The
Killington
Renaissance Festival
Photos by Lise Winne ©2004
Her Majesty
the Queen tries to keep peace in her realm between fighting factions while
greeting us all to the faire. In this photograph, one of her loyal, yet Irish,
subjects speaks of the advantages of being aligned to
England
and the Queen while one of his countrymen (at right coming up the steps) looks
on in rage and disgust.
The Killington
Renaissance Festival, held at
Pico
Mountain
the first two weekends of August (2004), has been running since 1998, but this
was our first year performing for the faire.
The festival, in effect, starts on Friday
evening (before the gates at
Pico
Mountain
open on Saturday) at several area restaurants including Cortina Inn, Cascades,
Heli’s and the Red Clover Inn with “Royal Meals”, complete with menus from
Elizabethan England. Entertainment is provided at several of the restaurants by
the festival’s entertainers.
The second
weekend of the event also featured an evening performance of “Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead” by Tom
Stoppard. The play is a
hilarious interpretation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, told from the view-point of
Hamlet’s befuddled friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
The faire also
featured the following:
22 arts and crafts vendors (includes clothes and
accessories)
3 food vendors (turkey legs and pork pockets included)
3 musical groups
16 actors
magic shows
skits throughout the day (includes sword-fighting)
knighting ceremonies
birds of prey demonstration
dancing (participatory, including English Country Dancing)
face-painting
labyrinth
fencing and juggling lessons
human chessboard
horse carriage rides
fire-eater
Our fellow musicians included a large group from
Cape Cod
called “The Solstice Singers”, performing madrigals, instrumentals and
period songs incorporating acting and dance into their routine. They often
perform Christmas concerts with the Boston Pops and were a great group of people
to know. They have fun together and were eager to reach out to other musical
groups. On our last day together we collaborated a bit, always a wonderful
experience for everyone, including the audience.
Also featured were a duo from Massachusettes called “The Harper and the
Minstrel”, also known as Sellador, the Harper, and Tarma, the Minstrel. They
play a lot of Irish pieces as well as compositions from John Playford, King
Henry the Eighth, J.R.R. Tolkien and Turlough O’Carolan. Their performances
are also sprinkled with a few of their own compositions. We all marveled at
Sellador’s carved harp, fluid playing and flowing robes and Tamara’s
beautiful vocals, which have a similar timbre to Loreena McKennit’s. Sellador
and Tamara also perform at King Richard’s Faire in Carver, MA and at the Maine
Renaissance Faire in Lebanon,
ME.
The Solstice Singers
Sellador, the Harper
and Tarma, the Minstrel
|
Three of our boys from The
Spirites Consort
|
Her Majesty’s
Court taking to goading, swords and blows
|
More depictions of
"mortal" combat
|
"Take that!!!"
|
The Queen attempts to
discipline
|
Carriage ride for
the Queen and her entourage
|
Her Majesty's
subjects await her permission to
proceed to the ceremonies
|
Another photograph
of the opening ceremony
|
The Faire gate
with ski slope in the background
|
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