Over the last few weeks in passing conversation I’ve made mention to friends of an upcoming event in November. So help me, more often than not the announcement of the upcoming Louisiana Renaissance Festival has literally brought squeals of delight.
It’s been more than a decade since there was such an event in the New Orleans area, held at Lafreniere Park in Metairie, so apparently there has been a void, a longing, a sadness. The positive response comes from such a wide range of people that I will trust this common consensus and find myself looking forward to experiencing a Renaissance Festival. I’ll fess up right here to say I’ve never been to a Renaissance Festival and the idea makes me giggle a little at the goofiness of it all.
The concept of a circa 1500 English village with an active festive marketplace does have a certain Xena-like appeal but my big fear of this type of event is to show up at a Renaissance Festival only to find a few hokey people in costume and not much activity. I’m highly encouraged that this will not be the case with this first annual Renaissance Festival which is to be held near Hammond for six consecutive weekends starting November 4th.
For well over a year this event has been in the planning stages and since early Spring they have been constructing an English village on an isolated wooded site complete with a private lake. The organizers aren’t willy-nilly creating this festival. For months they’ve interviewed entertainers, food vendors and craftsmen to ensure a high quality of participation. All of this information is described on their elaborately detailed website (www.la-renfest.com)
So here we go. What we’re supposed to find is a village bubbling with activity—a joust going on over there, peasants making their way through the town on errands here, a juggler plying his trade there, a sword fight between noblemen breaking out. All participants will be in Renaissance Period dress, à la Shakespearean era, which identifies their particular station in life or occupation: peasants, nobles, knights, barons or villagers such as “blacksmith, carpenter, potters, pig farmer, busty wenches, Scotsmen in kilts or men in tights.” I guess I’ll go as a busty wench.
Each day there will be various activities including an authentic full-contact jousting contest by the New Riders of the Golden Age, in full suits of 16th-century style tilting armor, who have been jousting professionally since 1982. Also each day the Birds of Gauntlet show will be presented using hawks and falcons demonstrating their skills as hunters. There will also be various musical entertainment including lute music and singing troupes.
Taken directly from their press release: “We are an ‘interactive theater’ and people will walk up to you and talk to you. Perhaps they will tell you about some rumors they heard about the King; perhaps they will have something to show you. The actor’s interactions are only limited by their imaginations and good taste.” Icky-poo.
Dozens of vendors are gathered to create a large artisan marketplace which may be good timing with the upcoming holiday shopping season. You’ll find examples of wooden swords and shields, handmade candles, jewelry, period clothing, herbal soaps and balms and even cigars for sale by the Roving Cigar Wench.
Food on site includes a variety of meat on stick dishes—steak on a stake, sausage on a stick, skewer of meat and vegetables and corn on the cob. Other interesting dishes are listed as Lord of the Realm Bread Bowls filled with beef stew, broccoli and cheese soup or creamy chicken noodle soup, fish or chicken & chips, chicken pita Caesar salad and a number of snack type foods. Libation-wise you’ll find soft drinks, hot cocoa, apple cider, beer of the Budweiser variety and although I’m not sure how potent it is, mead, an alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey and water. It’s certainly something I’m going to try.
So it appears I’m going to a Renaissance Festival. I look at it like Mardi Gras, if you’re not in costume you are merely a spectator, so a “Busty Wench” I’ll be. This all actually sounds like a lot of fun. Admission: $8.50 for adults, $5.50 for kids and a season pass for $25. Hours and dates: Every Saturday and Sunday, November 4 to December 10 and Friday November 24th, 10 a.m. to Sundown. Directions: From New Orleans head west on I-10, take I-55 to I-12 East. Take Exit #42 (Hwy 3158) north about 2 1/4 miles to a “T” at Hwy 190. Take a right, go 2 miles and turn left heading north on Hwy 1064 (River Road). The festival will be about one mile up on the right. 877-665-3057.
Might as well stay Celtic. The second annual Highland Games of Louisiana (November 17 – 19) celebrates our rich Scottish heritage through competitions based on traditional Scottish athletic games. The Southeast Scottish Amateur Athletics Association (SSAA) has chosen the small town of Jackson as the location for their fourth annual North-South Challenge Games.
Things get underway Friday evening with a Tartan Ball but Saturday is the full day of Highland Games. A street parade featuring Scottish clans and bagpipes bands will roll through Jackson at 8 a.m. By 10 a.m., everyone gathers in a spacious field to watch the various competitions which begin with the morning’s pipers and Highland dance competition. Sheep Dog demonstrations are also scheduled a couple of times during the day.
Six of the best Scottish “heavies”, the hefty athletes, from the North and six from the South represent their regions in annual competitions in a variety of events that you’re probably familiar with. Among them, the tossing of the cabor, the big log throwing feat, tossing of the sheaf, tossing a bale of hay over a goal post type structure and the putting of the stone, holding a heavy stone close to one’s neck and spinning around to toss it as far as possible.
Musically there’ll be performances by Ed Miller singing traditional Scottish folk songs and Smithfield Fair with songs sung in Scots Gaelic. A couple of food booths will provide a mix of Louisiana and Scottish fare with jambalaya, gumbo, fish & chips, haggis, shepherd’s pies, scones and Scottish meat pies. By sundown the games have ended and at 7 p.m. a Ceilidh (“kay-lee”—gathering with entertainment) will take place. While in Jackson you can also take a walking tour of this pretty historic town, making a point of partaking in some wine tasting at Feliciana Cellar Winery.
Admission: $6 adults, kinds under 12 free. Hours and dates: Saturday, November 18, 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Directions: From Baton Rouge take Hwy. 61 about 20 minutes north to St. Francisville. Turn onto Hwy. 10 east which will bring you straight into Jackson, about 10 miles. Phone 225-634-7397 or www.lahighlandgames.com
Julie Posner publishes Huli’s Calendar of Louisiana Festivals and Events. The 2001 edition now available. 504-733-5923.
