Spirits High and Worries Low
Opening Weekend of the Oregon Renaissance Faire
Canby, Ore. — The gravel road leading up to the entrance was muddy. With the sky overcast and a storm approaching, it was going to be a damp and miserable day. That all changed with a large “huzzah” and cheering from afar; spirits were high at the Oregon Renaissance Faire.
In the northwestern end of Oregon's Clackamas County, Oregon's second annual renaissance faire started off strong. Merchants lined the streets with shops, selling everything from knives made out of carbon railroad spikes to handmade tunics and swords. Merchants and patrons alike wore suits of iron and leather and greeted each other with “Well met, sir!” and “Good day, sir.”
“The second you walk into the fair, it’s like a big community that you can relate to and have fun with,” said Randall Daniels, the booth manager at Her Majesty’s Favours, the official souvenir booth for the faire, which sells official mugs, shirts and coasters. “My favorite part of running this shop is interacting with all the patrons. You get the idea that you can harass and have fun with them.”
Daniels has been coming to renaissance fairs for about 12 years. He’s always had an interest in the fantasy realm and got into doing fairs when his stepbrother said “let’s go.” It is is his second year working at the Oregon Faire.
The Oregon Renaissance Faire, which is run by the Washington Renaissance And Education Society, is one of 58 fairs in the United States. Renaissance fairs are popular across the country and they usually represent England under Elizabethan Rule in the late 14th century. The first fair was held in 1966 in Aguora, California; from there, they spread.
“The Oregon fair opened two years ago when we realized how many Oregonians were going up to the Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire in Bonney Lake,” said Shana Casey, the marketing director for the organization.
“The best part about this fair is how awesome the Oregonians are about this fair,” Casey said. “The patrons here are our favorite part.”
Not only are the attendees local Oregonians, most of the merchants and shops are as well, Casey said.
“Ninety percent of this fair is local,” she said. “All the food and breweries are local and they go to fairs all up and down the West Coast.” Also, 95 percent of the people running this fair are volunteers, Casey said.
The fair had many more attractions outside the official souvenirs booth. Attendees were able to shop for swords, tunics, leather, yarn and spool. One of the shops, the “Horse’n Round,” sold yarn, drop spindles and fibers for quilting. It was run by Kathy and Allan Kemp.
“This is our first year at this fair,” Kathy Kemp said. “In general though, we have been a merchant at fairs for ten years.”
The Kemps have been going to fairs for much longer, however. “I’ve been going to fairs since I was 8 years old,” Kathy Kemp said. “As an adult, I was really interested in doing stunt work, then I found the Seattle Knights. From that I got into horses and armor,” Kathy Kemp said.
The Seattle Knights are a Pacific Northwest based sword fighting and jousting theatrical troupe whose participants are hold many different jobs.
Allan Kemp started acting with the Seattle Knights in 2000. Before that, he was in a group that did English Civil War reenactments in Ontario.
“After I moved down to Oregon for work, I found a reenactment group down here,” Allan Kemp said. “One of the organizers pointed me out and said ‘you would make a good mercenary!’ and I surprised them by saying ‘yes’”
Kathy and Allan Kemp go to about five fairs a year as merchants, they said. As their studio is based in Buckley, Washington, the Oregon fair is the farthest distance they travel for their trade.
“The fairs we go to as vendors are the fairs that we like the most, not necessarily the ones we will make a lot of money at,” Allan Kemp said. “I have a full time job outside of this, I don’t want my hobby to be miserable.”
Hobbies can vary from person to person, and so can the stories about getting into doing renaissance fairs. Most people have an interest in fantasy based novels and movies. But for Gilbert “Shadow” Durand, it’s a story about a lost love.
“I asked the love of my life to marry me and she said ‘no,’ so I ran away to the fair,” Durand said. “I was at my first fair in 1995, as a vendor. I’ve never been to a fair I’m not working at.”
This is Durand’s first year working for Sun Leather, a custom made and fitted leather shop and Durand’s first year at the Oregon Faire.
“I’m here helping a dear friend during a rough time in his life,” Durand said. “He’s a craftsman, he’s always been a craftsman, and he’s an outstanding human being. If he couldn’t fund his living with his craft that would be a shame.”
Durand hasn’t always sold leather at fairs, however. He used to sell old tomatoes for people to throw at the legendary heckler, Smiley Rodgers. Heckling at fairs is very common; people heckle each other back and forth throughout the fair.
“I would go around to markets and get all the tomatoes they couldn’t sell,” Durand said. “My whole job was convincing people that they needed to throw that tomato.”
Durand said he thoroughly enjoys the company at the fairs and the people he meets there.
“You find the most interesting people of intellect, talent and care that are genuinely engaged in being a true human being,” Durand said. “Fair is not life and life is not fair, but it sure is fun!”
“Fair is not life and life is not fair, but it sure is fun!”
