. After all, they are cats. Packinmeow, Spootnik, and Schrodinger that day were all very cat-like. Schrodinger wasn’t having it and took off under the stage. And that’s part of the charm of the show, they’re cats! When they did perform tricks, they did so with grace and cuteness. It was a really fun show.

Of course, to me at least, the star event of the Brevard Renaissance Fair is The Joust. Performed by Noble Cause Productions, the joust is a storyline that runs throughout the day of the fair. It started off at 12 PM, continued at 2:30 PM, and then wraps up the story at 5:30 PM. This year we had the noble Sir Michael going up against Sir Lilith The Knightmare. Sir Michael fighting for chivalry and honor while Sir Lilith is looking to smash someone’s face and see some blood spilled. Sir William of Whitehall was the Master at Arms who oversaw the joust. Queen Elizabeth and her Royal Court also make an appearance to oversee the knights that day. I absolutely loved the troupe Noble Cause Production had this weekend. The storyline is great, the actors are phenomenal, and the stunts they perform are amazing. Noble Cause Productions travels to many fairs and I highly recommend seeing them if they’re at one close to you.

If you’ve never been to the Brevard Renaissance Fair, I truly recommend attending.  You can find more info over at https://brevardrenaissancefair.com/.

The post REN FAIRE TRAVELS: BREVARD RENAISSANCE FAIR – WICKHAM PARK – MELBOURNE FL – JANUARY 8, 2023 appeared first on The Ren Faire Traveler.