Bristol Renaissance Faire

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Costumed performers from the 2006 Bristol Renaissance Faire.
Costumed performers from the 2006 Bristol Renaissance Faire.

Bristol Renaissance Faire ("Bristol") is a major Renaissance Fair in the Midwest. The Faire is located in a permanent park near Kenosha, Wisconsin, easily accessible to Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Most of the buildings are permanent year-round structures. The Faire seeks to recreate the visit of Queen Elizabeth I to the port city of Bristol in the year 1574. It runs for nine weekends (19 days) from the second weekend in July to the first weekend (and Labor Day) of September.

Journalist Neil Steinberg said of the Bristol Renaissance Faire, "If theme parks, with their pasteboard main streets, reek of a bland, safe, homogenized, whitebread America, the Renaissance Faire is at the other end of the social spectrum, a whiff of the occult, a flash of danger and a hint of the erotic. Here, they let you throw axes. Here are more beer and bosoms than you'll find in all of Disney World."[1]

Contents

[edit] History

Jousting at the Bristol Renaissance Faire, 2006.  Note fragments of broken lances in the air.
Jousting at the Bristol Renaissance Faire, 2006. Note fragments of broken lances in the air.
The Queen on parade in her town.
The Queen on parade in her town.

The Bristol Renaissance Faire was founded in 1972 by Richard Shapiro and his wife Bonnie Jo as "King Richard's Faire". It started as a four-weekend fair and drew 10,000 people. Initially it was generically historic, in a popular sort of way, but through the 1970s and 1980s nonhistorical fantasy-based elements steadily increased, with trolls, satyrs, and many Tolkien-inspired features, such as a Hobbit hole, Sindarin-speaking elves, and wizard battles. In 1989 the Shapiros sold the fair to Renaissance Entertainment Corporation and the fair re-opened as the Bristol Renaissance Faire, with a much more strictly historical approach.

With the new ownership and overhaul, the fantasy elements were banished. The reigning monarch became Queen Elizabeth I rather than the fictional "King Richard", and the year was set at 1574. Costumery became more focused and authentic, and a serious attempt at historicity was made. At that time the fair lasted seven weekends and drew over 400,000 visitors.[2] In recent years, although a few fantasy elements have returned, such as Shakespearean wood sprites patrolling the grounds, the Bristol Renaissance Faire has remained committed to historical authenticity[3].

[edit] Interesting Bits

The "Renaissance Faire's Mud Show" is led by Rush Pearson, who while at Northwestern University was leader of the Practical Theater Company, which also included Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Gary Kroeger.[4]

After the sudden loss of ownership in 1989, Richard Shaprio founded a new "King Richard's Faire" in Massachusetts. The Shapiros prefer a less historical, more fantasy and pop-culture approach. Bonnie Jo Shapiro has said, “We were so authentic back then it was almost painful. Clearly this is an entertainment vehicle.”[5].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Neil Steinberg, "Out of Time, Nearly: Feast of Fools", Chicago Sun-Times, Wednesday, August 15th, 2007, page 23
  2. ^ Renaissance Magazine, Vol. 2, #1, Issue #5, Spring 1997
  3. ^ according to the Chicago Heights "Star" at "Bristol Renaissance Faire for more than kings, queens" on August 23, 2007
  4. ^ Neil Steinberg, "Out of Time, Nearly: 'Hail to Purple, Hail to White ...'", Chicago Sun-Times, Wednesday, August 15th, 2007, page 23
  5. ^ ("King Richard’s Faire brings a Renaissance revival" at projo.com, the Providence Journal online, August 30, 2007)

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links