Renaissance Festival Part Tres.

Eventually we got to go into the banquet hall. Our hosts were Jim Cunningham



and Laszlo Nemesi.



Laszlo and Jim entertained us for a while, while we got our first glasses of wine. They gave us some funny hats to wear and that put us in a festive mood.

Or maybe it was the wine!



Our hosts told amusing stories and introduced the different courses!

 After a while we got to see some other entertainers like these singers and dancers.

This guy's Pierrot costume was really cool, but I have to say that I was appalled by the act.

 I thought they were going to do something clever as they talked about doing stupid things, but instead we got to see Pierrot slam a fiery sledge hammer down onto the stomach of the man with white hair while he was lying on a small bed of nails (not really my idea of entertainment). The best thing about this act was his batman underwear.

 Much more to my taste, because he was a sweet and gentle person, was Cale the Juggler.

As you can see he juggled fiery batons, but also did a fire breathing act.

There was also some sword play...

For some reason the villain (right) was (as is so often the case) portrayed as a Frenchman and the "good guy" was English. I guess we have Monty Python to thank for that.

I really enjoyed the food and the wine (maybe the latter too much since I forgot to take pictures of most of the food.) We started off with a lovely cheese and fruit plate. We had a delicious salad with pears, some soup and then a couple of main courses including a beef dish and this pork dish.

The singers and dancers were my favorite part. They did some non-period songs, but also some from the Renaissance and this really added to the atmosphere of the Feast.

Of course towards the end of the feast they brought in the belly dancers.

The dancers were good and we enjoyed the show while we finished our meat.

One of our hosts joined in the dancing too.

... and then there was the wildly inappropriate poet. I'm not sure why they like to have him at the feast so much, but I rarely enjoy his words.

At least this time he was a bit more even-handed and slammed both men and women. Last time he seemed to come down much harder on the women than the men.

And before we knew it, we had finished our dessert and it was time to go. We were presented with our Laszlo bobbleheads and packed our goblets and decided to head on over and visit our friend Marla at Lost Art Leather.

Marla is always so good-natured and kind. We just love visiting with her and we almost always find something cool to buy from her.

Then before we knew what had happened,  the day was over and it was time to say goodbye. We headed toward the exit and ran into Cale the Juggler.

There is always a grand committee of interesting people to send you off when you depart. We were even bid goodbye by a gnomish one....

..and several gentle ladies and gentlemen ...

 

These women were especially friendly (and what beautiful clothes they wore!)

 

The setting sun glistened on this woman's wings and truly reflected the magical quality of the day.

Here is a parting shot as we headed toward the scooter rental place.

Glam patted her trusty steed goodbye...

and then it was time to head off into the sunset.

And finally here is your narrator in the costume she did not manage to get finished in time for the visit to the festival.

I am (alas) still working on it, but have almost gotten things to a presentable state.

Next year I should be ready!