In mid-October Jake and I made it back to King Richard’s Faire. The gigantic festival in Carver MA has recently moved locations after decades in the same forest. We haven’t been in a few years due to distance and expense, and so were excited to go an see how the faire has changed.
What we wore: up top, another re-mixing of our wonderful and versatile costume closets. My skirts are old, but have gotten so much wear! I made all of the under-layers, skirts, bustle pillow, apron, but the bodice is Crimson Leather and accessories were yard sale finds or special acquisitions. The weekend we attended was “Highland weekend” with kilt contests and things, so I wore my new tartan scarf that I got on our recent vacation to Nova Scotia. Jake wore his favorite pair of fair pants that I sewed out of a vintage shower-curtain along with his orange Moresca top and a green jerkin that I sewed but turned inside out to reveal the red-velvet lining. This is why we make the lining look nice–because sometimes our customers (husbands) want to wear them inside out. I also made his hat, which received the most compliments of the day.
The new Faire Grounds seem to be some former entertainment complex with a mix of pre-existing infrastructure like the large front gates, loud-speakers, concessions stands, and plumbing. The faire clearly did some augmenting and building of new permanent structures for vendors and stages in the renaissance style. The whole thing was very immersive, if largely on concrete walkways instead of in the forest–better than a straight field.
The entertainment as always was a highlight of this faire. Upon arrival we enjoyed Taiko drumming by performers out of Florida that made me very nostalgic for grade-school orchestra. I have been drumming more in conjunction with dance, but I do miss collaborating with other musicians regularly. Following the drumming at the same stage was a trained doggie-pirate show! Some very cute sea dogs hunted for treasure and ran circles around their captain-trainer-mom.
The shopping was fine, but sadly a few note-worthy vendors from the previous faire location chose not to continue their relationship with King Richard’s Faire in 2026. The vending restrictions seemed perhaps a bit less strict, with vendors allowed to exhibit a more variety in their shops, breaking with the former King Richard’s tradition of limiting what sorts of items each dealer can sell to avoid price competition. One shop that impressed me was a handmade leather boutique featuring one-of-a-kind convertible bags, water-bottle slings, wallets, hike, etc. It wasn’t cheap but I appreciated the variety and unique options within. Definitely not a vendor re-packaging things you can order online, like so many others.
Jacques Ze Whipper had some fresh material now that he’s become a full-time carnie, and apparently, quite famous on the internet. We’ve been attending his shows at King Richards for the past decade but this was the first time there was such heavy reference to his online presence and pop-culture, lots of which made me feel very old.
