GOING VIRTUAL

Another growing form of community comes in the form of virtual worlds. These consist of online groups of people from around the world that not only discuss their specific interests but create and dress up personal avatars (virtual personas) and socialize within computer game environments. Services like Second Life and IMVU.com offer you the ability to be whoever you wish to be, show off, and meet like minded people. These computer generated worlds often offer a subculture of crafters of virtual products sell to their own communities. This has allowed fans to “live the Faire” all year round, and often culminate in real-world gatherings that allow the avatar’s physical counterparts to meet in the flesh. Over time the separations between these two worlds will become increasingly blurred, and it is up to us as designers to be nimble enough to change with the times.

Supporting Environments 
On Multiple Devices

It may not seem like it, but we are treading the grounds of a brave new world. A world where our audience is ever more connected with each other. Smart phones and portable tablets are becoming part of the paraphernalia your audience is taking with them to your event. Being careful not to whip out an anachronistic cel phone while in period dress is important, but we need to remain open minded about the ways your customers can experience our events, and take it home with them via their portable technologies. Photos and videos will be taken throughout your Faire, so look for opportunities to make your website mobile friendly, and if you are ambitious, consider creating an App that can include a Map of your Faire, and maybe even a way to get a discount on tickets if they download it. Portable devices are going to be the way we document our world, share our experiences, and make purchases, so thinking about the ways you can use it to promote and enhance the experience of your Faire or craft will have you better prepared for these changes as they continue to evolve..

Chapter Twelve

A NEW GENERATION of FAIRE

As a card carrying “old timer” it is all too easy to wax nostalgic and find agreement amongst other old timers that the Faires today just aren’t as good as they used to be. To do so is to be blind to a resurgence of the very same energies that created the first Renaissance Faire some 50 years ago. With the Internet making it all that much easier to find kindred spirits from all over the world, groups both large and small are gathering to create their own Faires, and in a variety of different ways. The big Renaissance Faires still exist and are doing well, thank you very much, but smaller, convention sized events are springing up everywhere. Like mini ComicCons these smaller events are stuffing convention centers with Faerie, Steampunk, and Science Fiction enthusiasts.

These are opportunities to meet like minded people, purchase crafts specific to your interest, listen to music created for your demographic and meet the authors and artists that keep your chosen fan community healthy and engaged. While the early Faires had their share of spill over from the Hippie era, today’s events are for all ages and tend to be a sober experience. Faires aren’t going away, they are evolving, and have grown into something different. Still, one thing they all have in common is that very same sense of community, a safe place where you can dress up and live out a fantasy just outside of your work-a-day life.

Ever-Changing Expectations of Your Audience

These new Faires challenge all us designers and promoters to keep on our toes as our audience’s expectations shift more often then before. Today visitors to a themed event come prepared to Play in very specific ways. They know what they want from their experience, and although some merely come to show off, others come to get involved and be “hands on”. Most consistently is that they want to take some of that experience home with them. They are coming to shop and accessorize their persona's, and bring tangible artifacts back to their homes, and they want to meet their idles. Our challenge as the designers of these events, and the crafts people populating them, is to be sensitive to the needs and desires of our audience, meeting those changing expectations with each event.

GAME BOOTHS

Game booths can be the most lucrative of businesses in a Faire, but ironically they are often the most poorly designed. This can happen when a booth is so very large, like an archery game, that themeing such an expanse can become cost prohibitive. Although I sympathize with your pain, I have to say that the ugliest booths often house games. I know there are exceptions, but before you catapult a bean bag at me or fire a dowel at my head, lets discuss opportunities game vendors have that are unique to their business.

