VARF - Weekend 1

Although Saturday's gate count was just over 500 folks, every one of them had an incredible time at The Virginia Renaissance Festival. The new vendors were awesome and some of the more seasoned vendors had permanent buildings!! The place is growing in leaps and bounds and if you need to get your faire-on, this is the event to start with.

Saturday saw some personal ups and downs (literally ups and downs). Up because folks like Mike & Joanne, Blair and April, showed up to hang with me for a bit in the new version of the Pyrates Way/Faire Magazine tent (when it was up). Then came a huge gust of wind and pulled the whole thing down. . . . so I had to set it up as version #2 which held up the rest of the day. Then the big winds and über-rain started and I took the tent down myself during the night . . . . put it all away as the rains got worse in the a.m. and bugged out before the show opened. VARF also experienced some wind/rain damage, including a corner of the pub tent collapsing (repairs were underway when I left).

I STILL had a blast and can't wait to get back down there this coming weekend as all the McCrack family show up to party. I'm going down there early on Friday to set up tent version #3 (de-bugging and redesign has been underway since 6 a.m.).

Go to : www.varf.org for more information on the festival and then GO!

Where's my Winter Faire Magazine and my Autumn AND Winter Pyrates Way magazines?

Advertisers.

It's their cash that pays for the printing and mailing. Without them we can have everything ready to go to press and the magazine comes to a screeching halt. The economy has hit potential advertisers hard but a lot of them don't realize that not-advertising will only make it worse.

Thus, we're still offering a quarter-page, full color ad for only $150 (less than the set up fee of a lot of pirate festivals), with the potential to reach thousands (since our magazine has been picked up by Amazon.com and we're on the shelves right next to our competition who charge hundreds more for the same size ad).

So if you want your issues asap. . . go nag at your buddy the leatherworker or your sister who makes jewelry or the guy at faire that you spend a few hundred with over the faire season.

Have them email me at: sirblackfox@fairemagazine.com or publisher@pyratesway.com

Thank you all!

Realms of Fantasy closing - Economy kills a magazine

It seems one of our sister publications is passing on. Realms of Fantasy's last issue will be the April issue, this after almost going 100 issues strong. The magazine was chock-filled with art, articles, and fiction that gave many writers and artists their first chance at paid publication.

Apparently, according to the article at SFScope, the same reasons we're struggling lead to the closing of Realms of Fantasy:

"The reasons she was given for the closure were plummeting newsstand sales. "Subscriptions are good, and advertising, until very recently, was fine." She blamed the economic downturn and newsstand distribution for the closure."

The original story with links is at: http://sfscope.com/2009/01/realms-of-fantasy-closing.html

The Best Engagement Ever: 2003

Whoo HOOOOOO. . . Amazon is on board for ALL PYRATES WAY ISSUES!

We're thrilled that Amazon.com has picked up ALL the issues of The Pyrates Way!

http://www.amazon.com/shops/blackfoxdesigns

Same Distributor, Same Shelves!

Don't let any other pirates magazine tell you that they're the only ones at these stores. Using the very same distributor, we're on the shelves right next to them!

Need proof? check out the "P" publications at Ingram Periodicals - the SAME distributor!

Bookstores & Distributors Respond

Since I posted last, I've gotten a few emails from bookstores who I contacted and just happened to check out our blog. They were delighted to see that I am conjolling folks to buy from the smaller outlets.

We've had three independent bookstores added to our distribution lists for both magazines.

So get out there and buy from your local "mom & pop" shops. . . you'll be rewarded greatly in kharma alone!

Failing Bookstores/Magazine Retailers/Distributors of Independents

So I've been researching new venues to market both Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way and I found a few online lists of solid places to push the magazines. Sadly, many of them on one list (created in 2006), have had to close. These small shops, both small, family-run distributors and bookstores, saw such decline in their sales and such a rise in the cost of running their businesses, that they had to close their doors.

Many of them were business that had been around since the late 1950s, when magazines had started their heyday. Run by their children or grandchildren, it must be awful to see the family business get squeezed dry by the likes of Walmart, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.com.

But even those giants of magazine retail are getting squeezed.

When I'm on the road, I often pop into a Barnes & Noble or Borders to see if either our magazines or the competition are on the shelves. Sometimes we're there, sometimes the competition is there, or sometimes both are present. . . but one thing is for sure, the magazine racks have slimmed down A LOT.

What used to be six rows of back-to-back magazine racks are now narrowed to three sets. Of course the major magazines of general interest will always be there, but the independent folks who cater to a smaller crowd are disappearing at an alarming rate.

