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Fairfield Renaissance Faire is April 26-27
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FAIRFIELD – For the third year in a row, Fairfield will host a two-day spring Renaissance faire at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.
This year’s event will be Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days. Admission is $10 for those 12 and up, and for under 12, the admission is $1 or a food drive donation.
Katrina Vincent is the organizer of the event, who is in her first year in that role after previous organizer Claudia Mast passed her the baton. Vincent has a long history with Renaissance faires, attending them since she was a teenager, working at them as a vendor for the past six years, and last year she and husband Craig even hosted a faire on their 18-acre property in Denmark, Iowa.
Vincent said she’s hoping to double the attendance at this year’s Fairfield Renaissance Faire compared to last year when about 500 people came over the two days. The faire figures to be bigger than ever with three stages hosting activities instead of one, and doubling the living history encampments from one to two. Thirty-six vendors have signed up to sell their wares, about 50 percent more than last year.
Vincent said she operates this faire as a 501c3 nonprofit, and has given away 4,000 tickets to students in the Fairfield, Mt. Pleasant, Ottumwa and Cardinal school districts. Attendees at the faire will be treated to live, unscripted battles and re-enactments courtesy of the Guardians of the Black Forest and the Skjaldborg Vikings. Vincent said she hasn’t seen the Vikings in person yet, but she has seen the Guardians, and knows that they are fully armored and use steel weapons.
One of the fun parts of a Renaissance faire is taking on an alternate persona, and Vincent and her husband pretend to be Italian merchants from the Republic of Venice in the 1600s. She said some patrons dress in kilts as if they were Scottish or Irish, while others dress as royalty and still others dress as peasants.
“We have people who are French and they speak in an accent,” she said.
The living history encampments offer not just action but also education, demonstrating leather tanning, woodworking, blacksmithing and more.
“We have other interactive things like henna temporary tattoos, and fancy braiding that women did with their hair back in the day,” Vincent said.
Other activities include a visit from King Henry and Queen Katherine, Scottish bagpipes, Japanese drums, a storyteller and a kids’ quest. Vincent said there will be two four-person bands, giving patrons a chance to hear live music six times per day.
The event will include food vendors such as Amos Fabulous Foods, Sweet ‘n Saucy, The Cut, a 10-year-old girl selling lemonade, Spire Drink Co., two dessert stalls, plus wine and mead.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
