Y’all this may sound like nonsense but hear me out. I’m 42 and I’ve always wanted to go to ren faires but nobody I know does them and so I’ve always chickened out instead of going alone. I’m afraid I would just have crippling social anxiety and be self conscious my first time I couldn’t enjoy myself. I know it’s a welcoming community but there are also a lot of cultural norms and faux pas that I just don’t have enough exposure to be aware of. I was obsessed with historical reenactments when I was younger and love the idea of building/making my own outfits etc. and so I know I would love it once I got over myself. I’ve considered being a vendor— I make wool cloaks, felted wool hats, and I’m a potter— but that seems like a LOT of time & money investment for something that may or may not even work out (And I know vending is tough to break into in the first place). In my daily life I’m an attorney (lol) but I’ve got that quintessential Barmaid build 🤣 and I served for a decade before going back to school. Do any of you know if there’s any way I could just like… volunteer (?) at a “tavern” or pub for a weekend? I feel like having a job/focus would melt away all of my anxieties about my first faire and I could learn the ropes by providing a service! Any thoughts?

British person here, is there any good faires in the uk? Especially in terms of dressing up and stuff, most of the ones I've seen online don't look too great or have hardly any information on them. Open to any suggestions!

I've only been to the faire once, and I've realized this might be a good thing to know going back soon

For a bit of context, I have a small bag that I was planning to attach my hip filled with trinkets ready to trade and give out. I've been collecting these sorts of things for a long while and I've done my research on that etiquette. They're all small things, random charms, little wooden/plastic buttons, little gem mushrooms etc. Nothing that would take away from vendors of course. Just silly items.

That said, how exactly would one indicate to others that they're willing to trinket trade? Or even that you have trinkets TO trade? It's something I know I would really enjoy and it's part of the reason I've collected as long as I have. So it's something I want to be involved in and do, but correctly.

Any help and advice would be appreciated I'm going very soon!

Who went. Favorite shows, what did you buy?

Not sure if anyone will be able to help me, but here goes. I’ve been to the Bristol Ren Faire a few times, and one of my favorite foods there is the tempura. They put out a yummy sauce with their tempura, and I’ve been trying to figure out what it is!

Does anyone know exactly what sauce they use? Or if it’s something store-bought, where I can find it? I’d love to recreate the experience at home! 🥰🧚🏻‍♀️

Hi yall! So the past two years I’ve been to Washington State Ren Faire I’ve gotten hot really quick and I want to wear something that will keep me cool.

I want something cute that will go with this. Thank guys!!!

We will be visiting the Arizona Ren Fest for the first weekend in March. It will be our first time there. Anyone who has gone before are there any "Must See/Do" things in Arizona?

Bonus points for entertainers that don't come to the east coast and/or information on a Pub Sing similar to the one in Maryland.

Hello all,

I am working on a fighter/ranger costume for this year. I really want to add chainmail to my costume, however I worry about the extra weight. Can anyone recommend some lighter weight chainmail or reasonable alternatives to chainmail? I have been considering this set of chainmail from ApparatusLarpShop but haven't committed to the purchase yet. Thank you so much.

To be completely transparent, I'm asking on behalf of a magazine I work for! Please reply if you're alright potentially being quoted!

I love Renfaires and attend almost every year. There's always such an amazing array of creativity on display, both from the vendors and the fellow fair-goers! What's your favourite part of dressing up? Do you usually stick to OCs/Original characters, or cosplay from manga/anime/TV shows? What would you say to someone who wants to get into dressing up for the first time?

Edit: Yes, everyone, I know that cosplaying and dressing in medieval-style dress are two very separate things. For the purposes of appealing to laypeople, the magazine itself is sort of intent on misusing the word. Could talk to my boss about making edits, but I'm not sure that's his top priority LOL. For the sake of argument, assume "cosplay" is the literal shortened definition ("costume play")

Edit 2: The focus of the article in question is more 'what makes you happy about attending and dressing up for the renfair', not exactly going into depth about the hobby. I worded the question poorly, and am going to talk to the editorial writers about changing the article to reflect that cosplay and general Renfest attire are two separate things, fingers crossed it works

Ren fair is coming up and I'm excited! But it's not soon enough! What movies or shows do you watch to pass the time between Ren faire visits?

I'm looking for any information and/or advice people would like to share! I believe that the more people I gather information from, the higher chance I have to be successful.