So here's a note to you magazine-buyers and lovers of our hobbies. . . . buy your books and magazines at a small shop. . . give your money to those who are probably as much into your hobby as you are . . . is saving a $1 on a copy of a magazine more important than helping one of yer mates? (sorry, broke into pirate-talk just then)

Spread the word. . . . help the little guy for a change.

Top Ten Reasons To Advertise In Faire Magazine or The Pyrates Way Magazine

10. Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way Targets Your Audience. At present there is no large format magazine that is targeted at the pirate enthusiast and only one other targets the Renaissance folks. . .and that's a history magazine. . .not one targeted at faire folk.
According to our own research,* it is estimated that there are over 45,000 pirate enthusiasts in the United States and possibly double that number worldwide not to mention over 6 million people hit Renaissance Faires each year. Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way are the only full-color magazines to attract this audience.

9. Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way Attracts Consumers. On average, the new Renaissance or pirate enthusiast spends more than $2,000** to get started in the hobby.
Most Renaissance pirate enthusiasts can never gather enough accessories or media (books, dvds, etc...) and continue to purchase throughout their
lifetime. As the successful subscription rate of both Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way have proven, pirate and Renaissance enthusiasts are always on the hunt for more "booty."
Some of our other passionate consumers come from mature enthusiasts outside of the Renaissance, medieval, gothic or pyracy including those into alternate lifestyles,
motorcycling, leatherworks, and swordplay.

8. Effective Advertising. We've found that the most creative advertising images are as interesting to our readers as some of the work presented in the magazines. Ads that feature attractive people in garb or a clean and creative use of maritime or medieval props make for very successful marketing. Having the image that represents your business presented in the high-quality printing and paper of both Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way continues to support your own high standards.

7. Online Advertising at no charge. With every advertisement you place within the pages of Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way, a duplicate will appear at
Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way.com(s) at no additional charge. We will also create a link from the ad's image to your own website in order to more than double your ad's viewer power. In addition to those features and also at no charge, we will add your website listing to our Lynks pages! Our web pages are designed for the highest success of Google listing. We are also partners with Google, Yahoo, and several public directories for both advertising and product listings. We also offer our subscribers and readers a bulletin board to discuss the magazines, wherein a special board for advertisers is present so that advertisers can share their experiences and gather the most recent Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way ad offers and updates.

6. Advertising Placement Success. On a "First-come, First-served***" basis, we place your advertisement near articles, features, and columns that relate to your product! With the exception of advertisements used on the inside and back covers, there are never any extra charges for ad placement. Have a specific page that you always want your ad to appear? Just let us know and if it's available, it's yours!

5. Additional Feature Article/Review Advertising. Should your product be unique enough to catch our publisher's eye, a feature article complete with photographs might be in your marketing future. Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way are always looking for unique story ideas that make for incredible photographs and images. Let our publisher know to place your product on our review list. There are reviews in every issue of Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way and a special section of each magazine is dedicated to unique, new pyrate items. Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way constantly offers you many ways to get your business in front of the eyes of your target audience.

4. Advertising Rate Savings. We've done a LOT of research into the advertising rates of similar magazines. Advertising with Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way will save you on average, over 30% of our competitors, (in some cases, the savings is almost 50%).

3. Advertising Longevity. Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way are much more than periodicals. Because of our untimely articles, features and columns,
our creative edge never goes out of style. Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way are not just read but used for research as well as being a most sought-after collector's item. The time, quality and beauty of both Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way keep our audience re-reading the issues and because the magazines are priced to anyone's budget, a lot of enthusiasts buy two of each issue. One to keep in its pristine shape and the other becomes
dog-eared and worn from being read over and over and being traded back and forth between friends.

2. Global Advertising. Our circulation boasts an international interest and as that interest grows, so will the availability of Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way. We've seen similar independent specialty magazines become worldwide favorites and with our free internet advertising with your printed ad, you'll find yourself reaching the worldwide marketplace as well. Our intent at inception is to build an interest in enthusiasts globally. Even if the world cannot come together in other areas, there will be an opportunity for all of our brethren to gather in one set of magazines to meet and trade goods.

1. Top Reason to Advertise with Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way? We've got your back, mate. Other advertising outlets charge an extra fee for such special placement and online ads. Other similar magazines charge up to 50% more for the same ads! Bottom line is that Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way understands that your success is our success . . so we want to give you every way to be successful in advertising with us. If there are other ways you'd like to advertise in Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way, please don't hesitate to let us know!

Repetitive Advertising Part 2

Credibility: Although when you think of credibility the first thing that comes to mind is not repetitive advertising, repetition in your advertisements can really enhance your credibility. Have you ever noticed that when someone wants you to believe that something is true they use someone well known or respected? If it is a child trying to convince another child or something they may say, “Well Mom told me that, so it is true.” Mom has gained her credibility with that child. One of your goals through advertising should be to establish your credibility through repetition. Did Mom get her credibility because she went to Harvard? Maybe, but more likely it is because she is there, she tells the child this or that on a regular basis, and they see and hear her over and over. The same is true for your advertisements. When a potential customer sees and hears you and your brand over and over, and on a regular basis, you begin to establish credibility with them. Then when they purchase your product, and it is what you said in your repetition advertisement, then you cement your credibility in.

