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Southern California has two Renaissance Faires. There is the big one — the granddaddy of all Ren Faires — in Irwindale (nee Devore nee Agoura). There there is a newer faire — Nottingham Festival (FB) — that started 5 years ago by some of the original participants, with the goal of being truer to the original ideas of the Faire than the granddaddy had become. We supported the kickstarter of Nottingham 5 years ago, and have been attending ever since. Today was opening day, and we just got back. So what did we think of this year’s Faire.

First, be aware that Nottingham is much much smaller. My guess would be ⅓^rd the size — which fits right for the running time, people, vendors, and such. They simply don’t have the variety of the granddaddy, but that doesn’t make them any less enjoyable. We just get through faster.

The folks behind Nottingham run a second faire at the same location on the heels of Nottingham: Tumbleweed Township,  Tumbleweed — this will be its second year — is the old West (US) in the late 1800s. It is a time period that is a bit more accessible to many, and one that fits well with the Simi Valley location. Many of the vendors sell at Tumbleweed as well, changing their product mix as well. We went last year to Tumbleweed and enjoyed it quite a bit.

This year’s Faire was in the same site as the last three years, and the layout felt… comfortable. It was as if they had figured it out. There wasn’t too much walking. Stages were mostly accessible. It felt as if there were a few tweaks from last year, but it worked.

As for the other aspects of the Faire:

Vendors	There was a good mix of vendors, from some of our favorites, some of our friends, and some we hadn’t seen before. We liked the pottery vendor and picked up some pieces, as well as signing up for Farm Fresh delivery. There were a number of good clothing and jewelry vendors that had stuff we liked, but didn’t have a need to purchase. Prices were good.
Food	There were a small number of food vendors. Prices were reasonable, with ale/beer at $6. Selection was a bit of a different issue. I look for what I can eat (healthy, no grease), and what my wife can eat (gluten-free), and our options were relatively limited. So it was OK for a small Faire, but could have been a little better.
Music	Music was surprisingly light this year. There were some groups we liked (Merry Wives), but they weren’t there opening day. There were less wandering groups of musicians and dancers than usual. There were less musical groups at stages.
Entertainment	There were some groups we liked from last year, but in general we didn’t find the stage shows and they didn’t have the grab factor walking by. This could just have been the opening day mix, because I know some of the group are good.
Education	/  They had the Masters Pavilion again — which is one of the hallmarks of this Festival, but they didn’t clearly indicate who would be there and when.
Enthusiasm	The folks here are super friendly. We weren’t even wearing that much garb (I was in a mix of RenFaire and Tumbleweed, as I though it would be cooler and might rain), and we got loads of compliments.
Layout	They’ve gotten the layout down, eliminating the problems of the first year of two.
Bad Costumes	We really only saw one bad costume, someone dressed as a hell-boy.

Nottingham is doing a good job of growing at a slow place while not losing what makes it special. I look forward to next year and its further improvement.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Nottingham 2017 by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

There’s a new Faire in Simi Valley, and we went to it today. Although, to be truthful, it isn’t really a Faire. However, it is Faire-like, and it is true to the spirit of Faire, and for something new, it is quite remarkable. It also raises some interesting questions.

It is Tumbleweed Township (FB), and it is a Living History event set in approximately the 1880s to 1890s in the West (actually, perhaps what Simi Valley was at that time). This event is put on by the same folks that do Nottingham Festival (FB), a new Renaissance Faire in Simi Valley in mid-November. Like Nottingham, the folks behind the event (Actors Rep of Simi Valley (FB) and the Simi Valley Cultural Association (FB)) are dedicated to doing Faire like it was done originally — that is, going back to the first days of the first RenFaire in Ventura County. That means a dedication to living history, and less of a concern about profits and maximizing revenue. As they put it on the Nottingham page:

Since the days after the Faire put on by the Living History Center left Agoura, there has been a desire to bring a more accessible regional Renaissance style event back to the Ventura County area. A group of dedicated volunteers from the community along with the Actor’s Repertory Theater of Simi and the non-profit Simi Valley Cultural Association set out to make that dream a reality. Nottingham Festival will recreate the magic and revelry of an Elizabethan faire and marketplace with street performers and stage acts that will provide entertainment for all ages. Craft workers and reenactors from various guilds will entreat you to experience a taste of the handicrafts and lifestyle of the 16th Century. Our hope is that you will be well entertained and maybe even learn a thing or two about the time period and its people. Proceeds from this non-profit festival will be granted to smaller non-profit agencies in the surrounding communities, as well as some set aside for the further development of the arts programs for youth.

