Fest #2

The Kansas City Renaissance Festival.

Or, as I call it, total sensory overload. Sixteen acres. Hundreds of artisans, and as many performers wandering about. A dozen stages with constantly rotating acts and seemingly every high school choir in a four state area. Pubs. Wenches. Sword fights. Let's just say that it's a lot to take in.

A few of you will know what I mean when I say that the festival is organized like Majora's Mask: a schedule that repeats each day, with multiple intersecting storylines that meander across the grounds before finally rejoining at the end of the day. I'm a little embarassed to admit that I'm tempted to get a season pass one of these years, just because it would take multiple visits to follow them all. To make matters worse, it's one of the few places in the world I regularly get hopelessly lost.

They put a lot of effort into these things. They have apprenticeships that go on for months, their costumes must be historically accurate in composition and material, and they have scripts so that they can stay firmly in character at all times, and so forth. A bit obsessive, to be sure, but not inherently moreso than, say, D&D. Remember those kids who were big into drama when you were in high school? It's just them, a bit older but still children.

Favorite find: A solid wood tankard, lined with ceramic inside. They're beautiful and highly functional. That pint of Woodchuck never tasted so good. Ordering

I'll leave you with a few random pictures from the Festival, culled from their vast yet terribly organized website: 1 2 3 4 5