Bristol Renaissance Faire

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Coordinates: 42°29′55″N 87°57′22″W / 42.49861°N 87.95611°W / 42.49861; -87.95611
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Bristol Renaissance Faire
Jousting at the Bristol Renaissance Faire, 2006
GenreRenaissance fair
DatesJuly–September
Location(s)Bristol, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States
Inaugurated1973
Attendance198,000–400,000 (average)[citation needed]
Stages16
Websitewww.renfair.com/bristol/

The Bristol Renaissance Faire is a

Queen Elizabeth I to the English port city of Bristol in 1574. The faire runs for nine weekends from early July through Labor Day
.

History

Costumed performers from the 2006 Bristol Renaissance Faire
Bristol Renaissance Faire jousting video

The Bristol Renaissance Faire was founded in 1972 by Richard Shapiro and his wife Bonnie as "King Richard's Faire". The event was a four-weekend fair and drew approximately 10,000 people.[1]

In 1988,

Queen Elizabeth I rather than the fictional "King Richard", and the year was set at 1574. At that time, the fair played seven weekends and drew over 200,000 visitors annually,[1] thus placing it among the highest attended in the world.[3] Renaissance faire staples such as jousting tournaments, historical reenactments, and stage shows
continue.

For the first time in its history, the faire's 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Production values

The Bristol Faire's proximity to Chicago and Milwaukee enabled the artistic directors to bring

improv comedy teachers from The Second City and The Players Workshop, including instructor and director Eric Forsberg, who taught improvised interactive street theater techniques until 1997,[4] and Ron Scot Fry, who was artistic director from 1989 until 2008.[5][6][7]

The Mud Show, Dirk & Guido: The Swordsmen, and Moonie the Magnificent have won awards from the Annual Renaissance Festival Awards.[8]

Critical commentary

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, with 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."[9]

See also

  • List of Renaissance fairs
  • List of open air and living history museums in the United States

References

  1. ^ a b Renaissance Magazine, vol. 2, no. 1, Issue #5? (Spring 1997).
  2. ProQuest 282409383
    .
  3. ISBN 978-0-415-39945-6
    .
  4. ^ Murphy, Meg (July 12, 1998). "It may require just a jaunt across the Illinois-Wisconsin border". Chicago Tribune.
  5. ^ "Ron Scot Fry | Optimist Theatre". optimisttheatre.org. Archived from the original on June 21, 2011.
  6. ^ "Robyn Hoode – Bristol Renaissance Faire". Ronscotfry.com. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  7. ^ "Magic Mike Harvatt – The International Brotherhood of Magicians". Magician.org. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
  8. ^ "11TH – 2015 – Renaissance Festival Podcast". www.renaissancefestivalmusic.com. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
  9. ^ Neil Steinberg (August 15, 2007). "Out of Time, Nearly: Feast of Fools". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 23.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bristol Renaissance Faire.

42°29′55″N 87°57′22″W / 42.49861°N 87.95611°W / 42.49861; -87.95611

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