Once upon a time, in the midst of social chaos, there was born a moment of Pleasure.
It sprang from the hearts of a generation called Love.
It leapt, danced and sang all the songs of Spring that had lain dormant for hundreds of years....

Welcome to my gateway to ages past. Here fairs, festivals and other historical entertainments around the world are gathered to help bring the lives of our ancestors to life.

The English Renaissance — indeed, the Renaissance in most countries - was a period of intensity in all things: work, play, music and the arts, world exploration, war, crime and punishment, love, hate, religion and superstition. Renaissance faires resurrect this, both as reenactment and as a way of life.

In the year 1963, the first renaissance faire was born in Southern California. Since that time the phenomenon has spread across North America, and is making inroads in many other countries. Medieval festivals, Viking battles and historical reenactments of many other eras have also sprung up, offering a feast of sights, sounds and smells in a world far too used to viewing history in two dimensions on a movie or television screen.

In Listings you will find events by calendar or by location. In Who's Who you will find guilds, clans and other reenactment groups, craftsmen, merchants and acts.

Come in, have a tankard of ale or a goblet of mead and make yourself at home.

RENAISSANCE
     The period and intellectual movement in European cultural history that is traditionally seen as ending the Middle Ages and beginning modern times. The Renaissance started in Italy in the 14th century and flourished in Western Europe until about the 17th century.
     The aim of Renaissance education was to produce the "complete human being" (Renaissance man), conversant in the humanities, mathematics and science (including their application in war), the arts and crafts, and athletics and sport; to enlarge the bounds of learning and geographical knowledge; to encourage the growth of skepticism and free thought, and the study and imitation of Greek and Latin literature and art. The revival of interest in classical Greek and Roman culture inspired artists, architects, and writers. Scientists and explorers proliferated as well.
     The term "Renaissance", to describe the period of time, was first used in the 18th century.

FAIRE
     An old English spelling of "fairs" ... also "fayres". Nothing at all to do with fairies.

ALE
     Similar to beer, but made without hops, true ale is an alcoholic drink made from water and malt (fermented barley or other grain.) The distinction between beer and ale was made in medieval times. Beer is now a generic term including pilsner and lager. Stout is top fermented but is sweet and strongly flavored with roasted grain. Lager is a light beer, bottom fermented and matured over a longer period. Some modern "ales", like beer, are made with hops but are fermented more rapidly at relatively high temperatures.

MEAD
     An alcoholic drink made from honey and water fermented with yeast, often with added spices. Still popular today, it was known in ancient times and was drunk by the Greeks, Britons, and Norse.

Copyright © 1996- Mike Bonk. All rights reserved.