Often the biggest challenge for any game vendor is getting visitors to actually participate in their game. This is a problem that midway games have struggled with ever since the invention of the county fair. What is unique about a Renaissance Faire is that your game can actually help transport your audience into the historical time the event is set in. Any opportunity you have of suggesting a little role playing with your game or activity will only encourage participation. Firing a bow is fun, but becoming a knight firing a bow, or wielding a sword, or winning the approving glance of a pretty booth maiden, brings your guests inside the story. If you are tossing coins, why not do it inside the mouth of a dragon (artfully painted on the canvas facade), or hurl bean bag peasants from a rampart overlooking a miniature village? Creating a large game booth can be very expensive, but it can also have the highest return for investment. Whenever possible try to stage your larger games in an environment that doesn’t overlook obvious anachronistic elements (cars, modern buildings), back your booth against a tree lined hillside if possible. If that is not possible, do the best you can to attractively block the view of un-Faire-like vistas, it will help your sales to offer an attractive experience.

Another opportunity is to elevate your barkers above the heads of the passing crowd. Building a short tower, or rigging that allows your booth people to do a better job of drawing attention to your game will succeed in letting them know how fun it will be to play your game, and add interest and energy to your corner of the Faire.

GETTING THE ACTION ABOVE THE GUESTS

Once you have broken beyond the 8 foot mark, the next obvious opportunity it to get a few people up there to help draw attention to your booth and wares. Although a structure that allows for the safe weight of a person can be more expensive, having a barker elevated above the heads of guests can add a dynamic quality to your booth that is more likely to draw customers to you. This is true of booth workers and performers sitting in the trunks of trees. Banter from over our head is just not something we often encounter in our modern lives, so take advantage of surprising your audience by making them look up for a change.

BREAKING THE 8 ft HEIGHT BARRIER

One of the challenges to designing and building a period booth with materials purchased in the 21st century is the temptation to stick with the standard dimensions offered in the lumber you buy and build with. There is a temptation to make things 8ft tall, to use up all of the materials we are given, but this tends to have the side effect of making the entire world stop at 8 feet. One way to combat this temptation is to push yourself to build both above, and below these dimensions. 6 foot tall structures appear to the modern eye as tiny, and 12 foot buildings giant, purely because we are so used to this 8 foot standard. This will also help the silhouette of your event, making the structures move your eye up and down as you wander the Faire.

Off-Season Storage

Once the Faire has ended for the season, where to store your booth or cart becomes the new problem. More often then not the collapsed parts of a booth are left to lean against the side of a garage with a loosely draped tarp over it, not always protecting it from the elements. Once the Faire is over it can seem like ages until the next one, so the care of your booth might get placed lower on your list of concerns. Fear not, I am a firm believer that Faire booths can improve with age, and if a little moss happens to grow in the corners of your beams, or mold in your thatch, it often just helps make it look the part all the more the following year. There are of course exceptions to this rule, but more often then not, a little age doesn’t hurt the overall effect... and in some cases it actually improves it.

Chapter Nine

BUILDING A CART

If you like, you could always consider foregoing a traditional booth and create a cart. This is especially good if you have small items, or your larger booth has smaller products you can also sell in a satellite location. The biggest advantage to a cart is not only the smaller booth fees, but you are mobile and can rationalize moving if your first location isn’t working for you. Carts can pepper a Faire and have the advantage of being out in front of your customers and not tucked in a corner somewhere with little hope of moving. Some carts are even mobile enough to move constantly, always going where the people are.

This is very nice if you wish to park yourself at the exit when the Faire is ending, or near the stage when a big scheduled event is imminent. Carts can come in all sizes and even include places for you to sit within them. The following sketches* will give you some ideas of what a cart might be, and maybe inspire you to dream up something unique to you and your products.

* Work in progress, sketches coming.

FAKE FACADE

This example suggests that the shop building is actually behind the booth. The structure is half the size of an all timber booth and creates a sort of stall window effect. In this case the booth is purely to act as shelter for the craftspeople, shading them with an extended patchwork awning. The counter is also timber and could include a leather-covered surface. A shield shaped tavern sign finishes off the design with graphics that could suggest the crafting guild or products being sold at this particular shop.

FAUX THATCH

As discussed before, thatching is a very effective roof material, but a challenge to get right. In this example the walls are very sturdy looking and include a fake brick base. If done well, this design could look as close as possible to a real permanent Elizabethan building. Curved supports are added for detail and curved brackets help brace the roof in each of the corners of the counter window. This is a very nice look that will be the envy of your fellow participants.

