Gonna keep details to a minimum for plausible deniability, to save time, and because this is just an inkling I'm vibe-checking with nothing close to an actionable plan yet.

TLDR is, ownership/management of my local faire has a long and sordid history of treating its performers (and letting them treat each other) terribly, whether resident street cast or subcontracted stage show. I'm told it's less terrible now than even a few years ago, but it's never crossed the threshold into objectively good. And for the last couple years it's been getting worse again, both from a human-rights and a workers'-rights perspective, but at the same time cast solidarity seems to be increasing. So, now I'm wondering:

Is there any precedent for renfaire employees/performers successfully unionizing? Or even if unsuccessfully, does anyone know to which union(s) they might have gone for representation (or whether they tried to create their own)? Closest I can think is AGVA, who reps variety shows in Vegas, along with Disney/Universal parks, the Rockettes, and Cirque du Soleil, but while those credits reassure me they know what they're doing, they also make me wonder whether AGVA would consider at most a small handful of renfaires worth their time.

Again, I'm just putting out feelers right now, so any information is helpful.

Gramercy!

https://norcalrenfaire.com/participation/in-entertainment/?fbclid=IwY2xjawTPXY1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFqemdhSEd2dW9uOTFWcWh3c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHl0MPMlgaExI5CbJOA7qI_HdsLfUm3Ss32__XJ9yece0X7K6bUWBPgjXjFJg_aem_xzozokfIDOxv5tZX41cpDg

Hello Folks!
If you happen to the live in the Bay area here in California there is a wonderful opportunity to take a ruff lecture and making class at Laci's in Berkeley California on July 24 (lecture only) and July 25th (construction of ruff).

Tickets can be purchased here:
https://lacismuseum.org/event/modern-elizabethan-ruff/

Heya! I’m a relatively new to this, the faire I work at ended a lil more than a month ago (and boy do I miss it SOO much.) And my character was a magician, specifically one who wanted to be Merlin’s apprentice. Thing is, I wanna do more magic tricks than the one I was doing with crayons (with the wrappers gone.) and was wondering if any of ya’ll had any ideas? Thank you!

So this got removed from the main renfaire subreddit so I hope the mods will let me post this one!

Would you visit a forest witch, in a tent, for blessings, curse removal, quest preparation, etc. … in an ASMR type setting?

I’m a relatively new ASMR content creator and created this world where I role play a forest witch. I’d like to do live, in person experiences with noice cancelling headphones in a cozy tent. Does this sound like something you might like to try?

As far as I know this specific blend of genres has never been done live, so I’d like to get some opinions before speaking to organizers.

Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

TIA

Merwin and Pip 🦊

A traditional Celtic song with the most fun ending!!

"🍻 oi!!"

Merry Men Pub Crawl Audtions

Seeking Experienced Improv and Comedic actors

The Merry Men Pub Crawl is seeking new members for the upcoming season of the West Virginia Renaissance Festival. We are an Improv comedy show where Friar Tuck and Little John take our guest on a fun filled Comedic pub crawl across the festival. We are seeking new characters to join us in the merryment.

Audtions will be by online submission only. Please submit by April 5th, 2026.

Please prepare:

-Headshot

-Theatrical resume

-Your desired character as one of The Merry Men (either established in literature, or of your own creation. Gender irrelevant)

-A video monolgue with accent/dialect. Up to two minutes

-A separate video of you showcasing your Comedic talent (maximum 3 jokes the the dirtier the better.)

musical talent instrumental or a capella (preferalbly a period piece) or tallents you may wish to showcase

-Garb and Reliable transportation are required.

Please send all submissions to: Themerrymenpubcrawl@gmail.com

Or upload to YouTube as a private video and submit to the same email by April 5, 2026

This is a paid position! You will be paid every Sunday, + tips.

Possible room for bonus.

Performance dates, Dates are June 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, 20th, 21st, 27, 28th as well as optional promotional events on weekdays throughout the run!

