You do get the medieval vibe at Renaissance Faire, an outdoor theme park in Tuxedo Park, New York that lets you travel back in time when knights and princesses held the public’s awe. That is, if, like me, your one and only point of reference is Hollywood’s “A Knight’s Tale”. As one author puts it (Marc Harzman, “Chasing Ghosts”, 2021), the medieval times was when “for centuries, the Grim Reaper ran rampant across Europe, reveling in plagues that wiped out whole towns, amassing bodies in hundreds of bloody wars, and possibly wincing at disturbingly creative methods of torture that sent victims into his arms.” Death was everywhere and a short lifespan whether by disease or the gallows was in the offing for everyday people like you and me. That is hardly the vibe you would get at Renaissance Faire.

Then again, with such bleak prospect, maybe the carnival-like atmosphere, whether or not but very surely driven by booze, was the medieval person’s way of rejoicing at just being alive, shelving the dark ages that came before and slowly easing the way for the coming of the Renaissance.

Accurate or not, however, the visitor is more than welcome to forget history and partake in the festivity instead, reveling in the notion that it is and always has been all about now. It is all fun, sport, and games. With all the frolic going on all day long, you just may not find a livelier place to celebrate life just by being alive than at Renaissance Faire.

Music:
"Hollywood Vampires" and "Bloody Knuckles" by Black Rhomb