Brand Familiarity: This is much the same as credibility. However, the importance of repetition in advertising is familiarizing people with your products. Repeating is a common way of teaching so that the pupil learns. When you repeat in your ads, the pupil (potential customer) learns. What do they learn? They learn first that you exist. Then after several more exposure, what you have to offer, then after several more exposures, why what you have to offer is better than the competitor. The more someone sees your brand (because of repetition), the more familiar they become with it, and the more likely they are to take notice at the store, or online, or whatever, and buy it.

First Thought: If you offer a product or service you want people to want you. You are striving to become the first thought they have when a need your product or service can fulfill arises. For example, if you provide legal services for divorce, then you want to be the first attorney a couple looking to get divorced goes to. How do you do that? By establishing your credibility and making potential consumers familiar with you (your brand). If you sell garbage bags, you want your name brand to be the first thought that comes to the head of whomever empties the can. So, use repetition, and you will find that you become the first thought, and your sales increase.

Sales start before the person is at the store looking at the product. Look at this little paragraph, it perfectly illustrates the importance of repetition in advertising:

• I don’t know who you are.


• I don’t know your company.


• I don’t know your company’s product.


• I don’t know what your company stands for.


• I don’t know your company’s customers.


• I don’t know your company’s record.


• I don’t know your company’s reputation.


• Now – what was it you wanted to sell me?

Repetition is fundamental to the success of any advertising program. The marketplace proves out this fact, as does scientific research. Science has shown through studies that a person must see your product NINE times before they will feel apathy toward it and be inclined to buy it.

So, get people to buy your stuff. Recognize the importance of repetition in advertising. If you're selling to the Renaissance/Pirate/Medieval/Gothic enthusiast then your very best option is to use The Pyrates Way magazine and Faire Magazine to get the message out. . . over and over . . . to your customers.

Repetition in Advertising Part 1

Although you might have a ton of avenues to market your product (newspapers, email, newletters, billboards, flyers), a successful business owner finds out what works best . . . and sticks to it. Especially in this time of economic hardship, one has to be careful that your company is getting the biggest bang for its buck. In marketing class we called this "Return on Investment." Both Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way magazine give you the opportunity to gain a lot for just a little if you're a Renaissance/Gothic/Medieval/Pirate vendor.

It's at this point a lot of businesses expect a gain in sales after running just one or two ads. I've had clients say "we ran an ad in your magazine and didn't sell anything. Nobody even mentioned seeing the ad."

Let's take the latter part first as it's the easiest to dismiss. When's the last time you told a vendor that you saw the product in "such-n-such" without them prompting the response? People have short memories and have come to purchase an item, not take a test on where they heard about you. Don't expect a mention. . . it's not going to happen. If it does, don't congratulate us. . . we know the magazines are being read . . . rather give yourself a pat on the back for producing an advertisement that made people want to buy. . . good for you!

As for instant sales from an ad. . . . forget about it! Advertising is super important as it is the force behind the sales. BUT it doesn't return that investment quickly. . . ever. Advertising works because it provides solution to a need someone has or didn't even know they had until they saw your ad (if its effective).

They might see it once and respond or it might take 4-8 images to get your product and your message stuck in their heads. If you repeat your branding over and over, people start to file it away in their heads. Repetition establishes your credibility, brand familiarity, and eventually becomes the first thought when a need for your product or service arises.

The customer can't remember you if they don't see you over and over!

We'll get a little deeper into the idea of repetition in advertising tomorrow.

Stimpzilla's Sumptuary Law: Always Dress Above Your Station

Some Information Concering Sumptuary Laws:

In the Renaissance everyone had their place, and there were laws to enforce this. One of these laws was called the Sumptuary Law. This enforced among other things, what you could or could not wear. The Sumptuary Laws made which class you were a member of obvious by your clothing, clearly defining which class you were. Be you peasant, middle, or nobility, a quick glance by someone, would reveal just what your status in life was. Further, it would give clues as to which ranking within each of those you would be.



The reasons are varied for these laws. One of them already made obvious here is class distinction. There were also some moral and religious issues concerning dress, which involved the more conservative people and religious to regard too much finery as a bad thing, potentially leading one down the path of evil. Others were economic, as they attempted to keep people buying fabrics and trims within the local industry. In the case of England they promoted examples such as wools and linens. Additional economic issues included the fact that clothing was rather expensive, many imported fabrics such as silk brocades were quite costly. This money spent on luxurious clothing could be put back into the economy for more useful possessions such as horses.