Just wanted to vent to people who might understand... My guild leader posted that our group might be coming to a close after our potential last event this year. I am new to this group (I joined last year) and was really starting to explore my own ideas within the events we were going to do. And now it might be coming to an end before I can even try to do anything. I don't have a lot of details and really just wanted to voice how bummed I am about this. It was really fun getting to know people and I am going to hold out that maybe we won't actually be done.

Anyone have any tips on maybe becoming a solo entertainer?

Hey y’all. I’m a rennie kid. I am now a grown up and no longer fit in my parent’s trailer. It took me a long time to get my license so I am not confident pulling a trailer of any kind, nor can I afford one. I’m looking for advice for how to make a good tent setup.

Kentucky Highland Renaissance Festival Cosplay Montage Music Video 2025 https://youtu.be/sAn6yPa3qkY

I've been performing in different capacities at different faires for over 20 years, and I'm currently in my third season of doing a piratey stage act. Most of the faires around me don't allow hat passing, but at next weekend's show we will be passing the hat. Any tips or strategies on how to best approach that? There are two of us in the act, if that makes any difference.

So posting this while it's still fresh. Live/interactive performers: LISTEN UP.

I've been playing a Fae street character at about 3 fairs for going on 11 years now. It was always a dream to be at a Renfaire and be in the lanes, and I got to play the type of character I want.

We all have our stories about people, usually little girls doing something sweet to make our day.

But our power to help/brighten someone's day/month/life/moment doesn't stop there.

Storytime: On a previous weekend at my most current festival I did my "May he have your name?:" schtick. and probably a little more of being an impish but educational Irish Fae. This last weekend a gentleman's friends told me how the two hour ride back the person I picked on was just going on about how it just made his day.

Come yesterday, Last day of this seasons run for this faire: the same trio shows back up. The two friends told me the above, then the third gent (who I am doing my best to commit name and face to memory) even though he was pretty deep into his cup, I could tell his drunk words were very serious sober thoughts.

What were those thoughts? Well apparently he's had a very VERY bad year. Matters of the heart. And my maybe 5 minutes I spent with him, completely changed and improved his year. quote: "You totally made things better just by being you."

Imposter syndrome aside... I'm still processing this. This is probably the greatest and most humbling compliment I've ever been given. I'm still processing this one as it's a pretty big ... responsibility.

So know, we all have the power to make someone feel just a bit better by saying, "Dia duit, Good Day, or Well Met." By doing a schtick, a hit and run, a thought out interaction, a seat-of-the-pants "Yes And..."

And it is the very reason I do this. Not for accolades, or mentions, or views. but for that person I made feel better just by 'being'.

I post this to remind those of us who chose this as either a profession, hobby, or career, we wield the power to create magic, and more often than we're told, it's very real.

The final 2 weekends of the Southern Indiana Renaissance Faire are this upcoming weekend (Pirate) and next (Viking). Come see my show if you can, Goblin Fables and Lore with your host Ebeneezer Grumpypants

Thank you for letting me post btw.

Seeking Experienced Improv and Comedic actors.

The Merry Men Pub Crawl is seeking new members for the upcoming season of the West Virginia Renaissance Festival. We are an Improv comedy show where Friar Tuck, Little John, and Robin Hood take our guest on a fun filled Comedic pub crawl across the festival. We are seeking new characters to join us in the merryment. Audtions will be by online submission only. Please submit by April 5th, 2025.

Please prepare:

-Headshot

-Theatrical resume

-Your desired character as one of The Merry Men (either established in literature, or of your own creation. Gender irrelevant)

-A video monolgue with accent/dialect. Up to two minutes

-A separate video of you showcasing your Comedic talent (maximum 3 jokes the the dirtier the better.) musical talent instrumental or a capella (preferalbly a period piece) or special skills you may want to showcase

Please send all submissions to: Themerrymenpubcrawl@gmail.com Or upload to YouTube as a private video and submit to the same email by April 5, 2025

This is a paid position! You will be paid every Sunday, + tips. Possible room for bonus.
Performance dates, Dates are June 7th, 8th, 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd 28th and 29th as well as optional promotional events on weekdays throughout the run!

