I grew up in the Houston area, close enough to the Texas Renaissance Festival that I had friends who worked there every fall. As a young pre-teen, I went with my big brother and his friends, feeling very cool in doing so. As I got older, there were different things that appealed to me. In high school, I was a theater kid, so being able to walk around in a costume, watch plays, and speak in a cringingly-bad British accent was a day well-spent.

In my 20s, having found Wicca, the Renaissance festival was where I could find goddess figurines, and moon and pentacle pendants. (An exciting thing, as this was before those things could be found easily online.) Better yet, I could connect with other pagan folk.

Now, I can see that beauty of the Renaissance festival was that I — and hundreds of others — could be our decidedly non-cool selves…the SCA nerds, LGBTQIA+, D&D players, or just people who liked to play pretend. And for a day, we, miraculously, could feel safe, comfortable…and maybe even a little cool.

I’ve learned some fascinating stories about Renaissance festivals that I can’t wait to share with you this Sunday. Come in your RenFaire garb, and stay for our own RenFaire 2024!