Sumptuary Laws in England have been recorded as early at the 1300's. In 1510 during Henry VIII's reign they were re-written in great detail and further amended as the years went by. While there were no real "clothing police" there was some enforcement at the levels of society. There is always the story of two the young women vying for the attentions of the same handsome man. One woman having a nicer ribbon than the other, so why not turn her in? Since the poor lass had no money, a day or three in the stocks, would cause quite a stir.





In order to vie for attention many spent a year's income on their clothing. The quest to look fashionable and wear status symbols is not new to our modern society. Punishment for disregarding these laws was typically a monetary fine, or luxury tax. So it was possible to buy your way into a more stylish look. Naturally that made you clothing cost even more, but it also got you noticed, and could help improve your status in life. Certainly if you were a merchant you would want to appear to be prosperous.



Within the elite world of courtiers, those wishing to gain further power, money and favor the laws were still in effect but were enforced at the whim of the King or Queen. Elizabeth I kept a journal of those who dared to defy upon the Sumptuary Laws and collected fines from those who fell out of her favor. However if you wanted to get anywhere at court disregarding those laws was not a bad thing. People noticed you, and just as today you wanted to look good walking down the proverbial "red carpet" for important events. You would marry better, get offered a better post, and perhaps enjoy a more exciting dalliance with another. If you look good, you feel good and more opportunities will become open to you, just as it is now, it was then,



Our motto "Always Dress Above your Station" refers to the Sumptuary Laws. Our goal is to provide you with gowns that will make you the envy of all other courtiers.



Examples of Sumptuary Laws are:

Servants, shepards, common laborers, servents to artificers living outside of any city or borough, and all farmers worth less than 10 pounds a years shall not wear cloth costing more than 2 shillings a broad yard or hose worth more than 10d a yard.



(Punishment could be imprisionment in the stocks for up to three days. Apparently the lower classes had no money to pay a tax on their clothing so a "proper" punishment for their disobedience was found. There are further rules govering the lower classes listing in great detail who could wear fur, how much fabric would be in a female's gown, what types of fabrics and trim. But for our purposes who really cares? As long as our servents bring us what we want when we want it?)



None shall wear any in his apparel embrodiery, tafeta, satin damask in his outermost garments unless he is a Baron's sons, Knight or one really rich dude. This also includes pricking or pinking with gold or silk, furs of Luzernes or Libardes.



Dukes, Marquesses, Earles or their children, Barones and Kinights could wear velvets of crimson, scarlet or blue. Wool from outside of England. Any fur they pleased with the exception of sable.



Who could wear pearls, precious gems, cloth of gold, and silver trim was regulated. The size of ruffs too was stated in the laws. And it was always a good idea to be just a bit less gloriously attired than your Monarch, because while the Sumptuary Laws were not overly enforced, one certainly would not want to, push one's luck too far. It's one thing to be noticed and quite another to be dressed better than the Queen.



There are many fine web sites located on the internet concerning these laws in detail. Should you wish to know more we suggest that you type "sumptuary law" or sumptuary laws" into your favorite search engine and enjoy the information.




Sumptuary Laws Resources


Elizabethan Sumptuary Statutes

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**Much thanx to our friendliest Floridian, Lady Stimpzilla, who provided all of this information from her own pages at: Stimpzilla Sumptuary Law which displays all of her incredible gown and garb design. Several faires and festivals rely on her work for their royals garb. She designed Noir Cyn's Wedding gown shown above. She is also one of our Content Editors, with her focus being on garb.

Building Your Character

Stepping out of your everyday world and into Faire can change your life, literally. In your local shire or village, the staff has worked on every detail in order to add to the atmosphere of actually stepping back in time to the Tudor period. From the landscape to the smells, everything is as close to Renaissance as a budget will allow.


Of course you don't feel a part of the realm till a character sweeps you in. Perhaps you've met up with a village street character. . . maybe the King or Queen! . . . or maybe it's another playtron who is as serious about his/her character than any paid actor at the Festival.


You want to become a part of this place and to do that, you need to pick a personality out of the time period and make it your own. You really don't want to pick a character that already exists at Faire (there's only ONE Henry VIII). Some folks, because they visit more than one Renaissance Festival, pick a Tudor character that falls somewhere in the middle, between Henry VIII's rule and that of his daughter, Elizabeth I.


If you look closely at the playtrons who inhabit Faire, you'll find Scotsmen, Pyrates, Irishmen, Welshmen, knights, Vikings, wizards, and even the Black Fox! My outfit is much more 12th century than 16th!. . . yet they all seem to fit in! Even the Goths in their somewhat Victorian costumes seem at home at Faire (we'll get to the Stormtrooper idea at a later date).


