Come out and See the Faire before the Season Ends.
"A fun time for the whole family, bring a camera and
have fun."  Oak Park Journal 2003
 

The Knights Prepare for Battle.
Oak Park Journal photo

FAIRE FACTS: 
WHAT THOU MIGHT’ST EXPECT
 

Who: More than 1,200 period artisans, merchants and performers, including jousting knights, ravishing rogues, willful wenches and bawdy beggars.

What:  A rollicking romp through Elizabethan England, complete with 16th Century games, rides, arts, crafts, food, music and dance, recreating the summer day in
1574 when Queen Elizabeth visited the English hamlet of Bristol. 
 

Gallantry and Valor on the Field of Honor
Oak Park Journal photo

 Entertainment

Sixteen stages of nonstop entertainment featuring Faire favorites such as Dirk and Guido (“The Swordsmen”), The Sturdy Beggars Mud ShowTM, and MooNiE the Magnif’Cent – Juggler, Ropewalker and Foolish Mortal.  International guest artists such as the four-time Grammy nominated Scottish Rogues, a.k.a. “the bad boys of bagpipes,” Kaminari Daiko Drummers, and Germany’s Wolgemut band with its unique brand of “Renaissance Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

Marketplace

Wondrous wares ranging from jewelry and hand-crafted leatherworks to hickory sparring weapons, tapestries and bent willow furniture.  Demonstrations by potters, glass blowers, broom caners, forgers and other working artisans. 

Food & Drynke

Roasted turkey legs, fish and chips, garlic sautéed mushrooms, corn on the cob, steak sandwiches, grilled chicken, ice cream, fruit crepes and other delicacies.  Hearty ales, fine wines, iced tea and fresh-squeezed lemonade.

When: Saturdays and Sundays, June 28 through August 24
10 a.m. - 7 p.m., rain or shine

Where: Kenosha, Wis., west of I-94 near Illinois/Wisconsin border (Russell Road exit)

Tickets $17.50 for adults and $8.50 for children (ages 5-12) at gate; parking $3 per car. & Info:  Discounts available online at renfair.com or by phone, (847) 395-7773.
 

The Many Town Folk in Costumes are Marvelous for the kids and photographers.  Come dressed yourself, but don't wear purple-that is the Queens color.
Oak Park Journal photos

The Tory Steller is Worth the Price of Admission all by Himself.
Oak Park Journal photo

Oak Park Journal animation

Visit the Dungeons and protect yourself by
observing the Law.
Oak Park Journal photo

Look at Some of the Items to See and Do

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SPEAK THEE, PRITHEE
ELIZABETHAN SPEAK

KENOSHA, Wis. (May 20, 2003) – The Bristol Renaissance Faire is hardly a spectator event.  Bombarded by the sights, sounds and characters of the era at every turn, visitors find themselves in the thick of 16th Century England.  For those who take this trip in time, the ability to pull a few choice period phrases out of their nether hose can make the journey all the more enjoyable. 

Aye, nay:  Yes, no

Carlot:  Male peasant of the lowest order

Come thee hither:  Come here.

Cony:  Rabbit or young girl

Fancy-Sick:  Love-sick, infatuated

Fie on thee!:  Shame on you!

Figure-Flinger:  A fortune teller, astrologer

Flibberty-Gibbet:  A gossipy or frivolous woman, a devil

Funumbulant:  A rope walker

God ye good den:  Good day, good afternoon

Gruntle:  The snout of a pig, hence disrespectfully, a person’s face

Habit:  Dress, attire

Hedgepriest:  An illiterate person

How standeth the hour?:  What time is it?

Laron:  Robber

Lease of Nature:  Lifetime

Monger:  A street peddler

Mumblecrust:  A toothless person, a beggar

Nether hose:  Long pants

Popinjay:  One who dresses gaudily

Prithee:  Please

Runyon:  Scurvy old woman, witch

This be too dear:  This is too expensive.

Thou art lily-livered!:  You’re chicken!

Tregatry:  Juggling, deception, trickery

Turtle:  Short for Turtle-dove, a term for endearment

Wither goest thou?:  Where are you going?

Zymurgy:  The art of fermentation, as in winemaking
 
 

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FAIRE FACTS: 
WHAT THOU MIGHT’ST EXPECT NOT
 

· Between 30,000 and 45,000 turkey legs are sold during a single, nine-week season of the Bristol Renaissance Faire.

· Approximately 100,000 gallons of ale are consumed each season.

· Queen Elizabeth’s gown weighs 40 pounds and is decorated with 3,700 beads.

· It takes the Queen two hours to get dressed.

· The Queen knights somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,080 children every season.

· The oldest performer at the Faire is 65.  The youngest is four.

· Faire-goers can enjoy 70 different musical performances in a single nine-hour day.

· First-year performers are required to complete 45 hours of classes in the Bristol Academy of Performing Arts prior to the start of the season.

