Renaissance Pleasure Faire of Southern California | |
---|---|
Genre | Renaissance faire |
Dates | April - May |
Location(s) | Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area Irwindale, California |
Inaugurated | 1962 |
Attendance | 250,000 (average) |
Stages | 11 |
Website | www |
The Renaissance Pleasure Faire of Southern California (RPFS) is a Renaissance faire that takes place at the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale, California. Since the first one was held in the spring of 1963, it has been an annual event. [1] Owned by Renaissance Entertainment Productions (REP), it is a commercial reenactment of a 1580s [2] market faire at Port Deptford, [3] a waterfront town in Elizabethan era England. The Faire is generally open from the first weekend of April through the weekend before Memorial Day.
Created by Ron Patterson and Phyllis Patterson and the radio station KPFK, [4] the first Renaissance Pleasure Faire of Southern California (RPFS) was staged at Agoura Hills in the spring of 1963. The first Renaissance Pleasure Faire of Northern California (RPFN) occurred in the fall of 1967. The nonprofit organization Living History Centre (LHC) [5] [6] was established in 1968 [7] as a way to establish the location of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire and as a way to reify the educational potentials of the public event.
In 1989, RPFS was moved to the Glen Helen Regional Park in Devore, California; and finally in 2005 to its present location, the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale, California. [8]
In 1999, RPFN was moved to the Nut Tree in Vacaville, California and later was relocated again to Casa de Fruta in the Hollister/Gilroy area south of San Jose.
In 1993, RPFS was purchased by Renaissance Entertainment Corp (REC), a for-profit corporation; and later by its current owners, Renaissance Entertainment Productions (REP) (also a for-profit corporation), under whom the Faire has claimed to be more family-oriented. [5] [9]
The COVID-19 pandemic caused the faire to go on hiatus from 2020 to 2021. [10] It resumed in April 2022.
The costumes worn by official RPFS's actors are styled after those of the period of Elizabeth I of England (1558—1603) and must pass a rigorous approval process ensuring their authenticity. There are five general classes of attire: Yeoman, Merchant, Gentry, Nobility and Military. Other cultures represented include Scottish/Irish Highlanders, Germanic Landsknechts, Italians, Spaniards, and various Arabian cultures. There are also performance groups such as mongers, Puritans, adventurers and inventors, which are organized into guilds. Patrons are encouraged to wear Renaissance-inspired costumes, but are not required to adhere to the Elizabethan period. They are also welcomed to participate by dressing up to join the fun on various themed weekends. (i.e. RenCon, Pirates, Heroes & Villains, etc...) [11] Recent themed weekends include categories such as "time traveler weekend" which suggest patrons attend in costume from any time period and any location in the world. While this broadens the scope of potential patron interest, it may detract from the Elizabethan tone of the setting. [12]
Notable performers and artisans that have attended the Faires:
Irwindale is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 1,422 at the 2010 census, down from 1,446 at the 2000 census. The ZIP Codes serving the area are 91010, which is shared with Duarte, 91702, which is shared with Azusa, and 91706, which is shared with Baldwin Park.
The Irwindale Speedway & Event Center is a motorsports facility located in Irwindale, California, United States. It opened on March 27, 1999, under the official name Irwindale Speedway. Toyota purchased the naming rights to the facility in 2008, and from that time until 2011 it was also known as the Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.
The Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area is a county park located in Irwindale, California, US, in the San Gabriel Valley, inside the Santa Fe Dam. The park and dam are nestled among gravel quarries in the area, many of which are currently inactive. The dam is a flood-control dam on the San Gabriel River. The dam functions as a dry dam most of the time. The San Gabriels produce more gravel than most other mountains. The park is maintained and operated by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. The park, located off the San Gabriel River Freeway, contains a 70-acre lake for year-round fishing and non motorized watercraft.
A Renaissance Festival is an outdoor gathering that aims to entertain its guests by recreating a historical setting, most often the English Renaissance.
KPFK is a listener-sponsored radio station based in North Hollywood, California, United States, which serves Southern California, and also streams 24 hours a day via the Internet. It was the second of five stations in the non-commercial, listener-sponsored Pacifica Foundation network.