Are there any known vendors that sell shorter cloaks and that will be attending this weekend’s opener in Arizona? I’m obviously going to walk around the place — multiple times — but I’d like a cloak immediately, haha.

So... many years ago, probably over a decade ago, I went to a ren fair, sadly the only time I've been to one, and I got two beautiful walking sticks.
One was a shiny swirly one with a knot at the top that looks like a dragon roosting.

The other was a Burned and Dyed model(?) from a company called Staffs by Gust. They also made home defense clubs and I had planned on buying one the following year, but by then I wasn't friends with the group I went with anymore.
I've tried googling them multiple times over the years and have found almost nothing. Just an old photo of a stall, 2 listings on ebay, and one reddit post looking to repair one of their staffs.

It's a long shot but would anyone know anything about this company?

https://preview.redd.it/g7zbmobln8ge1.jpg?width=1492&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0dd0228bbfed515fb7b626557660654c55d7153d

https://preview.redd.it/29205zrln8ge1.jpg?width=2333&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f81f4184e0df9269d0de877802f111490d9fd23e

So I’ve already made a basic peasant costume, so this would be my second costume.

But basically I’m planning on a pirate costume and I have so many ideas and I recently found the perfect fabric at a thrift store. The problem is I can’t figure out what the best corset type would be.

I can’t find any online photos of period accurate corsets. I’ve made a fairly simple bodice before, but I am pretty capable of figuring out how to sew harder things.

I want to make this semi soon because last year was my first faire and I made my costume in two nights, but this year I’m working a friends booth and I don’t want to wait till the last minute.

All help is welcome!!!

R/sewing automods insta-killed this post because I haven't posted there before... so... can you fine folk assist?

I'm about to embark on my first ren faire costume project, currently shopping for materials online. Basically I want to make a chemise to wear under my corset and a pair of bloomers for under that. I am using methods for the italian chemise outlined in many tutorials - the rectangle construction with square armpit gussets, triangular skirt gores and lots of gathering, with added buttons and loops for customizable adjustment on the sleeves and skirt.

My question is: would 140gsm linen-like woven cotton work well for this, or should I use a lighter weight single layer cotton gauze (100gsm)?

Also, I want to make gathered bloomers to go under. Can anyone recommend a simple, easily adjustable construction method for that? And has anyone worn bloomers in place of modern undies? Ideally I want to keep my number of layers minimal and would love to make them functional as my bottom base layer garment and wear them with other regular dresses/skirts for wonderfully breathable modesty and comfort.

I'm not concerned with historical accuracy but I am going to be using drawstrings and buttons/loops instead of elastic for any adjustable areas, if that matters.

Thank you for sharing your expertise! If you have any similar completed projects I would LOVE to see them.

Hey not sure if this has been asked before I’ve been researching and haven’t found anything. Me and my friend are going to the AZ Ren Faire on Saturday and we’ve been to the one in California many times. But I heard from a co worker that traffic can get very bad and we would like to get there at opening at 10 but possible we are thinking of getting there at like 8:30 but not sure what would be the best option

Does anyone have experience or know a good time to try and get there to avoid as much traffic as possible and get there around opening? We don’t mind waking early. Thank you very much! 🙏

So I LOVE this dress but I do not love the price tag. I have sewn most of my costumes and would love to give this one a try but I have no idea where to start… any ideas or leads on similar patterns?

Hello! I'm somewhat new to outfits, and I don't really know what to add/change to my outfit for some extra flare. Longer skirt? Shawl? Feathers? This is in Florida, so it gets super hot, and sometimes I have to go without my corset. Any recommendations would help. Thank you!

My family is planning to hit Sterling NY this July. Can anyone share what this faire I like? What are the grounds like? Prices? Shows? We are driving from NH.Our preferred faire in the area is King Richards.

Pic for attention

I went to ORF last year and was shooting the breeze with a jewelry maker and mentioned I'm a Goldsmith and they got very excited that I was a traditional jeweler after looking at some of my pieces highly encouraged me to vend.

I run a small retail / repair / custom shop IRL but think if I did ren fairs I'd need to do a totally different line of jewelry. Then of course I start thinking about making things "tradionally" with beeswax or cuttlefish casting, ect. I imagine I need to invest a pretty penny into this to do it right so I guess I wonder is there actually demand for real silver and gold jewelry at rent fairs? What is a legit number one can expect to gross at a fair? They are talking pretty big numbers which would be awesome but seemed pie in the sky.

Any advice or a reality check would be lovely. Thank you