Behind The Scenes: King Richard’s Faire

King Richard’s Faire has been a staple of the New England Renaissance Fair tradition for the past thirty years. Renaissance fairs offer the perfect environment for kids and adults to immerse themselves in a fantasy world filled with villains, heroes, monsters and magic. There is no where else where you can shoot arrows, cross swords, watch jousts, buy shiny things and drink beer. However, there is a huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes. There are actors, performers, vendors, and security guards who all work very hard to make the faire what it is.

One of these vendors is Abigail Ortalieb, a recent college graduate with a Bachelors in English Literature. She started off looking for jobs in her field but after becoming frustrated with having to work three different part time jobs she decided to turn her hobby of making leather masquerade masks into a business. She started with selling masks on Etsy.com while working her day jobs and researching the steps to becoming a legitimate business owner. Abigail also started looking at possible venues to sell her masks and conventions and renaissance fairs were an obvious choice. After applying to be a vendor at the King Richard’s Faire in 2011, she was accepted and then quit her jobs and threw all her savings into buying materials and paying for a booth at the faire.

Since then she has been successfully selling her masks wherever she can. There are places where there aren’t many restrictions placed on vendors but King Richard’s has very high standards in order to maintain the atmosphere of their faire. In order to sell your wares at King Richard’s, you must dress in period costume and keep your booth appearing clean and medieval. There is also a jury process before you are even accepted to make sure that you have quality items.

Abigail says most other vendors are very friendly. While they are in competition for customers, the overall vibe is much closer to that of a large extended family rather than rival business people. Also, it seems that the “renny” lifestyle encourages people to be much more straightforward and honest than otherwise expected. Abigail says it’s refreshing to be around people who don’t beat around the bush. Time is limited as she is juggling her own home business, everyday life and driving back and forth between Connecticut and Massachusetts every weekend. Many of the other vendors travel all around the country following the fair circuit, this is how they earn their living and they take it seriously while always managing to keep it enjoyable.

The actors, at least for the King Richard’s Faire, are unpaid and work strictly for the enjoyment of it. They are required to stay in character at all times and are always fun to watch. Vendors are not required to be in character but many do have a persona that they adopt for the weekend. Abigail said that most of these people simply take their own personality and add a bit of flair and an accent but some people have completely different characters to choose from. All of this adds to the fun and atmosphere of the faire, taking an ordinary space and turning it into a parallel dimension where for a few square acres the renaissance lives again.

The King Richard’s Faire is not the only renaissance fair in New England but it definitely stands apart. Everyone who works for the faire and even the guests themselves contribute to make each weekend it’s own story. If you haven’t been to a faire before then this is a great one to visit and if you are already a faire veteran then this faire won’t fail to surprise you.

Abigail’s store is called the Eccentric Perspective: Peculiar designs for the Peculiar Mind. She sells fine leather masks, mask accessories and jewelry. You can find her store on the web at http://theeccentricperspective.com/ or come to the King Richard’s Faire!

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All Photos by Kelley Griffin

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