As long as you're close to the time period, you shouldn't get too much grief from the other playtrons or historically-accurate zealots (yes, there's a few. . . but some festivals are more forgiving than others when it comes to Garb-Nazis).




Character Example

Let's take the character of The Black Fox (since that's the character I am, it's easier to explain by example, m'thinks). Where did I find such a character? From a movie! Danny Kaye played in a medieval-themed comedy called "The Court Jester." The Black Fox was a Robin Hood-esque character and with only slight modifications of his behavior, The Black Fox became a village "ear" for Henry VIII at the Maryland Renaissance Festival.


Of course this didn't all happen right away. I designed the outfit from what I'd seen in the movie and with the help of a few patterns found at the fabric store, my lady, Cynthia, was able to put together my first Black Fox suit (a.k.a. Black Fox version 1.0). At right is the "never-before-seen" original artwork that we built the costume from. Cyn used a lightweight flannel and it seemed to flow nicely. From cape to cowl we spent the better part of 6 hours putting it together.


The garb was just the covering of the man, we had to build a personality for the character and some history. What's great about using an established character is that you already have the basics in place and all you have to do is build on it and fill in the blanks. We adapted the character from a 12th century hero of the poor folk to a 16th century keeper of the woods, ear of the King, and vigilante.


We picked up a book on Elizabethan verbage a year later at the New York Renaissance Faire and began sinking our teeth into our characters and by 2004, the first Black Fox suit had began to wear (4 seasons at 7 different faires will do that to ya!). Using our original patterns, we re-created the soon-to-become "Sir" Black Fox, but with a few changes to make it easier to put on. We also made it out of a much thicker, upholstery cotton fabric, lined with muslin.


If you look at some of the home-made outfits vs. the "professional" characters at Faire, you'll notice how much thicker, fuller, and detailed the garb is.

In 2004, MDRF's first month saw temperatures into the 90s and yet I wore the full Black Fox outfit and was later dubbed the A.F.R. God of "Heat Stroke." I was able to beat the heat by staying in the shade and sucking down gallons of water and a lot of dragon piss.


Since then, I've built a whole history around my version of the character using some online help. There's a lot of character building ideas online that you can build your character from scratch.


Below, I've listed some of the places that I used.

 

• Building a renaissance character



• A Character Creation How-To


• Character Development Sheet


• Character Development Questions


• So you'd like to... get involved in Renaissance Festivals?
  


• RenTime


• CHOOSING YOUR RENAISSANCE THEME


• Building a character


• The Apprentice Place


• A Day in the Life . . .

Enjoy Your Faire Part 4

Stage 4: Master of the Faire
It's at this point in your RenFaire experience when you feel like you own the Festival. After five years, you can walk all day and make circles from lane to lane and skip most of the shows because you can almost do some of the schtick on your own. You find that it's fun just to sit on a bench outside of the Pub and watch people.

You've probably already attended a Renaissance Wedding or maybe even been married at the Festival. You have a steady group of friends that you only see at Festival and you discuss the minutae of the faire experience. You talk about how over-serious some of the Playtron guilds take themselves and even realize how silly the extremes of historical accuracy are. You start referring to it as "hysterical accuracy" when you realize that unless 1/3 of the garbed folk inside the gates has lost most of their family to the Black Death (i.e. plague), then none of them are accurate. . . forget about bifocals, immunization scars, or bathing every day.

Anyway, the Festival has become a way of life for you by now and you relish every moment of the day. You probably attend every day the faire's open and your friends and relatives all know that you're "unavailable" for any events from August through the end of November.

You're now a RenFaire veteran and a Rennie of the highest order. . . Huzzzzahhhhh!

Enjoy Your Faire Part 3

Stage 3: Seasoning
Seasoning takes another 3 years or so. Learning where all the pubs are and where all the returning entertainment appears becomes easy. During this time you start seeing atmosphere at the Festival that you hadn't before. . . small details that elude the wide-eyed folks who are still marveling in just what a RenFaire is.

Its during this period that your garb grows even further because you had to buy special Pyrate garb for Pyrate Weekend, maybe a Kilt for Scottish Weekend, and you're starting to research on ebay about just what kind of Oktoberfest Renaissance stuff you could get!

By this time, you've got a seasoned mug on your belt, there's a dozen Renaissance-themed books in your library, and you no longer need a cheat sheet of lyrics to follow along at PubSing. In fact at this point, you might even know a castmember outside of faire or at the very least be able to recognize them in their mundanes on the street.


The Black Fox's RenFaire Addict Questionaire applies to you:

According to Sir Black Fox, You Might Have An Addiction to Renaissance Festivals if. . .
. . . a month after the season closes, you still find yourself yelling "Huzzah!" at any live performance.

