Me and my "Non-renaissance" friends decided to go pay them a visit.We drove maybe 40 minutes south of Atlanta to this giant field that had been turned into a medieval town. We watched Jousting, and had tea with the fairies (well actually the fairies had tea with us-THE FAERIES!). We ate turkey legs with no utensils, and tried on armor and sword fighting. We had a blast! Since moving to NYC, I have not made it out to the renaissance festival upstate where Tisza (who now also lives in NYC) continues to work every summer. Part of the reason is that like most New Yorkers, I gave up my car and have no real way to get there, and am iffy about taking public transportation outside of the 5 boroughs. I love the Ren Fair. I think it's because growing up in Hawaii we never really got to experience medieval life even though we had our own Hawaiian kings and queens. It's very different.
Herbelicious called me one Sunday morning and said that there was a medieval festival in Fort Tryon Park in Washington Heights. I quickly did an Internet search and found a link to the annual festival. Last year 40,000 people attended! Was this a renaissance festival being held yearly here in the city right under my nose? I called my friend's Ben and Tom who live right near the park to ask them. No Answer. An hour later, Herbelicious and I were in a gypsy cab on our way to Fort Tryon Park.
On the way there Ben called. "Hey guys! Why don't you stop by our apartment and we can head over to the medieval festival together". Herbert and I asked the gypsy cab driver to drop us off near 190th street. From there we headed to Ben and Tom's Apartment. Outside of their apartment building was a "Medieval Flea Market" that the residents of their building had put together. Nothing of interest to me (though I will need things for my new apartment October 15, I’m not sure what my decor will be so I will hold off).
"Hey Guys... how are you?" said Ben. "You know..." said Tom, "We have never been to this festival. Every year it falls on a weekend that we are never in town for. This will be our first year!"
We walked to the park noticing the Goth and medieval folk dotting the crowd along the way. Just like the Ren fair in Atlanta, these people were the people who came here because this was one of the acceptable places to be dressed this way in public (well besides the East Village). I thought how great it was that this was happening before Halloween when costumes were abundant. I secretly wished I had dressed up, maybe in a leather coat of armor with spikes, or as a fairy prince with glitter and wings.
It was the perfect fall day to hold such a festival. It was cool but not too cold, and the sun was shining brightly. As we entered the park, the group organizing the event asked a donation of $2.00. I was expecting to see the park turned into a medieval kingdom just like in Atlanta.
Instead, it was more like a medieval street fair held in the park. Tents lined the sides of the walkways with artisans displaying their goods as well as minstrels and street performers. What I was not expecting to see was how crowded the walkways were. They were so packed I understood now how 40,000 people could be at this event.
I stopped by a tent where women were spinning yarn and weaving. I watched for a moment. Ben and Tom stopped by a boy wowing the crowd with his skill at Devil Sticks. He was adorable! We watched for a few minutes.
Suddenly I heard the sound of belly dancing cymbals and drums. Ever since attending Habibi here in NYC, I have been intrigued with belly dancing. I'm a pretty good belly dancer myself. The hip movement in belly dancing is so similar to Tahitian hula that I picked it up very quickly.
I rushed to the where the drums were just in time to catch the start of several full figured women dressed as gypsies belly dancing right there in the street. I noticed that though they were dressed like gypsies, they had on belts that looked very Polynesian, almost Tahitian in fact. Their belts had shells and tassels that accentuated their hip movements. I need a belt like that for Habibi!
While I was watching the dancers, Ben and Tom headed over to the “Ye Fried Dough" stand for some funnel cake. I really wanted a turkey leg, but didn't want to stand in a line that was half a mile long for an 8.00 piece of turkey. It smelled so good though. I'll get one on the way out I thought to myself, that way I can take it home and eat it with rice.
As we headed to the center of the park, we ran into a wizard and a wench. I quickly took the opportunity to be photographed with them as "Wenches, Wizards, and William!"
At the center of the park, we found an "arena". This was where the jousting would take place. Currently there was no jousting, only a man doing tricks with a hawk. I wasn't clear if there would be jousting.
Near the jousting arena was another food area. Now was my chance to get a turkey leg. The lines looked shorter here! “No More Turkey Legs—SOLD OUT” read the sign. Damn!
It was there that someone nudged me and said “what is this? Medieval hip hop?” I turned in time to catch a guy in full medieval attire WITH…corn rolls! Corn rolls of blond weave in black hair! He was really into the spirit! AWESOME!
We continued past the interactive storytellers deeper into the park still. This was actually my first visit to Fort Tryon Park.
In the middle of the park stands a large building, almost like a castle. Herbelicious and Tom explained to me that a lot of the old convents in New York were brought here brick by brick from old convents and castles in Europe. This was once a convent, but now was a museum. I’ll have to check it out on another visit.
We headed down and around, stopped and watched a Magician, and back up again. It was there that I saw the maiden riding what appeared to be a UNICORN!
Not even at the Ren Fair in Atlanta did I ever see a unicorn! “It’s not a horse father, it’s a YUUUUUNEEEEECORN!”
It was on our way out that I noticed the fenced off area full of kids in armor and Nerf swords fighting.
It was like a dog run—if you know your dog… err… kids are cry babies or too aggressive, or you don’t want them to get hurt, don’t put them in! The kids in there were going crazy! I was just like that as a kid, except instead of a Nerf sword, I had a plastic samurai sword that came in a two pack from the corner store in Whitmore or from Big Way Supermarket.
I never got my turkey leg, and the only fairies I saw were the hot gay boys of Washington Heights who came out in droves! Eye candy everywhere! Still, it was a nice day to be out. Maybe next year I’ll dress up.
For Real! Seriously!