· Merchants travel from as far away as California, New York and Florida to display their wares at the Bristol Renaissance Faire.

· The longest-standing merchant, Mack’s Canes, has been a part of the Faire for 25 years (dating back to Bristol’s predecessor, King Richard’s Faire). 

· Seventy-three different food items are sold at the Bristol Renaissance Faire.

· There are 670 members in Friends of Faire – sort of a Bristol Renaissance Faire fan club.
 

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ALL THE WOODS, A STAGE
Faire Folk Get Schooled in Renaissance Ways

KENOSHA, Wis. (May 20, 2003) – There’s more to being a vendor at the Bristol Renaissance Faire than grilling up a few thousand turkey legs.  And there’s certainly more to being a street performer than donning a pair of tights.  Every person who interacts with the public at the nine-week festival, from box office clerk to glass blower, attends workshops in Elizabethan language, period dress and customs.
For those 1,000-plus performers whose job it is to fill the 30-acre “stage” of the Renaissance Faire with nine hours of in-character color, every Saturday and Sunday, June 28 through August 24, training comes in the form of an intensive, five-Saturday theatrical boot camp called BAPA (b?h?-p?h) or Bristol Academy of Performing Arts.
“At the Renaissance Faire, the size of an actor’s stage is determined by how far he can be seen and heard,” said Bristol’s Artistic Director Ron Scot Fry, also referred to as the “BAPA Papa,” but rarely within his ear-shot.  “The lights are always up, and the house is always open.  The heating and cooling are eccentric at best, the floor is never swept, and the sprinkler system has a mind of its own.  There is no greenroom, actors rest ‘on-stage’ in full view of the audience.”
To prepare performers for their roles, Fry and fellow BAPA faculty conduct a rigorous class schedule of street theater, improvisation, costuming, Elizabethan history, manners, music, dialect, and vocal and physical survival.  And those are just the required courses, the curriculum also includes 38 different electives, including stage combat, swordplay, artillery through the ages, commedia del arte, court dancing, juggling, and 16th Century medicine.

Despite its admittedly playful name, there’s nothing trivial about BAPA.  Fry brings together some of the nation’s premiere authorities in their fields to instruct the Bristol Renaissance Faire cast.  Brian Posen, improv coach for Chicago’s Second City and Steppenwolf theater companies, teaches BAPA’s improvisation classes.  Mary Mascari brings her perspectives as a clown with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus to BAPA’s physical humor curriculum.
“Amidst all the noise and bustle, Renaissance Faire performers are the pegs for a unique show,” said Fry.  “The success of that show depends on our cast’s ability to create a brand new world that is four centuries old and half a continent away.  When we approach our roles with skill, spirit and integrity, we have the power to touch hearts and stir imaginations.”

Located in Kenosha, Wis., just west of I-94 at the Illinois/Wisconsin border, the Bristol Renaissance Faire recreates the summer day in 1574 when Queen Elizabeth visited the English hamlet of Bristol.  Jousting knights, ravishing rogues, willful wenches and bawdy beggars take guests on a rollicking romp through 16th Century England, down bustling lanes of colorful shoppes, spirited games, and a never-ending procession of pageants, plays, comedy, music and dance.  The Faire is open rain or shine, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday, June 28 through August 24.  For more information, call (847) 395-7773 or visit renfair.com.  Bristol Renaissance Faire: Where Fantasy Rules! 

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Saturdays & Sundays
June 28 - August 24, 2003
10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Entertainment Schedule - August 9th & 10th, 2003
Special Events: Welcome WMYX Singles Mixer on Saturday

The Royal Joust Arena
The Joust of Skill 11:00

The Royal Joust and Challenge for Queen's Favour 3:00
(Queen Sighting!)

The Joust to the Death 5:30

The Royal Falconer 1:30 · 4:00
The International Globe Stage
Breakfast with the Brass 10:20
MooNiE the Magnif'Cent 11:00 · 12:00 · 2:00 3:30 · 4:30 
The Rogues 11:30 · 1:30 3:00 · 5:30
Her Majesty's Revel 1:00 - ASL Interpreted
(Queen Sighting!)

Lord Mayors Forum Stage
Consorte Bella Donna 10:30

Zilch the Torysteller
11:00 · 3:30 - All ages
1:00 · 2:00 · 5:00 - PG-13

Prattle and Pratfall 12:00 · 3:00 · 5:30 
Costume Contest 4:00

Lady Ettie's Me Place
Tea Time With Lady Ettie 1:30 and 4:00

Mud Pit
* The Mud Show®
11:30 · 1:00 · 2:00 3:30 · 5:00 * PG-13

Bessie's Harbour Stage
Washing Well Wenches 10:30 · 12:00  2:30 · 4:00

Cheshire Chase Action Theatre
Dirk & Guido: The Swordsmen!
11:30 · 1:00 · 3:30

The Wedding of Maid Marian and the Sheriff
2:00 - ASL Interpreted
(Robin Hood Sighting!)