Tumbleweed is an attempt to create a new living history event — this one set in a township in the 1880s and 1890s. There are still many Faire-ish elements: food booths, craft booths, stages, and music. However, the crafts are a little bit different, the shows a bit more cowboy-ish, and the atmosphere — as befits the Western ethic — a lot less bawdy. There is also — thankfully — a lot less fantasy aspects. No pirates. No fairys. No fantasy elements. The closest fantasy elements are Steampunk. It’s also pretty easy to garb yourself — jeans, flannel shirts, cowboy belts and hats work just fine. Just no guns. Only the actors get replica guns. Per the agreement with Simi PD: “There shall be no firearms or replica firearms allowed to be brought onto the premises by the public.”

Now that you know what the notion behind what Tumbleweed is, how was it executed? Pretty good. It was very small this year.  There were perhaps 8 food vendors: turkey legs, BBQ chicken and steak and veggies, kettle corn, sandwiches, shave ice, ice cream, coffee, and of course, mead, whisky, and cider. There were about 15-20 vendors: a few clothing, jewelry, soaps, crafts, and such. There were three stages with a small number of shows. There were a few guild-like exhibits, including a quilting bee. There were games of chance. There was also the “Grand Exhibition Hall of Famous Personages” — which is like the “Explorers Hall” at Nottingham with famous people brought back to life, from Jenny Lind to Annie Oakley to Kit Carson, to Sacagawea to… you get the idea.

So, the town was small and attendence was moderate — but the idea is great. A big problem with Faire is that there are so many of them, and they are all similar, and all explore the same history. This was a new historical area, and actually relevant to when it took place. Simi Valley and California epitomize the west, and towns like this did exist. With better publicity, they could be starting a new trend (further, I could image this being something that Orange Empire Rwy Museum could do quite well).

But there are dangers as well. What RenFaire has become is fantasy; it rarely presents true living history anymore. This is good, because it is accepting of all races and creeds (whereas the original Elizabethan time would be less forgiving). If there is any parodying of culture, it is parodying of Anglo-Saxon culture. When we turn to the old West, however, we run the risk of stereotypical “Cowboys and Indians”, of the Lone Ranger and Tonto, and this can be a danger. While there was freedom in the West, it also created a stereotypical view of the Native American — and care must be taken. However, done right, it can present a true picture of the relationship between Western settlers and their Native American neighbors — different from what the movies might present.

It also created the question in my mind of what other periods of living history might be ripe for equivalent events — and how might this be done without cultural approbation. Other eras have been done — just look at the successful Great Dickens Christman Fair and Victorian Holiday Party (FB) in the Bay Area. Doing a Feudal Japan Faire would probably not be a good idea. But what about Europe in the Dark Ages, well before Elizabeth. What about the mid-East in Biblical times? What about a Colonial faire? All could be quite interesting — and educational.

Coming back to Tumbleweed Township (FB): Was it a success? I can’t speak to financially for the participants, but I think it is a great idea, and we’ll certainly be back. I hope it grows, for it is an era that is worth exploring.

Tumbleweed Township (FB) runs for one more day, running 10 AM to 5 PM. Tickets are available online or at the gate. The event takes place at 3855 Alamo in Simi Valley across from the DMV!

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This has been a busy weekend, what with theater, working on the highway pages, cleaning the house, and hunting for a replacement car after my accident. But I do accumulate links, and they need to be cleared out periodically. Before we do, please take a moment and remember those who have given their lives so that we may have the freedoms we have in this country. Despite our flawed political candidates, the flawed presidential selection process, and the divisions created by entrenched political parties, we still have more freedoms in this country than many elsewhere in the world; many have given their lives to protect those freedoms, and to ensure others are free as well.