. . . re-watch any Tudor-themed movie and get misty-eyed.

. . . have Faire characters in your dreams, then wake up and whisper to your significant other "I see Renaissance People!"

. . . a CD with bagpipe has a permanent disc place in your car's CD changer.

. . . you constantly go back to your local Faire homepage to check for any changes whatsoever.

. . . spend more than three hours of your life each year trying to find new ways to take time off your travel to Faire.

. . . upon hearing any Jeopardy question about Henry VIII, your ears twitch and your head tilts like the RCA dog's.

. . . your Newsgroup Filter only allows posts with "Faire" in the subject line.

. . . when you refer to karoke at any bar as "PubSing."

. . . out of instinct, you check where you put your mug after using any port-a-pot, anywhere.

. . . you refer to any month that's not August-October as "off-season."

. . . when you meet any castmember outside of Faire and they DON'T use their faire accent, you're disappointed.

. . . you proofread all your children's material when they're involved in a Medieval/Renaissance unit at school.

. . . you look for yourself in the background of Faire photos posted on the web.

. . . when you put away your ren garb for the year and find a pebble in your shoe from Faire, you put it in a jewelry box.

Stay Tuned for Part 4 tomorrow!

Enjoy Your Faire Part 2

Stage 2: Next Year

At the end of your first season, if you're pining the loss of your weekend RenFest Habit, then consider yourself bitten by the RenFest experience. If you're reading this, then you might already be a member of a local Renfest "Friends" Group such as Friends of the Maryland Renaissance Festival which is a good way to feed your habit all year long. Another way is to subscribe to Faire Magazine which is designed with you in mind.

Before your second season starts, you've decided that you need at least one more set of garb and you might have even purchased it during the last weekend of RenFest. Having two sets of garb means you can wear something clean both Saturday AND Sunday! If you took notes the previous season then you now realize that being seen at RenFest is as fun as the Festival itself. You should also realize that it's all in the details, i.e., your garb needs highlights and accessories.

Leather pouches, accurate footwear, and learning the who's who of characters at the Festival becomes important at this point. If you've made a clever and distinguished impact the season prior, when the next season starts, people will remember you. With that in mind, you probably want folks to recognize you as your character, so if you add to your garb, make sure it's within your character's . . .uh. . . character.
You get into the discussion about "historical accuracy" with other Festival Playtrons and who's garb looks period and wonder why The Black Fox is always dressed like he's from the 12th Century instead of the 16th.

With less $$ than you put out the year before (unless you're jewelry hunting), your second season at renfest gives you the opportunity to begin your seasoning. . .

Part 3 tomorrow

Today in Tudor History

King Henry VIII Marries Fourth Wife (1540)
Henry VIII, a monarch famed for having married six times, wed his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, in 1540. He found her entirely unattractive, privately describing her as a "Flanders Mare," and soon decided to annul the marriage. Anne wisely cooperated, testifying that their union had never been consummated. Just four years earlier, Henry had his second wife, Anne Boleyn, executed after she failed to produce a male heir. How was Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard, related to Anne Boleyn?

more

Enjoy Your Faire Part 1

How To Enoy A Renaissance Faire

There are a few ways to enjoy your village but the most important one is to get involved with the Festival! Don't be shy about engaging conversation with street performers or if asked to join in a stage show. . . go for it!


Performers work all year long at refining and developing their characters and love to see others take an interest in their work. On the obverse side, one shouldn't interrupt a character who's performing or be overly demanding of their attention.


Prior to the wedding of Sir Black Fox and his lady, Noir Cyn, in September of 2004 at The Maryland Renaissance Festival, he set up a web page to help the wedding attendees get into the spirit of the faire. If you're serious about getting maximum enjoyment out of your Festival season, check out some of his "unwritten rules" of Faire.


Becoming a "Playtron" at Faire is not as difficult as you might think. We've found that there are a few stages in gathering your character and building what most playtrons call a "garb closet" (in fact some of us have whole rooms dedicated to garb!).

Stage 1: Initial Impact

The first step in getting into character is your garb (never call it a costume!). It's amazing how your personality will adapt to the outfit you're wearing at faire. . . your character should come naturally if you open yourself up to it. Your first garb could be a rental that you pick up just inside the Faire gates. . . it could be a Renaissance Hallowe'en costume . . . or if you're significantly sewing-enabled, it could be your first homemade costume of light fabrics and very few details.


We have several areas for you to check out that will help you build your character, dress apppropriately, and speak like you really know what you're doing! Within a few weekends' visits you'll find paytrons stopping you for directions to the privy or asking you if the Scottish Eggs are REALLY that good. You'll find yourself smiling and looking forward to each weekend.

