With lords and ladies, jousts, and giant turkey legs, the professionals who manage Renaissance fairs across the country practice their trade in a 16th-century setting, but the logistics will sound familiar to anyone producing events in the modern age, as well.
Pick themes with universal appeal. “We do a lot of theatrical acting, and our audience identifies very strongly with our dramas,” says Carolyn Spedden, artistic director for the Maryland Renaissance Festival. “This year we’re doing King Henry VII ’s midlife crisis, when he marries the teenage Anne Boleyn and then she gets beheaded. What makes it resonate so strongly is the idea of a love triangle, with Henry’s older wife Catherine on the outs. Even people who don’t know anything about history know about the idea of an ‘other woman.’ When [Anne] is escorted out for her beheading, women in the audience will scream and yell things at her. They really get drawn into the story.”
Add diversionary tactics to contingency plans. “I work with a professional stunt troupe for the jousting show we do three times a day,” says Jeffrey Siegel, producer of the Arizona Renaissance Festival. “Sometimes they get hurt. They might get cut with a sword, twist an ankle while sparring, or fall off their horse. When this happens, our actors are trained to form a gauntlet between the injured stuntman and the audience. They perform and distract the audience so they don’t notice the EMTs are there with a stretcher behind the actors.”
Let guests express themselves. “One-third to half of our guests do come in costumes,” says Andrew Elkin, general manager of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in California. “Most dress in Renaissance garb, but we also have people come as barbarians, in full-on fur with makeup blood, or Vikings. I’ve seen some really funny stuff. Recently, I was watching these two people in cloaks. It was warm out, but they were all covered up. When they moved a little, I got a glimpse and could see they were wearing Star Trek uniforms underneath. I figure, hey, whatever makes them happy. As long as it’s in good taste, it’s fine with us.”
Embrace your limitations—they could give you exposure. “The weather impacts the festival very much. We are an outdoor event, and a lot of the special events are one weekend only, rain or shine,” says Sarah Petermann, director of sales and marketing for the Georgia Renaissance Festival. “As a result, one of our new ad buys is on the Weather Channel. We run ads Wednesday through Saturday during morning drive-time, when people are planning what they’re going to do on the weekend.”
When it comes to themes, follow the spirit, not the letter of the law. “I look at our audience and kind of let them decide what they want. We admit we play fast and loose with history. Basically anything goes, from the Ice Age to when Elvis joined the Army,” says Jeffrey Baldwin, director of entertainment and marketing for the Texas Renaissance Festival. “We have a very strong German culture, so our first weekend is Oktoberfest. We also run a fantasy weekend and a pirate weekend. I’d been seeing all these guests dressed as barbarians, so we had our first ‘Barbarian Invasion’ last year, complete with turkey-leg-eating contests and a worst-dressed show. This year we’re having a biker weekend with a tie-in to a motorcycle ride. Is it a marketing ploy? Absolutely, but it gives our audience a chance to come back in different costumes each week, which they love.”
Appeal to a variety of tastes if your audience is diverse. “Not all Renaissance festivals are geared toward a family audience, but this particular one is,” says Susan Scot Fry, entertainment director of the Bristol Renaissance Faire in Wisconsin. “We have a good offering of entertainment and activities for kids of varying ages. That’s not to say we’re G-rated, but we label pretty clearly when you’re getting into more adult-oriented material.”
Put your own spin on current events. “We do kind of play on stuff that’s going on in current times,” Elkin says. “In lieu of just introducing a new mayor this year, we decided to hold an election. We have four candidates, each with a very different background, story line, and scandals, and guests get to cast ballots. The candidates go out in the streets and interact with customers, hang post ers, and pass out leaflets. The customers are really enjoying it because it’s coming strictly from a parody sort of sense.”
Play off pop culture. “This year we’re running two themes, King Henry VII and pirates, Petermann says. “The Pirates of the Caribbean movies have had a lot of influence on the popularity of the pirate theme. We even have a pirate costume contest for guests, and it seems like every festival has a Captain Jack Sparrow lookalike as part of their cast. It’s definitely not a coincidence.”
