fifth annual N.H. Renaissance Faire storms Kingston

There will be knights engaged in live steel combat. Pirates. Privateers. Belly dancers. Cannons. Thieves. Need a wench or a strapping young lad? Both will be auctioned at the fifth annual New Hampshire Renaissance Faire on Saturday and Sunday, May 16 and 17. Held at Three Maples Art & Nature Camp in Kingston, the weekend fair will raise money for OdysseyNH and the NHSPCA.

The event will be filled with activities and games, as well as local artwork and educational demonstrations. The Corr Theives will teach viewers the art of cheating, while members of Neville and Companye don suits of armor and cross swords in battle. Black Rose II will offer gunpowder demos with historically accurate firearms, and the Historic Highlanders will replicate Scottish life from centuries past.

And, of course, Wolfe Argent will portray “members of the Second Chambre of the Third Escadre of the Tenth Company of the Ordonnances of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, their families, and the support personnel of the company.”

Fair founder Shannon McCracken-Barber admitted that she is not an expert on the European Renaissance period spanning the 14th to 17th centuries. But many of the featured acts at the fair are.

“I’m no historian, but I do try to get people in the fair who are. Some people really, really get into the whole history of it,” she said. “Those folks spend years studying the period, the culture and the clothing—the whole spiel.”

McCracken-Barber, who designs costume accessories for GypsyRoses.org, started the N.H. Renaissance Faire after a similar event in Lebanon, Maine, stopped running five years ago. Almost every state has its own Renaissance fair, she said, but the cancellation in Lebanon left a gap in northern New England.

In years past, New Hampshire held its fair in October, on the heels of the multi-week Connecticut Renaissance Faire. But the event often suffered from chilly weather, and McCracken-Barber decided to shift this year’s celebration to spring.

Since its inception, the fair has raised more than $3,500 for various charities. McCracken-Barber said she selects charities each year based on which area organizations are most in need of aid. Over the last two years, the event raised about $2,800 for the N.H. Food Bank, she said.
This year, conscious of the housing foreclosure crisis, McCracken-Barber decided to raise money for two organizations that offer shelter. Proceeds collected at the gate will go to OdysseyNH, while money from the wench auction will go to the NHSPCA. “That way, we can help all kinds of people in need of shelter—animals and people,” she said.

McCracken-Barber personally juries the fair’s artists and merchants, giving preference to local handcrafters and artisans. “I really want to encourage the community aspect and have people talking to the artists themselves,” she said.

While some Renaissance fairs take themselves very seriously, offering only historically precise demonstrations, New Hampshire’s fair is a little looser. Elves, dragons and fairies are not uncommon sights, McCracken-Barber said.

Nevertheless, many of the professional reenactments are remarkably accurate, replicating the Renaissance period’s clothing and culture down to the minutest details. “Some of the people that do the historical reenactments will even sew by hand their entire costumes,” McCracken-Barber said. “We want to encourage education at the fair.”

Situated on about 40 acres of farmland and woods, Three Maples offers a scenic venue for the fair. The event drew about 900 patrons last year, plus around 300 volunteers, performers and merchants. This year, McCracken-Barber hopes to bring in between 1,200 and 1,500 patrons.

The fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Passes are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for children ages 5 to 12, and free for children under 4. For directions and more information, visit www.nhrenfaire.com.