It really depends on which faire you’re going to be working, and what you’ll be doing.If you’re going to be working in Entertainment (aka, a street actor, in a show, with a guild, etc.), then you’re going to have certain costuming and workshop (aka, classes offered usually on-site before the faire starts) requirements. These will depend on your class, guild, station, character, guild’s costume mistress/master, etc. (My faire tries to be as historically accurate as we can and still be a faire, so we only allow fantasy characters in the Enchanted Garden - aka, for the kids.)If you’ll be a boothie (which it sounds like, from “getting a job”?), then you’ll likely have different requirements. At my faire and at the two faires I’ve worked as a boothie, all that was required was “have the garb your manager approves, work your shift. BFA is encouraged.”Beyond that, as for the actual experience. Hm. Well. Be prepared to be tired, dirty, drink a LOT of water, and wear sunscreen. Depending on which faire you’re at and when it takes place, you’ll be hot. But don’t think I’m disparaging the experience! It’s such a labor of LOVE!
During the year before faire I work on things like my clothes/garb. This upcoming year that will be a LOT of work, since I’m moving from middle class to Nobility. I attend guild meetings and rehearsals, as set by my guild mistress. You’ll note I said guild; I’m in Entertainment. I can’t speak for the boothie experience (though I know that build is the same).Four-ish weeks before faire starts, workshop scheduling is announced. My faire has a Participants-only facebook group where announcements are made, as well as a missive (email) list. I scout out my workshop requirements (both from faire management and from my guild management) and work out a workshop schedule.I go to build weekend, usually the weekend before workshops start. My guild and I (and most of the rest of the cast and crew of the faire - at least those of us who are at least somewhat able-bodied) literally build our faire from the ground up. We don’t have a permanent site, only land that we rent each year. Our buildings are portable, and each year they’re tarped, wrapped, and stored offsite. On build weekend we build the foundations, place the buildings, make repairs, lay our decking, etc. Shade poles get put up, shade fabric gets draped from them. We. Literally. Build. Our. Faire. Every year.Three weekends before faire opens to the public, our workshops start. For my faire, this starts with an all-cast meeting on the first morning of workshops. There we have general announcements, etc. Newbies go off for their own special classes. Returning folks stay for a rules refresher, etc. Then we basically are on our own to get our class requirements done, get costume approval, take care of camping passes and turning everything in to get a gate pass. We’re generally required to come to dress rehearsal, even if we’re not in any of the shows or parades.Okay, now faire starts for realsies.
I camp, because I don’t want to drive the 45 minutes between faire and home each morning and night. So, Thursday night after work I come home and pack all my crap up: tent, camping stuff (chair, bedding, whatever), food for breakfast and/or dinner (okay, I leave this one til Friday night. See below), garb, extra clothes, booze, whatever. Sometimes I pack it into my car, sometimes I lay it out strategically next to my door. Friday after work I race home, throw my stuff in my car, get the food out of my fridge and also into my car, go over my checklist (I realized very early on that this is important! You don’t want to get to Saturday morning to realize you’ve left your boots at home. No bueno. Been there, done that.), and head down to faire site.I get down to site, go to the camping area, and set up camp. I camp with my guild.. we uh.. kind of have our own little compound. But that’s my guild for ya. Whatever, okay, so camping on Friday night, socialization, yadda yadda.My alarm goes off at 6:45 on Saturday and Sunday mornings. This gives me enough time to work up the courage to roll out of my warm(ish) bed and go out into the cold air, find the privies, maybe get some coffee or hot chocolate from my guild mama, etc. Then we start getting dressed. Yes, as a group. Trust me, this is a communal experience. Like, we have our bloomers (yes I know they’re not historically accurate, but trust me, YOU WANT THEM), shift/shirts, boots, corsets, etc. on (aka, all our underwear), but we put on our kirtles, petticoats, overgowns, doublets, whatever, outside our tents and RVs. We lace each other into our dresses, help each other pin our hair up, etc. I’ve been part of numerous lacing lines. Think a conga line, but less dancing and more lacing into dresses and corsets.We head down to site, sometimes we have a little guild meeting, whatever. We set up our guild area for the day, finish doing our hair, makeup, etc. People in the morning show and/or opening parade head out to front gate. Everyone else finishes what we’re doing, finishes breakfast, pours gatorade into our mugs, whatever. (Remember, kids, hydration is key. And don’t be ashamed to drink that pickle juice.)The faire is open, yay! If we have a morning canon, it fires signalling that the faire is open. Otherwise we just know because the bells of the opening parade come by, and soon so too does the parade.Uh. We do our thing. Shows, parades, gigs, lunch (oh my god you will be SHOCKED how many people are sooo fascinated by the simple fact of people EATING! In groups! With knives and fingers and NO FORKS! Oh my god is that REAL FOOD?), guild duties, whatever.When the day ends, the closing parade comes by. Then security trails behind the parade (about half the faire behind the parade), herding anyone without a gate/camping pass out, or to our Saturday evening concert (can anyone say Celtic Rock concert series? HELLS YEAH!). We break down our guild area for the evening, lock up our guild house, and head back to camp.People trickle into camp for the next hour or so. Some people practically run to camp and change, some hobble. Faire is a marathon, and people complete it at different levels. On Saturday night, we have different things that happen. One Saturday we have a retro dance party. One Saturday we have an auction for the RenFaire charity. (It’s called RESCU, please check them out; they do AMAZING things and I highly recommend supporting them if you can!) For our faire, we have things happening each and every Saturday night. If you’re social, go forth and enjoy! If you’re not so social? That’s okay. Hang out by your tent or with your friends and chill. That’s what I do. My guild is largely somewhat introverted when we’re not on the streets. We hang out on Saturday night, have a potlock, lots of boozeahol (uh.. my guild’s motto isn’t “World Domination Through Tasty Beverages” for nothing), and sit around and shoot the shit. It’s a family, and I’m NOT giving it up next year. NO. I’ll still come around even though I’ll be part of a different guild. (You build families doing this, and my current guild is definitely my family of choice.)You go to bed whenever. Bring earplugs. Seriously. You’ll want them if you’re camping on Saturday night.Sunday, you do the whole shebang over again. Except this time when you hobble back to camp, you get to pack up your tent and camping stuff and go home! (Depending on your faire, your camping area, etc., you might be able to just drop and flatten your tent and tarp it down for the week. I can’t.)Go home. Shower. EAT. Seriously, you’ll be fucking starving, I don’t care how much you’ve had to eat during the day. Faire takes a lot out of you. Drink. Drink water. A lot of it. If you haven’t been peeing during the day, you’re dehydrated. If your pee is any color other than clear or a light green/yellow, you’re dehydrated. It might sound gross, but it’s the truth. Better to check your pee than end up in the hospital on a saline drip or with kidney stones. Seriously. I’m not fucking kidding. Eat whatever your body tells you to eat. About half the time when I come home from faire, I’m craving nothing so much as a big bowl of broccoli and mashed potatoes. Mmmm, iron, beta carotine, and carbs.Then you get to do it all over again for however long your faire goes on! Don’t forget to go to tear-down after faire (could be the day after faire, could be the weekend after), and help put things away so you can use them next year!
