"What Ho!"*

Last Saturday, my son, his SO, and I made a trip about 45 miles north of us along I-71 to attend the Ohio Renaissance Festival for the day.

I picked them up at their apartment around 10:30 and we headed in a northeastern direction. The weather had cooled off so that the high temps were in the low 60s (16-17 Celsius) with partly cloudy skies. After a month's worth of temperatures in the mid-80s to low-90s (30-32 Celsius) it sounded fantastic.

Apparently it did to everybody else, too:

When we got off the highway we were stuck in traffic for 2 miles until we reached the entrance. Along the way we were watching the capacity information on the Ren Fest's website, and by the time the photo above was taken they were expecting 90% capacity at the park grounds. I grew increasingly nervous as the line dragged on, because I realized they might reach capacity and we'd be out of luck, but we eventually parked and got in line to get into the park itself.**

I ran on ahead and got in line for tickets, as this line turned out to be the line for season pass holders, and then we got into the park itself.

On warmer days, there are Faire people
on the ramparts heckling the crowd as they
enter, but I guess they had the afternoon off.

The mythical Elizabethan town, Willy-Nilly On-The-Wash, is the home of the Faire. Queen Elizabeth herself is in attendance, along with her court, and she attends the jousts that are held in the center of the Faire. 

The leaves partially obscure the Queen
and her Court.

If you've ever been to a so-called Renaissance Festival --I say 'so-called' because these festivals aren't exactly what I'd call authentic but more in the spirit of an Elizabethan faire-- you know that there's jousting, shows, music, vendors, and food. And plenty of people dressed up in what SCA-dians call "garb" to more fully immerse themselves in the experience.

Not sure how I managed it, but these
slice-of-life photos of the crowd somehow
managed to have at least one person turning
and looking right as I snapped the pic.

See what I mean?

But there were crowds. Holy crap, were there crowds.

I might have to invest in a selfie stick so
I can get a higher angle of the scope of the crowd.

Before you ask, no, I did not make it to the Mud Show this time around. That's fine, because I caught a couple of other shows, including a fire show:

If you have trouble seeing it, trust me...
The fire is real.

There were also artisans there, such as this person working with glass sculpture:

This is not the same as the glass blower,
who was in another part of the Faire.

Still, it felt kind of weird being here after having been away for six years. Admittedly one of those years the Renaissance Festival was closed due to the Pandemic (2020), and I wasn't interested in attending in 2021 due to the potential aftereffects of said Pandemic, but the other years? Well, with kids going away to college and my wife simply not being interested in going any more***, I couldn't really justify driving up and wandering around by myself for an afternoon. I mean, I could do it, but it wouldn't be the same as attending with friends or family.

The Faire has been around for about 33 years, and over that time the trees have all grown and matured, buildings have been added, and activities have sprung up. Those trees ringing the jousting area above? They weren't there six years ago. Actually, the area behind where we were standing was an open field for about half a football field's length until you ran into the food vendors and bathrooms, but now... Well, it's all filled up to the point where it felt like you really were in a small town. 

Feels like something right out
of M.A.S.H., which really dates me.

"About a third of these buildings weren't even here six years ago," I mentioned to my son. 

"Yeah, it's really grown up a lot," he replied.

Still, some of the places have been around forever, and it felt like seeing an old friend when I came across them.

Such as this vendor. They specialize in
wooden swords and shields.

There were other vendors that did not want photos taken of their work, which was a shame, but I respected their requests. Among them were the weapons vendors, metalworks and leatherworks, clothiers, and jewelry vendors. 

But you still couldn't escape the crowds. Holy crap were the crowds impressive. 

No, Bourbon Chicken isn't period, but
that's fine. If this were period, we might all
be eating trenchers, I suppose, which 
would not be that healthy for someone 
with my health issues.

For someone who isn't a big fan of crowds, I just kind of hung in there, but it was the parking and direction where the crowds' impact was felt the most. 

When we got off the highway, it took us 40-45 minutes to crawl along 2 miles to finally park. And on the way out, it took us 45 minutes just to leave the parking area. I do know that several people wearing "Parking" shirts/vests were unceremoniously relieved of duty by one of their superiors when it became obvious that they had no idea how to organize traffic flowing out of the park. Their situation wasn't helped by the rent-a-cops who were giving priority to cars already on the road rather than letting people leave the parking area. 

I do know that there's been a bit of contention between the community that the Festival grounds are on and the Fest's management; the Fest wants to expand amenities, such as running water, electricity, cell phone service, etc. and the community is less concerned about that and more concerned about taking in their cut of taxes from all of the Faire goers. So... There's issues there, but that's also the price of success. The place is a destination location of 200,000 visitors annually, although I think this year they're probably going to smash that record.

Still, one last item that you might find amusing, this car that I saw while walking back to our car:

I was amused.

*If you've ever seen The Swordsmen's comedy act, they use that as a greeting.

**On Sunday, they reached capacity and had to turn people away from the entrance. Kind of wild if you ask me.

***She used to like going, but that all changed when the kids were little. She began to complain about the shows all being the same, everything costs too much, etc. etc. Considering she says that about practically everything --including Gen Con, in case you were wondering-- I pretty much have given up on trying to get her to go with me. In some ways, despite her not having grown up in Cincinnati, she has become the archetypal West Sider, with the only difference being that unlike the older hardcore West Siders she doesn't have any money stashed away in a coffee can in the backyard. I mean, there are some lines that should never be crossed.