(pauses for a moment)

Here are the news chum links I’ve accumulated since my last news chum post:

• “How to get rid of hum and eliminate other noises from your audio and video systems“. An interesting reference post exploring what causes audio hum and the ways to reduce or eliminate it.
• “L.A.’s First Subway Terminal Is Being Resurrected As A Shopping Center“. An area of interest for me is the Pacific Electric. The Subway terminal downtown has never been used to its potential since the first, short, subway went away. Now there is a proposal to make it a shopping mall, incorporating memories of the PE.
• “Soon, feds will snoop on your social networks before granting security clearance“. This should be of interest to anyone who currently has a clearance or may need one in the future. Think carefully about what you are putting out there in public posts.
• “New method of producing random numbers could improve cybersecurity“. Random numbers are at the heart of most of our cryptographic systems. This article talks about an interesting new method. If proven out, it could drastically improve our security.
• “Tape recording was introduced 70 years ago“. I grew up with recording tape, and with making my own tapes of my music. Tapes are still important; just listen to the latest 99% Invisible for a good idea why.
• “This guidebook helped African Americans find a hotel along segregation-era Route 66“. Another article on the Green Book and its role in African-American history, and how LA may be preserving its role in that history.
• “Confusion over those ‘best by’ dates means lots of wasted food“. If you think that date on your food as an expiration date, think again. Dates on food can have many different meanings; often, they are just suggestions or ploys to make you throw the food away and buy more.
• “Green light found to ease the pain of migraine“. I have no idea if this is true, or why. Still, it is intriguing and worthy of exploration.
• “Official advice on low-fat diet and cholesterol is wrong, says health charity“. We are learning more and more about how humans works, and why what seems to be common sense isn’t always right. One of those notions was “Eat fat, get fat”. We’re now finding that low fat diets may not help, and avoiding cholesterol might not be the way to prevent heart attacks.
• “The Bechdel test, the Ellen Willis test, ALL THE TESTS: or, a handy guide to feminist critiques of narrative” An interesting guide to all those tests out there to determine if what appears diverse really is.
• “Psoriasis is a Real (Migraine) Headache“. A very interesting post on the connection between Migraines and various other auto-immune disorders.
• “Why scientists are fighting about the origins of Yiddish – and the Jews“. An exploration of the origins of Yiddish, as well as that old canard about Jews originating in Eastern Europe.
• “‘Totaled’ Car: Let’s Get This Straight“. A fifteen year old post recently brought to my attention in light of my situation. It explores the options you have, and what you should do, when your insurer says your car is totaled.

Lastly, (a) remember to read and comment on my potential replacement cars (remember the car is for me and how I live, not how you think I should live); (b) remember that the Hollywood Fringe Festival starts Tuesday, and you should pick your shows now; (c) that tickets are now on save for November’s new Faire: Nottingham Festival (no word on Tumbleweed Township tickets yet); and (d) you have the ability to help Spring Awakening be on the Tony Awards.

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This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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And the process of cleaning out the links continues…. this collection brings together a number of stories about things that are going away… but then again:

• Maui Potato Chips. As I’m on the island of Maui right now, let’s start with something that I’m craving, that used to be easy to find, but now is very difficult to find: The Original Maui Kettle Cook’d Potato Chips. When I was out here 30 years ago, they were everywhere (and you used to ship them back to the mainland). Today? You’re lucky to find a small bag for $7.99 in a few stores. They’ve been replaced by a knockoff chip from the state of Washington. Washington?!?!? But if you know where to look, they are still available. (but of course, I can’t eat them — I’m watching my weight and blood pressure )
• Renaissance Costumes. I’ve written before about how  the theatrical landscape in Southern California is changing due to the machinations of AEA. Many theatres have retrenched in various ways, and this is now starting to have ripple effects. AJS Costumes, a large theatrical and renaissance costumer, has started a GoFundMe to help them survive the ripple. As they write: “As you may or may not be aware, the live theater scene in Los Angeles has been going through an upheaval for the past several months.  Changes in the local 99-seat theater community are causing many theater companies to be very conservative in selecting their projects.  To avoid collapse, many theater companies are doing smaller productions, with less costume design needed, and fewer period plays. The rental business and costume design services of AJS Costumes has slowed to a trickle. This downturn has been sudden.  It has been unforeseen.  It has been devastating.   Despite this crisis, we are continuing to serve our clientele and assure you that all outstanding orders are being fulfilled.   But in order to survive, we must explore and secure new income options for our shop.”
• Verizon Contract Plans. You may have heard that Verizon was getting rid of subsidized phone plans. That’s actually not true — it is only true for new customers. Old customers — as long as you keep renewing or have phones on the old plan — you can keep it.
• iPod Classics. Well, they aren’t going away. You can even do as I’m thinking of doing and put in a SSD. But, alas, Apple is declaring them obsolete as of Labor Day. I’m sure you can still get them repaired, although some parts may be harder to get.

