What a great opening weekend for the 20th Anniversary Season of Scarborough! To begin with, the weather was nothing short of remarkable: cloudy and cool on Saturday, sunny and warm on Sunday but with a north breeze to keep temperatures pleasant and mild all day long. There was also quite a large "Opening Day" crowd at the gate on Saturday morning, many with Season Passes in hand (Photo, left: members of The Corsairs watch the Opening Ceremonies on Saturday morning. This photo was taken under duress -- the ladies I was with insisted upon it)! Sunday started off a bit slower, but gathered momentum throughout the day. By mid-afternoon, there was a goodly press of fairegoers -- but never so many as to make Scarborough feel crowded!
We had a great group of "Otters" for that weekend, too (Photo, right: Ryleh the Wanderer, with Chris (in black hood) lurking behind him; the Lady Pamela with her Lord, the RenGeek (aka Michael McDane Harris); Jaimie, Carolyn, Erika, Beefcake (aka Jerry) and Kayleigh (aka Shelley). On Friday night/early Saturday morning, Mike, Pam and I rendevouzed with Shelley and Jerry at the Best Western Inn in Midlothian where they had already secured weekend lodgings for our party. This put us only 30 minutes away from Scarborough -- with hot showers and a pizza palace just across the street awaiting us after faire. All of which made for a very affordable rate when split five ways!!!
We also ran into quite a few other Otters from the AFR newsgroup that weekend...among them, Frederick and Ivy with their growing family (Photo, left: Erika, Jaimie, Chris -- with one of Ivy's boys hanging over his shoulder -- and Ivy, herself). The young lad really thought Chris made a great "climbing tree"!!!
As usual, I spent way too much money at Scarborough...but I really needed that lion banner for my bedroom wall! And those back issues of Renaissance magazine, especially the "Fey" issue and the issue featuring the renaissance portraits of Lorenzo Poccianti. Not to mention the Dragon dice and a new, celtic dragon keychain for myself. Need I say more???
There were lots of great acts to see over the weekend, too: the Corsairs (Photo, left - sea shanties), the Gypsy Guerilla Band ("Hit and Run Music"), Cantigua (traditional renaissance music), Iris and Rose (bawdy ballads), the Singing Executioners (comedy with a macabre twist), Throw Up (comedy juggling), and Don Juan and Miguel (comedy swordfighting). Myself, I also got to see a few bits'n pieces of the Birds of Prey show (falconry demonstration), the Border Collies (sheepherding demonstration), Isis and the Stardancers (bellydancing), Queen Anne's Lace (traditional sounds), the Mud Show (doing Beowulf, again!), the Living Chess Match (way too crowded to see much!), Courtly dancing (yawn) and Hack and Slash (more comedy swordfighting).
What I definitely did not miss was the Royal Procession at 1pm and the mid-afternoon Maypole Dance (Photo, right). The "Dance" was hosted by the King of the Scarborough Gypsies and his caravan with both patrons and players participating. For me, this was the first time I had ever seen a Maypole Dance in its entireity from start to finish -- and I got to see not one, but three(!) variants on this most ancient rite and tradition!
Scarborough has definitely improved since my first visit, three years ago! The most noteworthy change was to the "Crown Meadow" (formerly known as The Serengeti, due to a remarkable similarity to the open, treeless, sun-drenched plain of the same name). Among other things, faire management built the Crown Pavilion behind the Rose Garden, moved several vendors' buildings into the center of the Meadow and planted numerous trees which will provide much-needed shade in years to come...
All of which strongly suggests that Scarborough the Faire will continue to improve and grow. I highly recommend the Scarborough Renaissance Festival for everyone: if you haven't been there before, you're definitely in for a treat; and if you've been to Scarborough in past years, you'll really enjoy the positive changes they've made there. This year, the season runs through June 4th. Catch it early while the weather is still good!
THE OPENING CEREMONIES--Five views of the arrival of King Henry and Queen Anne Boelyn for the Opening Ceremonies at faire.
THE ROYAL PROCESSION--six views of the Royal Procession at Scarborough.
ROYAL PLEASURES--seven views of the Court Dance, Living Chess Match and Children's Knighting Ceremony.
ENTERTAINMENTS--thirteen views of the Gypsy Guerilla Band, Isis and the Stardancers, the Beggars of M'Earth and more.
COSTUMES AND CHARACTERS--(updated 17 June 2000) 22 views of costumes and characters at Scarborough.
MERCHANTS OF SCARBOROUGH--Eleven views of select merchants and booths at the Scarborough Faire.
This page created 25 April 2000
This page updated 17 June 2000