The Fools Guild is a California based social community that produces total immersion theme parties and other theme events. Members self-identify in some way with The Fool, a role that dates back to medieval times when monarchs and nobles often had their own court jester as part of their household. Fools were more than just comics. The Fool had special permission to be subversive. The Fool could speak the unspeakable, wear the unwearable, and behave in ways that no one else would get away with. The Fools Guild motto is, "In Risu Veritas" – In Laughter There Is Truth.
The New York Renaissance Faire is a Renaissance faire located in Tuxedo, New York off New York State Route 17A that was first held in 1978. The 65-acre (260,000 m2) faire comprises permanent structures and has twenty stages and more than 100 shops.
Ardenwood Historic Farm is a Regional Historic Landmark in Fremont, California. It is managed by the East Bay Regional Park District. The Ardenwood Historic Farm consists of the Ardenwood Station, the former Ohlone village and burial site, a blacksmith shop, an area with farm animals, Patterson House, and a gazebo. The Ardenwood Farm today is a working farm, producing grain and vegetables.
The Bristol Renaissance Faire is a Renaissance fair held in a Renaissance-themed park in the village of Bristol in Kenosha County, Wisconsin. Its 30-acre site runs along the Wisconsin-Illinois state line west of Interstate 94. It recreates the visit of Queen Elizabeth I to the English port city of Bristol in 1574. The faire runs for nine weekends from early July through Labor Day.
The Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire is a Renaissance fair occurring over 13 weekends from early-August through late-October on the grounds of the Mount Hope Estate and Winery in Manheim, Pennsylvania. In 1980, the Estate was sold and converted to a winery.
All's Faire in Love is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Scott Marshall and written by R. A. White and Jeffrey Ray Wine. The film stars Owen Benjamin as Will, a college student who is assigned to work at a renaissance fair by his professor after missing several classes, and Christina Ricci as Kate, an investment banker who leaves her job to work at the fair.
The Texas Renaissance Festival is an annual Renaissance fair located in Todd Mission, Texas, about 55 miles northwest of Houston.
King Richard's Faire is a Renaissance Faire held in Carver, Massachusetts, which recreates a 16th-century marketplace, including handmade crafts, foods, musicians, singers, dancers, minstrels, mimes, jugglers, whip artists, magicians, comedians, puppeteers, acrobats, animal acts, mud beggars, stilt walkers, knights jousting on horseback, a royal court, and the fictional King Richard. King Richard's Faire is the largest and longest-running Renaissance Faire in New England.
Sterling Renaissance Festival is a Renaissance Festival that operates in Sterling, New York. Since 1976, it runs for seven consecutive weekends through July and August and features music, comedy, and interactive theatre performances as well as the work of artisans and craftspeople.
The Kansas City Renaissance Festival is a Renaissance fair held each fall in Bonner Springs, Kansas, United States, next to Sandstone Amphitheater. Each year the fair begins on Labor Day weekend and continues for seven weekends, open on Saturdays and Sundays as well as Labor Day and Columbus Day. The faire began in 1977 as a benefit for the Kansas City Art Institute, and became a stand-alone event in the late 1990s. Presently, the fair has 165 booths and 13 stages, entertaining 200,000 patrons annually on 16 operating days.
A Dickens fair is a weekend or multi-day gathering open to the public that attempts to recreate a Victorian English setting reminiscent of the novels of Charles Dickens. Events may be outdoor, indoor or a combination of the two. Many are Christmas-themed, a reflection of the enduring legacy of Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. The fairs generally include costumed participants, musical and theatrical acts, and art, handicrafts, food and drink for sale.
The Northern California Renaissance Faire, owned by Play Faire Productions is a Renaissance faire in California located in Hollister about 90 miles southeast of San Francisco. The Renaissance Festival typically runs on weekends from mid-September to mid-October. It consists of five or six weekends depending on the year. It is set in the fictional village of "Willingtown" in Derbyshire, England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the mid-late 16th Century.
The Vince Mulroy Memorial Woodland and Wildlife Preserve, formerly known as the Black Point Nature Preserve, is a 64-acre parcel of public land in Novato, California with various hiking trails. The preserve is also partially on the site of the former Renaissance Pleasure Faire, which took place there from 1971 until 1998. When the faire went bankrupt, Vince Mulroy bought the land and donated part of it to become the preserve, with the other part becoming the Stonetree Golf Club. In 2009, the preserve changed names from the Black Point Nature Preserve to the Vince Mulroy Memorial Woodland and Wildlife Preserve.