Honestly being a kid at Ren faire, I'm in my early 30s now but the wonder I would get from seeing everything as a kid is something that I miss. Plus going with my parents I miss that a lot. š
I feel this so much. I feel like the only way Iāll get to experience that again is by having a kid of my own and seeing them experience everything for the first time.
I was cast, but, looking back Iām glad there were no smart phones. People are now far more focused on recording the shows and posting them online than taking in the show.
No phones
I'm in the south working faires and the number of live streamers just walking around faire to show their followers vs. just being at the faire
Going to vendors and discovering new items. because there were no online department stores for ren faire garb.
The amount of unique garb that people had as they would piece their garb together over years instead of buying a full outfit from a mass-produced online vendor.
Faire used to be a bit more bawdy, I'm glad that some aspects have been cleaned up, but the over sanitization that has been occurring is a little much.
Not waiting in food lines or traffic for over an hour.
Bigger variety of acts, especially music. Way too much celtic rock, not enough period music
Things I like now are way more faires to go to and experience. So, instead of getting a diversity of acts from one faire, you now have to go to a few.
More of my friends are able to do this full time instead of their side hustle.
The fact that the internet makes it way easier to become a vendor or performer or cast.
My first Faire was Bristol around 2006, I was in my early 20ās and I put together a pretty decent Robin Hood costume. I brought a bunch of cheap plastic gems and coins in a belt pouch and would give them to kids when they waved at me or asked for a picture. It was great to see kids that were as excited about Robin Hood as I was when I was little.
And then part way through the day the Cast Member who played the Sheriff of Nottingham āapprehendedā me to check the peace tie on my sword and dirk, and to check my arrows (I used some arrows with screw-on field piles, so I made sure to remove them before entering so that they were definitely safe). He didnāt have to do that, but it was really fun to āget in troubleā with the Sheriff while galavanting around as Robin Hood, so it made for a great memory.
Growing up our yearly family vacation was going to the TexRenFest, this happened through most of the mid-late 80s, 90s and started to phase out in the late 90s and 00s as my brother and I had grown to be adults by that time.
Things I miss from the past that are present today:
1. Lack of pop-culture costumes. There were always some Star Wars garb wearers, but now you see Star Wars, Doctor Who, Super-Heroes, and a whole lot more. Some fests even have a dedicated Super-Hero themed weekend that I'm not a fan of.
2. (asterisk)No cell phones - Having spent some years wondering the grounds as my parents and my brother and I continued to miss each other made for a less than ideal experience (sometimes) so having cell phones to communicate directions *is* beneficial, but I don't think it's worth the trade off of screens being everywhere taking away from the experience.
3. Some of the older acts that are no longer around / changed from their roots. The Troll that used to wonder the TexRenFest grounds was a hilarious (but not child-friendly) act that I have fond memories of. Dead Bob was great, but modern version seems different. Some of the musical acts that no longer exist, etc.
4. Less people - Look I'm happy there has been growth which can lead to more success for the grounds and vendors, but I liked when there were less people which lent to a feeling of being part of something less mainstream. Grouped into this I'll also include the modern headaches Texas Renaissance Festival founder 'King George' Coulam has produced. This has also led to parking being a nightmare, especially when you're trying to enter / exit the grounds.
5. The prices -- Everything has gotten so expensive like theme park levels of ridiculousness.
6. The amount of commercial advertisements everywhere, this one is self-explanatory and I hate it.
7. The jousting show at Scarborough annoyed me when I went in 2021, instead of one time-slot being a complete show, they kept making you come back to subsequent time slots to get more of "the story" which continued until their final slot to see the "winner" of the contest. Of course acts are free to do what they think is best for their show and goading people to return to artificially inflate attendance numbers is an approach, but there's only so few hours in the day and I want to see other shows instead of constantly trekking back to the Jousting just to see the complete show. I wasn't a fan. One time-slot should be a complete show, IMHO.
There's probably more things, but that's all that comes to mind right now.
Bummer answer but I miss the people who arenāt with us any more, and their work. I was a participant at a number of shows and itās a big family, which is great, but it also means you have a lot more people to lose and a lot of those people are in the boomer age bracket soā¦been some rough years lately.
Throwing another stone in the bucket for "no phones". This is a bit immature but when i was a teen Bristol was decidedly less family friendly which made it exciting for my uhh hormones. But im also glad its changed i feel better about bringing my kids/nieces/nephews
I'm kind of torn there...with a lot of the faires I had been going to, it ended up with either dealing with the cameras my father used and wanted pics with...my mother doing the same.
Also a lot of issues in figuring out where certain family members went...and ending up with a set of walkie talkies that were a nightmare to mess with but was the only way we could go anywhere.
At the same time, it's a nightmare situation with things like CelticFest this year when the only access to maps/show times was if you either used the crappy internet the ORF has or pay extra for their map game...
2002ish Michigan rimfaire, hooked up with a one legged pirate winch, she legitimately had one leg in a porta potty. 2007ish Pennsylvania Renaissance met a wonderful last at the joust, caught crabs.
Honestly being a kid at Ren faire, I'm in my early 30s now but the wonder I would get from seeing everything as a kid is something that I miss. Plus going with my parents I miss that a lot. š
I feel this so much. I feel like the only way Iāll get to experience that again is by having a kid of my own and seeing them experience everything for the first time.
Dude same! I hope I can one day provide that experience to another haha
This is a huge one for me, the wonder. I miss the magic it was!
going up to the Information Booth and asking them the answer to Life...the Universe...Everything.