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This weekend is the 2nd Annual Nottingham Festival (FB). For those not familiar with the Nottingham Festival, it is an attempt by Faire Folks in Ventura County (especially the folks behind Actors Rep of Simi Valley) to bring back the feel of the Renaissance Faires as they existed in the days when the Faire first began at Paramount Ranch in Ventura. They did a Kickstarter about 2 years ago with plans to bring back a multi-weekend faire. They haven’t gotten to that point yet, but they did bring back a one-weekend faire last year, and another one-weekend faire this year.

Last year’s Faire had its problems. There were loads of logistic problems: the Faire opening and entry was a clusterf*k, and the layout was less than ideal. I’m pleased to say that this year the problems were gone. There were no long lines at entry; the only problem was finding the Kickstarter table for those of us that got passes this year. The opening of the Faire entertainment was good, and modulo the iPad ticket code scanners occasionally acting up, entry was a breeze.

The layout of the Faire was also much much improved. Last year, the food vendors were in this narrow corridor that was a chokepoint. This year, the food vendors were moved to the middle of the main area, where there was space for lines to form without crowding. The narrow corridor was turned into an additional vendor space. The food choices were good, although some of the ran out of food early (especially the meat pies and the cookie vendor). Hopefully that has been corrected today; they should have more food next year.

Relocating the food also meant relocating the Masters Area. Unlike what RenFaire has become, Nottingham exists for a love of history. They have a Master’s Pavillion where famous historical masters speak about their expertise. We heard an interesting talk from Michaelanglo, for example. The new location was very good.

The vendors formed an interesting mix, but more are needed. There were quite a few clothing vendors (including Hearts Delight), some leather vendors, one glassware vendor, numerous jewelry vendors, and a few woodcraft items. There were no wand vendors or pottery vendors. Hopefully, as Nottingham grows and the word spreads about it, the vendor choice will grow.

Entertainment was good: there were a variety of shows, and it looks like that variety was growing. We saw the Country Garden Dancers and Wren of Iniquity; I believe Nicole’s former group, the Parrot Cove Morris, was also performing. In the shows, I also ran into a friend from college days (Mike Urban) that I hadn’t seen in years — an unexpected boon!

One of the great things about Nottingham is that it is small. It isn’t the gigantic thing that Southern has become — it is managable. Further, it hasn’t become wacky. We did our usual looking for WTF costumes. There were precious few — a couple of iridescent fairy wings, barbarians in metal bras. But the outlandish just wasn’t there — there were no Jack Sparrows; there were no Camelot style costumes. This made things much enjoyable.

Nottingham is growing right, and I look forward to attending next year. They’ve also been good to their Kickstarter supporters — we’ve actually gotten tickets included two years in a row, although this year we didn’t learn about it until after I had bought two tickets. That’s OK — we just brought two friends with us and introduced them to the faire!

P.S.: This year … no blisters. Thank you, Five Fingers.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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Back when I was in college, in the long ago days of the 1970s, I learned about the Renaissance Faire. There were many folks from the UCLA Computer Club who were involved with Faire, and so around 1978 or 1979 I went, for the first time, to the Faire in Agoura at Paramount Ranch. I went for a few years after that, but then stopped going. By the time I got back into going to Faire regularly (thanks to Nicole), it had moved out to Devore and grown drastically. The Faire is now in Irwindale at the Santa Fe Dam (hence, the appellation “the Dam Site”),  and we now go annually.

But the Faire that is at the Dam Site is a far cry from what it was in Agoura. You can see it in the attendees, you can see it in the broader playing to a much broader crowd. You can see it the shear size. You can see it in the greater emphasis on profit. But, for the longest time, it was the only real Faire in the heart of Southern California.  That changed today.