ASYMMETRY

Asymmetric:
Not identical on both sides of a central line; unsymmetrical; lacking symmetry

All of the examples so far have been very symmetrical, mainly to show various material options. Asymmetry will always make your booth appear unique and stand out. In this example a square booth is made more interesting by extending the roof to create an addition and surrounding it with a railing. This booth also elevates the floor and is especially good if you need to elevate your customer’s feet, for trying on boots for example, or giving them a surface to lay on for a massage.

BUILDING AROUND A LOCK BOX

For some, extra security is a must. One method is to start with a very sturdy, lock-able structure and clad the exterior with period details. This is also good if you are able to keep this structure on-site when the Faire is not running. The base box is weatherproof; include a watertight roof membrane, pad lock door, and interior locking shutters. In the second image you see this same box with its themeing applied to it. These can remain year round, or be stored inside between Faires.  A peak is added to the flat room and boards are placed around the base to hide the concrete supports. The old Northern California site frequently flooded during the winter months, so concrete piling were a must, but your site might not need such details. Also check with regional building codes to make sure you are not violating any rules, or making sure it is understood that your structure is a non-permanent shed. Each area will be different so it pays to double check.

STURDY BOX CONSTRUCTION

If you are lucky enough to be able to leave a booth up during the off-season, or can cart in heavier lumber, this sturdy box construction suggest a rustic quality without attempting to fake the look of timber or wattle and daub. Tall center poles act as a support for a very large banner, which acts as an embroidered graphic or shop sign.

LOCK-ABLE BOOTH

For some vendors, the ability to lock down an entire booth is a necessity. One method is to create strong wooden awnings that swing down after hours to secure the structure. This example also suggests that elements like display cases could be pulled into the center of the booth as well. This design works especially well when created a Gypsy Cart style booth, which we will talk more about in the section on creating Carts.

TIMBER FRAME BOOTH

This booth design suggests a more permanent structure and yet could still easily be delivered and erected on the site without too much trouble. The railings, counter, and back wall follow the rules established in the previous section on creating faux timbers, and include a wattle and daub textured paint applied to the plywood panels. The roof is wood shingles applied to a base sheet of plywood. This design also suggests that a tavern style sign could be used to help promote your wares and draw attention to your booth. Using a hollow post, and slipping it over a “t-bar” fence pole hammered into the ground can create this effect.

CANVAS ROOF & HARD WALLS

This example depicts a rough sawn lumber structure with a canvas roof and faux timber back wall and railing. This give the appearance of being a stall rather then a building and it might be appropriate to build your counter space on stacked hay bales. Wood is period, so using it liberally is always great, just make sure you hide any lumber stamps or telltale marks that suggest your booth might actually have originated from Home Depot.

FABRIC TOURNAMENT BANNERS AS A MOTIF

Like the previous examples, this booth design uses rough poles as the basis of its construction and drapes banners and over-sized pennants as the roof, walls, and railing. This is a nice effect and works especially nicely when the booth is anywhere near the Horse Tournament area or stables.

FABRIC WALLS

Fabric Walls

 

This booth is constructed like the Twigs & Branches design but includes a patchwork peaked roof and back wall. This design also suggests the use of twigs and brambles as a method for displaying small hanging objects. The counter is sturdy and draped in a simple cloth. The counter could include a “lock box” that would allow you to keep valuables safe when you are away between event days.

CHAPTER EIGHT

BOOTH BUILDING EXAMPLES

The following are some illustrated example of how materials might be used to create your own Faire booth. These are all based on a 8 foot by 8 foot booth space and are only meant to suggest techniques you could use in designing and building your own unique booth. These are also far from the limits of what is possible, so feel free to play and come up with something that will set you and your wares apart from those around you, and yet fit within the overall theme of the event.

Twigs & Branches

This booth is constructed using only large branches, twigs, and poles. The booth is very open with only fabric for a roof and as a view block on the lower rail. Banners and flags decorate the booth as well as a string of colored rags tied along the front edge. This is the sort of booth a traveling crafts person would build and does not include a back space or place to lock away their products. This is a very portable design, but will require you to rope it together each time you do an event. I have seen crafts people arrive with nothing more then a pickup filled with poles and branches and miraculously erect a fantastic booth from scratch. I have to admit that I am not that brave, but I have seen it done to great effect.