The Hanging of Robin Hood
4:30 - ASL Interpreted
(Robin Hood Sighting!)

Midsummer Stage
Minstrels of Mayhem
10:30 · 12:00 2:00 · 5:00 
Consorte Bella Donna 11:30

William Shakespeare's The Wit of Will
1:00 · 2:30 · 4:00

Seelie Court
3:30 (Sunday only)
Dirk & Guido: The Swordsmen! 5:30
Musicians' Revel 6:10 
Her Majesty's Closing Parade 6:50
(Queen Sighting!)

Front Gate
Opening Ceremonies
9:45 - ASL Interpreted
(Robin Hood Sighting!)
Guilde of St. Michael Shire Patrol 10:15
Royal Parade 12:45
(Queen and Robin Hood Sighting!)

Closing Ceremonies 7:00
Queen Sighting!

Around the Shire...
Robin Hood and His Merry Men!
Meet Robin! 1:50 and 4:20

Cheshire Chase Action Stage Kids!!!
Join Robin's
Merry Band in the Queen's Parade!
Meet at 12:30 

Front Gate

Note: Children must be old enough to march without parents and to keep a goodly pace. Maximum of 10 children.

Fountainside Gazebo
CrossRogues 11:00 · 1:30 · 2:30 3:30 · 5:00

Bounding Main
11:30 · 3:00 · 5:30 Seelie Court (Sunday only)
1:00 · 4:30 Consorte Bella Donna 4:00 
Guildehall Center Stage
Old Soles 11:00 · 1:00 2:00 · 3:00 5:00

Billy Miller and Friends
11:30 · 2:30 · 4:00

Craig of Farrington 12:00
Corey of Kent 1:30 · 5:30

Farley the Fiddler
3:30 · 4:30

Tuscany Taverne
Gypsy Guerrilla Band
1:00 to 4:00 4:30 · 5:30

A Faire Noyse
12:00 · 4:00 5:00

Pig n' Whistle Tavern
Seelie Court 11:30 - Sunday only 

Rafferty the Piper 12:00 · 1:00 · 2:30 3:30 · 5:30

Minstrels of Mayhem 4:00

The Rogues 4:30

Consorte Bella Donna 5:00

Maypole
Dancing with the Bristol Buskin Frolic 10:10 · 5:00

The Hamlet
Bristol Buskin Frolic Tumblers 11:30

Royal Recorders 3:30 · 5:00 

Farnham Way
Drum Jam Hosted by Antone the Great 6:15

Shoplatch Lane
Bristol Buskin Frolic Mummer's Play 11:00

Royal Recorders 11;30 · 1:00 · 2:30

Queen's Kitchens
Bristol Buskin Frolic Irish Steppers 12:00
Bristol Buskin Frolic Tumblers 4:00

Old Trader's Wharf
Bristol Buskin Frolic Mummer's Play 3:00

Dirty Duck Inn / Guilde of St. Lawrence
11:30 Lollygagging and Chores
12:00 Denizens and Citizens of Bristol Luncheon
2:00 Cleanliness is Next to Godliness
3:00 Lollygagging and Chores
4:00 Games - Welcome to Join in the FUN!
Thistle Croft - Celtic Living History
Daily Life / Arts and Crafts Demonstrations. Most demonstrations take place throughout the day. Specific crafts are featured at time liste. New this year! Metal casting!
11:00 Leather Crafts, Woodwork and Metalwork
12:00 Prairie's Edge Scottish Dancers
12:00 Cookery
2:00  Lacemaking, Spinning, Weaving and Illumination
2:30 Prairie's Edge Scottish Dancers
3:15 The Great Kilt Fold
5:00 Prairie's Edge Scottish Dancers
5:30 Irish Steppers with the Bristol Buskin Frolic and Music, Games and Stories
St. James' Priory / The Guilde of St. George
10:30 Sunday Church Service - near Fountainside Gazebo
11:30 Courtly Music and Dance
1:00  Her Majesty's Table Setting Ceremony
1:30 Presentation of the Nobility (Queen Sighting!)
1:45 Her Majesty's Feast (Queen Sighting!)
2:00 Entertainments, Festivities features dancing with the Bristol Buskin Frolic (Queen Sighting!)
2:30 Courtly Music and Dance (Queen Sighting!)
3:30 Elizabethan Court Clothing Presented
6:00 Audience with the Queen (Queen Sighting!)
English Military Camp / The Guilde of St.Michael
11:00 Trebuchet Firing
12:00 Weapons of War / Parade Muster 
1:30 Barber Surgeon Demonstration
2:30 Bristol Buskin Frolic Entertaining the Troops
3:00 Pike Drills
3:25 Musket Patrol
4:00 Trebuchet Firing / Musket Firing
4:30 Kiddie Pike Drills - Kids Welcome!
6:00 Weapons of War / Morality Play