In early 2013, the Actor Rep of Simi Valley, in Ventura County, began an effort to bring back a regional Renaissance Faire to Southern Calfornia — back in the area where it first started. As they wrote in their kickstarter, the goal was to bring back a faire like the original. They wanted to bring back a place where visitors could “experience first hand (and hands-on) the lifestyle and handicrafts of the 16th Century.” More importantly, this faire would benefit the community: “A considerable portion of the proceeds from this non profit festival will be granted to smaller non profit agencies in the surrounding communities, and set aside for the further development of arts programs for youth.” The intent was to have the first “Nottingham Festival” (FB) in August of 2013 in Moorpark. Alas, the permitting and land acquisition process didn’t permit that to happen, and so the first “Faire” (really, a taste of Faire) was scheduled for a single weekend in November. In particular, this weekend… and we were there.

So how did they do? The first Faire was held at Rancho Tapo Park in Simi Valley. Easy to get to. Free parking. Not a lot of dust. A lot of trees. Not a lot of drinking fountains. Alas, the weather didn’t cooperate — it was a grey and occasionally drizzly day, a little cool. That’s the risk of mid-November in SoCal, but it is better than 105º!

For a first effort, they did good. There were some major problems. The gate was a snafu, with people who pre-purchased tickets still having to stand in line for up to an hour to get in — as they still had to go to the ticket window to exchange tickets for wristbands. That I write off to not anticipating the turnout they had.

[ETA: Later this evening they posted the following FB status as an update: "What a day! A bit of difficulty with how the gate ran at first, but we already have new plans that will smooth things out. The best problem to have is more people than you expected! If you purchased on line, please allow time to exchange your print out for a wristband. We are going to have people walk the lines to try and save people from waiting in line to do that exchange. Thank you for understanding our growing pains and celebrating our successes with us!"]

They also had a problem with the siting of the bulk of the food vendors — they had merchants on the other side and the walkway was just too narrow between the two.  Again, that is a learning experience that will be corrected (additionally, this isn’t the final location of the Faire — that is more likely to be Underwood Farms off Tierra Rejada in Moorpark.

A lesser problem was the merchant mix. This was likely due to the change in scheduling, and the fact that many merchants had probably committed to other Faires or wanted to see how this one would fair before making the financial committment. Many merchants were local to Simi Valley or Ventura  County (this is a good thing), including Faire favorite Hearts Delight. You can see a full list here. The mix that was there was good; I just found myself wanting more (especially this close to the holidays). Again, I expect this to be fixed in the future.

Food was good, with the usual faire items present. A big plus was the presence of Cup My Cakez  (from Santa Clarita) with delightful gluten-free vegan cupcakes. Alas, the ability to eat gluten-free didn’t carry through — most of the meat items had soy sauce or were in pastry (but Karen did find something — the pork ribs from PC’s Bar and Grill). Hopefully that will improve with a larger Faire.   The food I had (cupcake, calzone) was very good.

I found with this Faire it was much easier to interact with the guild people and learn about history. There was lots of fabric artworking on display, as well as other activities. The Faire also had a masters pavilion where a number of historical masters were present; I didn’t get a chance to explore it.  We did see a few shows — the Belles of Bedlam, the Passado Action Theatre, and Parrot Cove Morris Dance (we had been hoping it was Nicole’s Morris group — alas, it wasn’t). All were good.

Attendance at the Faire was very good — I think that Actors Rep of Simi correctly guessed that a local Ventura County faire would be a strong draw. Having the Faire in the community also helped (unlike Santa Fe Dam, which is a schlep for many). The vast majority were costumes either somewhat correctly, or at least inoffensively (I guess I’ve finally gotten used to the pirate, steampunk, and fantasy garb). The one major costume standout (which was a wonderfully executed costume, but just wrong) were the three people that beamed down from Deep Space Nine in full 24th Century Star Trek garb. I contrast this to the Dam Site Faire, where there are far too many “slutty” costumes, Jack Sparrow pirates, and costumes that just make you go “huh?”. I’ll note that the Ventura County location seemed to draw from a different socioeconomic pool, but I attribute that more to this Faire being much closer to the original Faire in concept and execution — and thus, much less likely to draw from the mass market of the SoCal basin than the Dam Site Faire does.

Ultimately, what was my assessment? For a first-time effort out the door — very good. Yes, there were a few hiccups. A wise Kindergarten teacher I once assisted once told me “The first time you do something, it’s not a mistake.” Hiccups, for a new group doing an activity like this, are to be expected and are learning opportunities for future Faires. They drew a good size crowd, they served lots of food, I didn’t hear merchants grumbling, what needed to be covered in burlap was covered in burlap, and the people I saw appeared to be having a good time. Once people got it and past the lines, I heard no growsing or complaining. Those working at Faire seemed to be loving it, and everyone seemed to be very happy to have a local Faire back in Ventura County.