Stage 2 Tomorrow

The awsome power of the interwebs

Since Faire Magazine only has one issue out (the next is in the editing/layout phase - so stand by true believers), we have to rely on the power of internet marketing to get our name out there. Thus, you'll find us at forums all over the web of concern to Renaissance revelers worldwide.

Also, as part of this marketing gauntlet, there are little tricks of the trade to climb the ladder of search engine rankings (such as the über-popular Google™). No longer does this ranking rely on how many times we can list the words "renaissance festival" on our pages, but rather how many other websites like to ours; how many times folks have bookmarked our site, how often to people read our company blog (which you're doing now by the way, so thanks), and other small details.

This upgraded way of ranking sites makes for a better, well-rounded web and I think it really gives the web surfers more content and less spam to wade through. So you folks are the winners when it comes to these new online marketing techniques. . . and hopefully it will drive not just more traffic to www.fairemagazine.com but convert more qualified visitors to the site into leads and then into customers (i.e. advertisers & subscribers).

Still, keep talking us up to all of your Renaissance vendor friends about how you'd like to see them in the pages of our magazine. The more advertisers of quality that we get the better, bigger, and more inclusive our magazine will become.

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What If Your Faire Up and Moved On Ya?

I've been going to Renaissance Festivals/Faires since the turn of the century. The Maryland Renaissance Festival broke my "cherry" in early October of 2000, and with that I've been hooked ever since (thanx to HS friend Tom Crowl and his gorgeous Mrs.). My current wife and I hit it once. . .then I dragged my-then-current-estranged and our kids the following weekend and then Cyn and myself hit it again the final weekend. I never, ever attended out of garb. Cyn made up my Black Fox 1.0 garb before my first visit.

We hit MDRF a bunch of weekends in 2001. . . more in 2002, when I set up a Yahoo group called "Friends of the Maryland Renaissance Festival". . . I think we dragged in about 10 interested parties at that time.

2002 also saw a new king at MDRF who I befriended and in 2003 he helped me propose to Cyn on the "stage" (i.e. decked clearing) by the Dragon Inn. It was a wonderful event. It was only superseeded by our wedding in mid September of 2004 where the King knighted me during our wedding ceremony so that he could stand as my Best Man.

Using faire-ever passes (i.e. season passes) to MDRF since 2003, we've come to think of the site of this faire as our escape from the "real" world. We've made friends with folks that we have no common interest with other than MDRF. The place is an amazing event which levels every paytron and playtron into one flat event horizon. . . . that of PubSing each evening.

I've met folks who have come to MDRF for the very first time and have fallen in love with it just like we did. I've met, immediately thereafter, folks that I've never seen, who've been visiting the faire since its early days in Columbia, MD. . . some 30 years prior!

Yet we've all come to a standstill. MDRF may, and probably will, move again. It seems that they've been renting their site all these years which is why there's not many permanent buildings on the site (such as proper flush-privvies and septic). Understandibly, with 250,000 folks visiting each season. . . . and less than 200 acres to offer them. . . the site needs to expand.

Thus the problem. Buy the property from the landowners at probably twice the value because they realize they've got MDRF by the. . .uh. . . pumpkins. . . .OR move the site somewhere else.

Somewhere else?

Right now, in Crownsville, MD, MDRF is between two MAJOR MAJOR hubs. . . . DC and Baltiless. . . I mean Baltimore. To move it out of that corridor will hurt the faire. . . in the short run. . . no matter where they move it, I have a feeling folks will find it. . . especially if there's more room and better sound, sights, smells, touches, and tastes (I think I hit all five senses).

Who knows what will happen?

Thus I pose the question to ye of Faire Magazine. . . . what would your thoughts be if your favorite faire which held so many personal connections for ye decided to move? If you had no say in the matter, what would you hope for? If you did have a say. . .what would you say?

Answers to this blog may be more important than you realize. . . it might be your faire that moves next, mates. What say ye?

A Fair History of the first Faire?

If you have a copy of our first issue of Faire Magazine, then you've seen the photo spread about the very first Renaissance Festival back in may of 1963. It was a real shot in the arm and made much way in building up the legitimacy of our magazine to get both Kevin and Leslie Patterson on board to help with the article. All of the photos and information came directly from them, the source of the first faire.

Since falling in love with Renaissance Festivals back at the turn of the century and gobbling up any information I could find on line (as well as joining the folks at the binary newsgroup alt.faires.renaissance), I discovered that the history of that first faire was a real thorn in the sides of folks who've been on the various RenFaire circuits. Apparently, to bring up the issue caused a lot of bristling of fur and made many people most uncomfortable. There were lots of healing emotional scars from those days and for me to bring it up threatened to re-open said wounds.