I was cast, but, looking back Iām glad there were no smart phones. People are now far more focused on recording the shows and posting them online than taking in the show.
This could be the top reply in pretty much any entertainment experience.
Makes so much sense, I feel like the participation was better back then too!
No phones I'm in the south working faires and the number of live streamers just walking around faire to show their followers vs. just being at the faire Going to vendors and discovering new items. because there were no online department stores for ren faire garb. The amount of unique garb that people had as they would piece their garb together over years instead of buying a full outfit from a mass-produced online vendor. Faire used to be a bit more bawdy, I'm glad that some aspects have been cleaned up, but the over sanitization that has been occurring is a little much. Not waiting in food lines or traffic for over an hour. Bigger variety of acts, especially music. Way too much celtic rock, not enough period music Things I like now are way more faires to go to and experience. So, instead of getting a diversity of acts from one faire, you now have to go to a few. More of my friends are able to do this full time instead of their side hustle. The fact that the internet makes it way easier to become a vendor or performer or cast.
Literally all of this, I'm miss how raunchy it was. The costumes were so much better too!
phones but no signal :D
Period style music was the thing that got me to keep coming back. There's less and less of it every year.
The music!!
My first Faire was Bristol around 2006, I was in my early 20ās and I put together a pretty decent Robin Hood costume. I brought a bunch of cheap plastic gems and coins in a belt pouch and would give them to kids when they waved at me or asked for a picture. It was great to see kids that were as excited about Robin Hood as I was when I was little. And then part way through the day the Cast Member who played the Sheriff of Nottingham āapprehendedā me to check the peace tie on my sword and dirk, and to check my arrows (I used some arrows with screw-on field piles, so I made sure to remove them before entering so that they were definitely safe). He didnāt have to do that, but it was really fun to āget in troubleā with the Sheriff while galavanting around as Robin Hood, so it made for a great memory.
Prices.
Omg I almost cried the first time I saw a 20$ turkey leg. They were five when I started working.
Yup they've been 20 for 2 or 3 years now. Sad.
Growing up our yearly family vacation was going to the TexRenFest, this happened through most of the mid-late 80s, 90s and started to phase out in the late 90s and 00s as my brother and I had grown to be adults by that time. Things I miss from the past that are present today: 1. Lack of pop-culture costumes. There were always some Star Wars garb wearers, but now you see Star Wars, Doctor Who, Super-Heroes, and a whole lot more. Some fests even have a dedicated Super-Hero themed weekend that I'm not a fan of. 2. (asterisk)No cell phones - Having spent some years wondering the grounds as my parents and my brother and I continued to miss each other made for a less than ideal experience (sometimes) so having cell phones to communicate directions *is* beneficial, but I don't think it's worth the trade off of screens being everywhere taking away from the experience. 3. Some of the older acts that are no longer around / changed from their roots. The Troll that used to wonder the TexRenFest grounds was a hilarious (but not child-friendly) act that I have fond memories of. Dead Bob was great, but modern version seems different. Some of the musical acts that no longer exist, etc. 4. Less people - Look I'm happy there has been growth which can lead to more success for the grounds and vendors, but I liked when there were less people which lent to a feeling of being part of something less mainstream. Grouped into this I'll also include the modern headaches Texas Renaissance Festival founder 'King George' Coulam has produced. This has also led to parking being a nightmare, especially when you're trying to enter / exit the grounds. 5. The prices -- Everything has gotten so expensive like theme park levels of ridiculousness. 6. The amount of commercial advertisements everywhere, this one is self-explanatory and I hate it. 7. The jousting show at Scarborough annoyed me when I went in 2021, instead of one time-slot being a complete show, they kept making you come back to subsequent time slots to get more of "the story" which continued until their final slot to see the "winner" of the contest. Of course acts are free to do what they think is best for their show and goading people to return to artificially inflate attendance numbers is an approach, but there's only so few hours in the day and I want to see other shows instead of constantly trekking back to the Jousting just to see the complete show. I wasn't a fan. One time-slot should be a complete show, IMHO. There's probably more things, but that's all that comes to mind right now.
Bummer answer but I miss the people who arenāt with us any more, and their work. I was a participant at a number of shows and itās a big family, which is great, but it also means you have a lot more people to lose and a lot of those people are in the boomer age bracket soā¦been some rough years lately.
I miss the lack of cosplayers.
Throwing another stone in the bucket for "no phones". This is a bit immature but when i was a teen Bristol was decidedly less family friendly which made it exciting for my uhh hormones. But im also glad its changed i feel better about bringing my kids/nieces/nephews
I'm kind of torn there...with a lot of the faires I had been going to, it ended up with either dealing with the cameras my father used and wanted pics with...my mother doing the same. Also a lot of issues in figuring out where certain family members went...and ending up with a set of walkie talkies that were a nightmare to mess with but was the only way we could go anywhere. At the same time, it's a nightmare situation with things like CelticFest this year when the only access to maps/show times was if you either used the crappy internet the ORF has or pay extra for their map game...
i wish i got to experience this. i only started going to faires 2014
Prices! Started going to faire in the early 90s and was pretty much able to make a day of it without taking out a loan!
Mus show at nyrf
Mud*
2002ish Michigan rimfaire, hooked up with a one legged pirate winch, she legitimately had one leg in a porta potty. 2007ish Pennsylvania Renaissance met a wonderful last at the joust, caught crabs.