In short, huzzah to Actors Rep of Simi Valley and the Simi Valley Cultural Association for pulling this off. I’m proud to have supported their Kickstarter, I look forward to the first full Faire in August 2014, and I look forward to a long history of Renaissance Faires back in the area where the Faire was born — in the hills of the Santa Monica and Santa Susanna Mountains of Southern California.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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Today was our annual visit to the Southern California Renaissance Faire at the Santa Fe Dam site (hence, “the dam faire”) [although I'll note there is a small possibility of a second visit due to the Marketplace Weekend]. As such, it is time for the annual game of Pick The Worst Costume. After all these years, the Faire must be getting to me, as I’ve grown numb to the fairy wings, the pirates, the barbarians, and even many of the belly dancers that seem to show up. However, every year there are at least a few costumes that have me shaking my head.

In the men’s competition, we have two contestants. Contestant #1 was dressed as a barbarian, with coupious butt cheeks visible that he kept adjusting. He appeared to be creating the illusion he was commando, although one could detect a small leather thong from the side as he kept playing. Male contestant #2 was this older fellow, in a 1960s peace symbol T-shirt, with an incredibly gaudy and tacky hat.

On the female side, there were a number of folks who I didn’t get pictures of. There was the young miss in a faire-style corset with her frontsets on display… in a thin-white see-through T-shirt. There were the numerous belly-dancers that made you do double takes. There were the girls dressed as pirates, complete with beards and mustaches. But I did get pictures of a few. There was this lovely young pirate thing, exposing quite a bit of skin. But perhaps even worse was this angelic vision in high heels, wandering around the Shire.

But as I said, most of the costumes were somewhat tolerable (although, as always, I invite you to share your stories of bad costumes). The rest of the Faire was great. Moonie was hilarious as usual, especially when his Eagle Scout volunteer did unexpected things. Shopping was good and we got stuff at most of the usual places (Schulps (new mug for Karen), Oberon (in Tower of London) (new pouch for me, new belt for Karen), Hearts Delight (new bodice for Karen), Bullseye Leather and Clothing (new pants for me)), plus some new places for jewelry for Karen and Erin.

In August, we’ll hopefully be visiting a new faire: Nottingham Festival (Facebook). According to the Actors Rep of Simi, who are organizing the event:

Since the Renaissance Pleasure Faire left Agoura, there has been a desire to bring a more accessible, regional faire back to the Ventura county area. During the last two weekends of August, and the first weekend of September of 2013 (including Monday – Labor Day), the Nottingham Festival will recreate the magic and revelry of an Elizabethan field and marketplace, replete with more than 100 vendors of various goods and merchandise, over 1000 costumed entertainers, including strolling musicians and jugglers, street actors and dancers, plus horse tournaments and special events for children and adults of all ages. There will also be several performance stages featuring children’s theatre, exotic dancers, musicians, and a community theatre stage. During the week, the reenactors will offer field trips for school children who will be able to experience first hand (and hands-on) the lifestyle and handicrafts of the 16th Century. With a daily estimate of three to four thousand attendees, faire organizers; Jan Glasband; Creative Artistic Director, Josie Hirsch; Corporate Operations Officer and Andrew Elkins; General Manager, are expecting a total of about 25,000 over the course of seven days. Proceeds from the Nottingham Festival will be donated to local non profit organizations, community projects and the development of arts educational programs for youth. The festival will take place in an area adjacent to the cities of Moorpark, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks on a 150-acre parcel of land owned by the Cassar family of Moorpark, just west of the 23 Freeway at the corner of Tierra Rejada and Moorpark Road. Those wishing to participate as a volunteer, vendor or entertainer, please contact Andrew Elkins at andrew@nottinghamfestival.com. For more information, visit our website: www.nottinghamfestival.com.

Lastly, for those in the Bay Area, Erin has indicated an interest in attending both Northern Faire and Dickens during the fall semester 2013 at UC Berkely. If you would like to get in touch with her for that, drop me a note and I’ll pass it on.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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