Blogs are a good way to present such matters and leave them open for discussion. So for today's entry, here is some information I found online, copied and pasted in this blog with a link to see the original at the bottom.

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RPFI California Faire History

In the Spring and in the Fall, there are large faires in Southern and Northern California, in San Bernadino and Novato respectively. These, the Renaissance Pleasure Faires are the largest and oldest of the re-enactment/craft faires in the US, started in 1963! The faire was the brainchild of Phyllis Patterson and the non-profit organization Living History Center (LHC). For years LHC educated and entertained, reenacting an English village of the 1580s; offering food and things to buy and street actors and stage shows. But the recent history has been rocky.

Through chronic mismanagement (and some say white powder -- this was the early 80s after all) LHC went into bankruptcy and was forced to sell the land in Novato, which it then leased back from the purchaser. On a slightly different time period, the land in southern California at Agoura was slated for development and the faire's lease terminated. (Agoura was saved from development and turned into a National Preserve following the airplane crash of the developer.)

The Southern Faire found a new home at the Glen Helen Park in San Bernadino, and while the Northern land was sold, LHC continued to lease the land and hold the faire on that site. Two stories branch from here, one regarding the land and the other the faire. The land purchaser was a development firm who wants to build houses and put in a golf course (in oak scrub hills). The battles about the land have not at this writing (97) been resolved, but the faire has stopped putting everyone on teardown warning each year.

The story of the faire is that some degree of (apparent) mismanagment continued, and the faire lost money. Eventually, in 1993, the entire Pleasure Faire was purchased by a for-profit corporation, the Renaissance Entertainment Corporation (REC). (Auspicious name, no?)

Their first move was to replace the joust with REC's permanent joust group. Southern Faire saw the elimination of St. Helenas, the peasants guild. While quiet in Northern for the first few years, in 1995 they 'reorganized' and banished the guilds of St Ives and St Brigid! (Come on, the Scots didn't smell THAT badly.) Prices crept upwards as well, beer up $0.50, parking up $2, gate up a bit.

Now some say this is unfairly harsh and that REC, by turning a profit, and removing the chaff, facilitates a continuation of faire. No one particularly defends the sale of trashy souvenirs (though to their credit they do sell some decent books). The perceived goal is to cut down the stipended actors in favor of increased marketplace -- a standard practice of corporate america, cut employees while increasing sales. The question is, do people want more places to buy things or do they want more entertainment? (My personal guess is that they mostly don't care but they want cheaper gate fees and $2 beer.)

Gossip for 1997 indicates that the major faire characters will be swapped around, and perhaps some actors won't be coming back. For Southern faire they've suggested the repulsive intent of having hollywood actors play some parts (is that cost cutting?). Us grunts in the trenches will just wait and see I suppose. Wish us all luck.

As of May 1999, RPFS is still at Glen Helen and presently running. The Novato site at Black Point was bid its final farewell last fall and the structures there razed. Court battles still flare regarding its development. RPFN examined potential new homes in Vallejo, Sunol, before signing a 10 year agreement in Antioch. However, Antioch residents, like those of Sunol before them raised significant opposition and have stalled RPFN-Antioch for 1999. The new gossipped location is in Vacaville on the Nut Tree property.

Faire spent three years (1999, 2000, 2001) on the Nut Tree property in Vacaville.

In 2002, RPFN moved to the Casa de Fruita property outside of Gilroy.

SEE THE ORIGINAL WEBPAGE HERE

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What say ye?

Yes, We Cans Blog

Welcome to the inner workings, ideas, thoughts and ramblings of one Steve "Sir Black Fox" Kimball, publisher of Faire Magazine and The Pyrates Way magazine.

A blog is a necessity these days if one wants to promote their business online. As with following all the protocols of Google™ in order to get high-ranking search engine listings, you just have to have a blog linked to your business website to be successful.

Why? People are bored and everyone on the planet has some degree of ADD, (thus broadband, T1, DSL, and YouTube™). "We want it interesting and we want it now. . . . you've got less than 2 seconds to load said interesting web page and don't expect us to be here for more than five minutes." To get all of these folks back on your website every day (so you can continually molest them to buy your product), you need fresh, new content.

Blogs do that. They give new information to your readers every time they check out your page.

Thus, here we are. . . Faire Magazine's blog. We hope to provide you information that you won't find in our magazine but that still falls within our target subject matter. . . i.e. Renaissance Faires and Festivals.

We'll also clue you in on future features in the magazine and a schedule of where you'll find us when we visit faires nationwide. This should be fun, adventurous and yet openionated and interesting. Although you might not agree on our "take" on the information we provide, this blog and our bulletin board gives you equal opportunity to take us to task.

I hope you enjoy this new adventure!