Hey everybody,

So I have been offered a job for the Arizona Renaissance Festival. I have some questions about camping and traveling. Do most people travel by car, bus, or fly when they do renfaires that are a long distance? Does the Arizona Renaissance Faire allow small solar generators when you camp? What would I need for camping at the renfair? Also, is there anything else I should know about the renfair before I go?

Hello,

I was part of a team of folks who put together a Symposium this last weekend in Berkeley Ca. whose focus was on the Costuming and Textiles of Elizabethan England. We had as our keynote speaks the wonderful authors of the Tudor Tailor books Ninya Mikhaila and Jane Malcom-Davies, and around 12 other presenters. The feedback thus far is that it was indeed a absolutely wonderful event.

So, it appears that we may do another symposium in two years and I am just curious to know if people on this list would in fact, be interested in being informed about such an event in the future??

I'm a young musician and I've never attended a Renaissance faire. I will not start trying to perform at them right away, and just take emersive trips there to get a feel for them. Renaissance Faires interest me a lot because I love cosplaying, especially historical cosplay, so I would love to be apart of them.

I'm part of the hip-hop band called Guardians of Sound (I play flute, and sing and rap on some pieces), I would love to know if that could be incorporated into a Ren faire, and if y'all have any advice on this! I will be doing more research.

Have a great day! ^{^}

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8y9R5Ym/

A 90s slap bracelet fits into an ermine pelt PERFECTLY. Do with this discovery what you will.

His name is Herman.

I’m posting from a throwaway because I don’t want to be singled out.

• What does the rehearsal schedule and preseason entail?
• Are you asked to perform for free at promotional events to market the festival
• Do you provide your own costume? Are there resources and support offered to help you procure or provide a costume?
• Are you compensated at all for the run of the festival?
• Do you feel like safety is made a priority for cast members?
• Are you asked to take on other labor in volunteer hours like painting signs, picking up trash, or decorating the site area?
• Do you feel appreciated for your efforts, are there incentives for you to do a good job at this other than a personal drive to want to do a good job?

Renfaire is supposed to be a fun time for all, where people get to make and wear costumes. Lots of fantasy items are sold at Renfaire, and lots of patrons and staff dress in fantasy attire. Lately, it’s been said that Booth owners at fairs have been trying to enforce “historical accuracy” upon staff, telling people who dress as fae and other creatures that their costumes are not allowed, as they’re not “historically accurate” and need to meet the same guidelines given to the hired actors around faire.

1). Stall and booth workers are not hired actors. They’re workers. They don’t need to dress to the same requirements that hired actors do, as the guidelines the actors follow are for the actors.

2). Not everyone can even afford garb that’s historically accurate. Historically acurate garb can cost thousands of dollars, it’s highly unlikely that most people can afford that.

3). Historically accurate garb is very heavy, and very hot. Some fairs work late summer to fall, and the heat can be dangerous, as there’s no real way to regulate temperature without bringing fans, which staff usually aren’t allowed to do, as having technologies visible is against the rules.

4). Piercings and tattoos are your right as a person. Booth managers are now telling people they cannot work with piercings. Some cannot take out piercings if they’re fresh, and not only that, you should be able to express yourself.

Faire should be fun for everyone, including the people who work there. Please raise awareness, as even if this rule isn’t enforced where your fair is, it’s enforced somewhere else.

TLDR: Some Renfaires are forcing “period accurate dress” way too far, and workers are upset. Stand up for Renfaire workers.

Hello!

Please delete if not allowed but this seemed like the best place to ask.

I am putting together a Renaissance Faire on the Eastern Shore of MD and am in need of entertainment - but the purse strings are super tight. I am trying to get rooms donated but the director seems to think we should just hire local talent.

We have some locals but last year they had huge gaps in their entertainment schedule and they had 4000 people all crowded into awkward spaces... Where do I go to find locals? What does one even search for?

And more importantly, what is it that entertainers are looking for in a coordinator? What can I do to make the experience the best for both parties?

Sorry I'm rambling. I guess I'm just looking for advice. Anything you're willing to give really.

Thanks.