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Santa Fe Renaissance Festival’s successful first year

The past weekend, I had the pleasure to attend and volunteer at the first annual Santa Fe Renaissance Festival. It was hosted by a local charity, Open Hands, and El Rancho de las Golondrinas, a quaint living history museum and working 18th-century Spanish villa. It was a one-weekend event, just to test the waters, and it was headed entirely by one brave woman, Dara Fogel. It also had one big difference from the typical renaissance festival: it was a Spanish festival.

Being a resident of the Colorado Renaissance Festival and used to its size and scope, I went down there prepared for disappointment—just in case the event turned out to be a little less than I’d hoped. I was ready for the grounds to be small, for there to be no good vendors or food, for there to be a severe lack of organization.

I am happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised.

On the volunteer cast were six rennies who made the drive down from the Denver area. Five of us work in some fashion at the CRF. Also joining us were my parents and brother, all playtrons who have only gotten into the joy of rennie-dom within the last year—I’m very proud of them. In any case, on opening Saturday, the six of us volunteers headed over to the festival in an array of characters. There were three Romanceteers: Don Diego del Mar, Estevan El Amante, and Don Juan d’Marco. Together they made up the “Three Most Interesting Men in the World,” complete with a hilarious shtick and of course, roses. There were two visiting Nobles, and may they forgive me for forgetting their characters’ names—good gracious me—who for now shall be Lord Mark and Lady Natalie. And for myself, I brought along Capitaine Zoë, a French pirate (er, dishonest sailor) who never quite knows where she is, and has lost the ocean for good.

The three Romanceteers and I ended up being the unofficial gate staff that first morning. There was no opening gate show, and nobody delegated to welcome the people inside, so we took it upon ourselves to do so. It turned out to be a great hit. Because there had not been a renaissance festival in the area in almost 10 years (the last one being a flop), a lot of people came through the gate not knowing what to expect. There was a sense of wonderment as they stepped inside, were greeted by one of the four of us, and were transported inside this little world that the vendors and other volunteers had created. We bantered with the people as they waited to get their tickets, handed out pirate treasure to the kiddies, joked with the Scotsmen who had “forgotten their pants.” We were surprised at the number of people who came through that gate so early. There was a lot of regional competition going on that day: an air show just on the other side of the highway, the last weekend of the New Mexico State Faire, and a hot air balloon festival in nearby Albuquerque, to name a few. And, let us not forget, this was the first time in recent years that anything like this had happened. There were a number of people who came through in garb, including a lot of kids who had donned princess dresses and knights’ armor for the occasion. Those of us in garb were the exception, not the rule, and there was a pleasant sense of delight as people came through and saw us all dressed up just for them. I lost count of how many times I had my picture taken or was asked to pose with someone.

Later in the afternoon, I wandered about with the three Romanceteers while they wooed women to their hearts’ delight. We were all invited to participate in the afternoon’s costume contest, so at the proper time we all headed over to the stage where it was being held. Surprisingly, the number of playtons entering the contest was more than those of us who were volunteers. Don Juan and Estevan both placed in the men’s category (1st and 3rd, respectively) though I do expect much of it had to do with their shameless wooing of the queen while on stage. (wink wink)

Sunday brought even more pleasant surprises. Those of you who know renaissance festivals know that Sundays can be a little slow, what with the patrons who first attend church and then come. I expected nothing less out of Santa Fe, it being a relatively Catholic area. But it seemed like no sooner had we opened the gates than people began swarming inside. I stood at the front gate welcoming people till almost 1:30 in the afternoon—and a good chunk of that time was spent with 2 solid lines of people going from the gate to the first row of cars in the parking lot. The three Romanceteers did not make an appearance that day, but were replaced by the infamous Captain Dungeon Spleen, Captain Jack Sparrow, and another reincarnation of Don Diego. That being said, there was plenty of witty pirate banter to be had at the front gate, including my claiming a large boulder for France (though it was difficult to find a French flag to raise!). There was a massive number of children in attendance—I ran out of my pirate treasure by noon. I gave it out to the kids who were old enough not to eat the marbles and warned them that if the dragon inside tried to eat them (he liked the bite-sized ones, after all), they could try to give him the jewels—he liked small people, but he liked treasure even more. Watching the looks on some of these princess and princes’ faces was priceless—“What! Mom, you didn’t say there was going to be a dragon!”