THATCH

Thatch is one of the oldest roofing materials and a favorite when depicting a building from this era. The problem is that a true thatch is costly, cumbersome, and not that portable. Real thatch can be a foot or more in thickness, with a very characteristic appearance. With the exception of ambitious permanent structures, real thatch is impractical, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be faked as a detail on your more temporary structure. Rather then attempting to recreate the thickness of thatch, it is better to go for something a little more theatrical. There are faux thatch materials on the market that are most often used to create tropical huts, sometimes found in Tiki themed establishments. These materials come treated with fire retardant, but cheaper quality faux thatch can have a plastic appearance. Thatch can also be faked by bundling your own reeds, straw, or other organic materials, or better yet attach them to thin strips of wood that can be layered onto the roof of your booth and easily removed and used again for a future Faire. Handmade thatch will need to be treated with fire retardant, so speak with the local fire department or your Faire organizer before considering this particular building material. Allowing the thatch to droop over the edge of your booth will suggest the curved appearance of real Elizabethan thatch, and help hide just how thin your roof surface actually is. A thatched Faire booth or building will definitely help your structure stand out, as long as it is done well, and with an eye to recreating the illusion of real thatch.

FAKE BRICKS

Brick is definitely a building material used in the periods surrounding the Renaissance, and in many ways it was more creatively used then, then in our modern architecture. There is a lot of leeway when using brick as a design motif, but like stones it is important to use materials that are convincing. Luckily there are commercial sheets of faux brick that are available, some more convincing then other, the real secret is how you distress it. Applying brick to a booth is easy enough, aging it down to not draw attention to itself is your next challenge. Like the tricks used in aging timber structures, consider applying washes of stain or watered down paint to give it the appearance of being weathered.

With brick there is also the opportunity to be a little playful. Research some of them many patterns that were used during this era and see what you can come up with. Probably the most convincing use of brick is when it is used on a booth that hides just how thin the faux brick really is. Whenever possible created the illusion of wall thickness to keep the eye from coming to the conclusion that your bricks are impossibly thin, and so unbelievable. Here are just a few examples of what is possible when laying out your brick details.

AGING YOUR BOOTH

Another method for making your booth as convincing as possible is to age it down to give it the look of a structure that has been in the weather for more then a few weekends. Ironically, and not surprisingly, the method many people use for storing their booths during the off season… usually throwing it in the back yard or leaning them up against the garage, has the unplanned effect of aging a booth quite nicely. Often the ritual of retrieving last year’s booth involves brushing off mud and vanquishing black widow spiders before loading it on the truck. Still, it would be nice to have a little more control over the aging of your structure.

One quick method is to mix up a very light wash of brown ink or very watered down paint. The consistency of this mixture should be no more then dirty water and should contain very little pigment. First wet down all the areas you intend to age, then taking a sponge soaked in the dirty liquid, begin to scrub in the wash into the corners of beams, along the base of the booth, and in and around high traffic areas like doors and windows. Think about how mother nature might distress your building, so that roof eves might shield the top of your walls while the base might get the most splash and aging. There is no wrong way to do this, so distress as much as you like, and hold back if it is feeling a little too “ramshackle” for your taste. Mostly, you are trying to remove that brand new look that comes with any recently built structure.

Ferrous Sulfate

If you are creating a primarily wooden structure (not plywood but actual wood boards and timbers) and you want to convincingly age your brand new wood quickly, then you might consider applying a Ferrous Sulfate wash. Ferrous Sulfate, also known as Copperas or Green Vitriol, is a fertilizer that is also a very effective wood stain. Dissolve 2 ounces into a pint of water and apply to any new wood surface and it will turn aged and silver by the following morning. This is a technique used widely by the Disney theme parks to make new structures look old overnight. Be sure to use this chemical with caution, as Ferrous Sulfate is moderately poisonous.