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08/16/2005 Entry: "Great Faire"

The first weekend of the Washington Ren and Fantasy Fair was great fun. The weather was cool in the morning due to the marine layer, but the afternoons were sunny and dry (perfect ale drinking weather). There were lots of fair participants in costume, the wenches were beautiful, and the pirates were reasonably well behaved. The Washington Ren Faire is one of the friendliest fairs in the Northwest and the participants are into the fantasy and fun of the event, rather than the historical accuracy. It certainly makes for a fun weekend.

The Ale Houses are always a great place to gather at the faires. At the Washingon Ren Faire entertainment is scheduled in the Ale Houses throughout the day. My favorite group was the Thryce Wycked Wenches who sang songs of a "dubious" nature. The first photo in this entry is of Bonnie Strangeways - one of the wenches. These three ladies are absolutely hilarious. So, should you get to the last weekend of the faire (the 20th and 21st of August), get thee to Ale House #1 and listen to these ladies sing.

The next big fair I'll attend will be the Shrewsbury Fair in King's Valley. That's more of an SCA sanctioned event, so it will be more historically accurate and less inclined to the fantasy costumes you see in Gig Harbor. It will still be quite fun, as I really enjoy shooting all the costumes. Additionally some good friends will be there as well, and it's a lot of fun to hang around with them as well.

There are a number of other fairs in the Northwest and next year the goal is to attend a couple of new fairs. It will be fun to attend at least one Pirate Revelry and perhaps another fantasy faire. Additionally, I might try to attend some of the county and state fairs as I haven't done that since I was quite young. In any event, I always have a great time photographing the people of these fairs.