The pirate crew headed back to the costume contest later that afternoon for a bit of mischief. In a skit we had previously worked out with the Queen, all the pirates we could find rushed the stage while Don Diego was being judged, and we “commandeered” the contest. Captain Jack got us into a little bit of trouble, and in the end the Queen ordered the guard to seize us. The pikemen came onto the stage and hauled us off to arrest us. We returned not long after (lucky we managed to break out of prison) to provide a little entertainment while the judges tabulated scores. That day, our two Nobles from Colorado took places: Lord Mark took second place in the men’s category and Lady Natalie, looking stunning in maroon, took first in the women’s category. One of our pirate friends, Erik Zerkel, took first in the men’s category, looking utterly foppish in French 16th century garb. He had done just as well the day before in standard pirate gear, but had not won.

After the costume contest, the volunteer coordinator, Dara, came over to all of us from Colorado and thanked us profusely for coming to the faire and participating and helping out so much. She was so grateful that we were there. Apparently she had gotten a lot of positive feedback about those of us who had been at the gate all morning welcoming people. It certainly welcomed the people and got them in a good mood before they came inside and gave them a little taste of what was to come. She said that the faire had welcomed about 4,600 people—how incredible! If I remember correctly, she said that they only needed 1,500 to break even (because of all the funding and gifts they had gotten), and 3,000 to ensure a repeat of the festival next year. We couldn’t believe how many people had come. What a fabulous turn-out for the first ever weekend. This is especially awesome because all the proceeds that came from the faire went to Open Hands, so that’s great news for them. I was so incredibly proud to have been involved with the making of history there. And I had a blast, too. The weather had been fabulous, the people were great, Santa Fe is really charming, and it was so fun to bring Zoë out to play for the first time. I had never really brought her out at CRF this year. I got so many compliments on my garb (especially the hat, go figure) and people really seemed to enjoy her ridiculous accent and personality. One of the friars even came up to me at the gate and asked if I was really French! (which, I suppose, is a loaded question.)

And obviously, there was a bit of room for improvement. There could have been more vendors (there was certainly space for them), and there could have been more food (especially “ren” food), though the prices they offered were excellent–$1 for a bottle of water or a can of soda, among other nicely-priced options. And I think it would have been great if the SCA had joined in the fun and been a little more visible. They were there, down on the jousting field, and had set up a little tent village of their own—but they rarely came up into the villa. They hosted the joust and the live steel combat shows, though declined to move up to the villa because it didn’t match the period they portray. At one point on Sunday, a woman wearing an exquisite Tudor-style hunting gown walked through the gate. Captain Spleen and I asked her if she would be entering the costume contest later that day. She gave us a look that suggested we might have been out of our minds, and said, “Oh no. I’m in the SCA.” But, in any case, the weekend was a beautiful opening and a grand success for both Open Hands and Rancho de las Golondrinas—and a perfect way to find out what they could do better next year.

I, for one, cannot wait.

– Stephanie Zayatz
– http://www.myspace.com/zoecaptain

Here are some links you might want to check out:
Open Hands:
http://www.openhands.org/main.htm

El Rancho de las Golondrinas:
http://www.golondrinas.org/

The Santa Fe Renaissance Festival:
http://www.pet-flash.com/sfrenfair/

Julien McRoberts Photography:
http://event.digitaleventsonline.com/gallery/?cat=0 – Stephanie’s picture used by permission. Thank You, Mr McRoberts.

September 26th, 2008 Posted by Stephanie Zayatz | Proclamations | 8 comments