Some people believe they should’ve been born in a different time or place. Some people simply wish that, but others actually make it happen—at least for a weekend.
For those whose heart belongs to the late 1500s or early 1600s, Justin LeCavalier of the Living Knights has brought the English Renaissance to Lompoc. The Lompoc Renaissance Festival will offer visitors a glimpse of life in a working castle. Guests will get to see how the residents lived, worked, and played in that long-ago time and far-away place.
“When you walk through the gate, you will be greeted by costumed actors,” LeCavalier said. “If you are in regular clothes, like jeans and a T-shirt, you will be the one in costume.”
There will be a sword fighting demonstration, leather workers, clothiers, face painting, basket weaving, vintage fabric dyeing, blade vendors, game booths, and food galore. Guilds will provide entertainment and ambience, and belly dancers and singers will be dancing around the street.
Feast on turkey legs, coffee, crepes, meat pies, and sausages. Partake in an archery tournament or have a pint of ale.
“It becomes a whole different environment,” LeCavalier said. “You’re thrown back in time, and if you spend time in the environment, you believe you are back in time.”
The Living Knights are theatrical performers who reenact the Renaissance period at festivals up and down the state. Most of the characters and vendors seen at Renaissance festivals are members of such a guild: an organized group of like-minded folks who travel from festival to festival, becoming members of the Renaissance.
LeCavalier set out to start a local faire because, besides events in San Luis Obispo and Ojai, there are no other Renaissance festivals nearby. It took about 18 months and a lot of finger crossing to prepare, but LeCavalier will see his efforts come to fruition the last weekend in March.
He said he was surprised at the amount of participation and support he’s received. He was hoping for 15 or 20 vendors. At last count, he had 25 vendors lined up—with the possibility of seven more. Some vendors are traveling from as far away as Nevada and Oregon. The festival also attracted at least 13 guilds.
Rasha Wyndsong, of the local Gypsy Pyrates guild, said the character she portrays—a male ship commodore—was knighted at the last festival she attended, so the Lompoc festival will be the first one she participates in as a knighted character.
Wyndsong said she’s been participating in Renaissance festivals for 34 years, and was lured by the chance to get lost in another time.
“I was born in the wrong era,” she said. “I should have been back in the days of knights in shining armor and chivalry and all that. That’s where my heart is.”
She said visitors will find the Gypsy Pyrates’ ragtag encampment to look much like what a band of sailors would set up while on shore. The characters will do a lot of what they call “gigging,” also known as ad lib interaction with visitors. But it’s not all about fun and games.
“Even though we’re playing and we’re acting, we’re also teaching about what it was like to live in that time,” Wyndsong said.
Each guild has a story, and so do the vendors. The North Star Penguins sell ice to all the other vendors. Robert Hall, who portrays Capt. Victor Roberts, explained that the Penguins use the cover of being privateers to the queen and travel to the far north to collect ice and bring it back to the lands that don’t have ice, from the New Colonies down to the Caribbean. In actuality, they are pirates who will overtake an enemy ship during their travels, should they happen upon one.
Hall said some of the local guilds have been dressing up and handing out fliers around town to promote the festival. The excitement is in the air.
“Everyone’s excited about it,” he said. “It’s something new, and it’s right at our back door.”
LeCavalier said this festival will be a little different from the average festival in that it won’t adhere to a strict time frame. That will allow a little more flexibility in actors’ choice of costumes. Thus, visitors will see gypsies and belly dancers and pirates and a variety of vendors.
One thing Renaissance visitors won’t see however, is jousting. LeCavalier explained that, in keeping with the theme of castle life, jousting was ousted. During the time, he said, it would’ve cost thousands upon thousands of dollars—or the Renaissance England equivalent—to put on a joust, so it’s not something that would’ve been seen in typical castle life.
“The local 4-H will be bringing in animals, which you don’t typically see at Renaissance festivals,” he said, “but it’s what you would’ve seen in a castle.”
To that end, LeCavalier also did away with royalty. He explained that the goings on will be taking place while the king and queen are away.
If the festival is embraced by the community, LeCavalier hopes to make it an annual event. And next time, it may portray the Renaissance in another country, such as France, Italy, or the Middle East. After all, he noted, the Renaissance didn’t just take place in England. But it all depends, of course, on the success of this year’s event.
“I’ve enjoyed getting this ready,” he said. “It’s been stressful, but basically it’s in the community’s hands now. It’s like, ‘Hey guys, say that you want this here.’”
Arts Editor Shelly Cone asks, “Is chivalry really dead?” Let her know at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 2, 2009.