SATURDAY MORNING
Since this was going to be Aviana's big day at LRF, we were both up early, getting ready for faire. Fortunately, McDonald's is only a mile down the road, so I made a high-speed breakfast run back to Hammond for the two of us. But even though we were going to need quite a bit of time transforming Regina into Aviana, we still had a moment or two to play (Photo, Left: Regina admires herself in the motel room mirror while trying on Ryleh's wreath. Being as how it was the Christmas Season, Ryleh's wreath was now made of holly instead of ivy!). Then it was off to LRF as we tried to make Gate. Talk about early: When we arrived, the parking lot was virtually empty, save for a single row of cars w-a-y in the far back. Outside of a parking attendant or two, there was hardly anyone around, but I had barely parked my truck and got out when I heard my faire name called aloud. There -- just two cars down -- were Lord Durrka and Lady Ashland (AKA Lady Ashley AKA The Aisling), (Photo, Right, taken at the New Gate of LRF: Lord Durrka, Far Left; Lady Ashland, Left of Center; Ryleh, Right of Center; Aviana, at Far Right), both of whom I had the pleasure of meeting last year at LRF! I was pleasantly surprised that they remembered me since we'd only exchanged a few emails between seasons at LRF -- but then it appeared that my portrait of The Aisling balancing a wine bottle had made something of a local faire celebrity out of her. EVERYONE who has seen that picture now recognizes The Aisling! Needless to say, I was very glad to see them both again, so after introducing them to Regina we spent some time catching up on all our news and personal happenings of the past year. Their happiest news, of course, was that of their wedding between faire seasons! Naturally, both Regina and I congratulated them warmly, with many good wishes for a long, happy and loving life together. Unfortunately, we had to cut short our updates at that time as Regina really needed to slip into her faerie garb by then. That was when I learned to truly appreciate all the hard work, time and effort not just of Aviana but of all the Fey who create and wear such wond'rous and delightful costumes to faire!

Now when I visited the Bristol Renaissance Festival way back in '97, I had the great pleasure of meeting Sir Clisto Seversword, of Sir Clisto's online "Tome of Knowledge" fame. Like most playtrons there, we all donned our garb in the parking lot before the gates of BRF. Being a knight, however, Sir Clisto required some little outside assistance putting on his armor, an honor which fell to me as I was already fully garbed and ready for faire. It soon became apparent to me that an armored knight could never adequately prepare himself for battle -- there were simply too many small pieces of armor; far too many belts, lacings and straps; and way too many buckles and cinches in far too many unreachable places -- without the help of a squire. That was my first experience as a squire, an experience which proved both educational and instructive to me. Since then, I've had occasion to assist a few other knights, warriors and fighters into their armor -- most recently, several members of Chaos at TRF. Let me tell you now: it's a whole lot easier buckling up the studded-leather armor of a strapping young fellow than it is trying to help a Faerie get a proper fit with her wings!!! Of course, I was somewhat handicapped at LRF. With one hand I was holding up a blanket for the sake of Regina's modesty, while with the other I was trying to support her faerie wings as she slipped into them. This was a whole lot more difficult than it sounds. Aviana's wings are just one part of a blouse/vest/wing assembly, you see, which meant that she not only had to don all three pieces simultaneously, but achieve a proper fit as well as buckling all the buckles/cinching up all the straps together, at the same time, too. Fortunately, Lady Ashland (Photo, Above Right) came to our rescue! With her kind assistance, we were finally able to get Aviana's wings in their proper position, correctly secured and straight, with her blouse and vest in place, all laced up and ready to go. So much for the hard part...!

Aviana, however, was not quite ready yet for her LRF debut. While she had already applied face paint and put up some of her long hair into a topknot before donning her wings, Aviana still needed a few more accessories -- among them being her belt of feathers and a light dusting of glitter -- before her costume was complete. That's when the "Imp of the Perverse" struck. Just as she went to apply the glitter to her skin, the top of the vial popped off -- and a great gout of glittering "sparklies" shot out into the air!!! Fortunately, there was still plenty left in the vial to complete Aviana's makeup that day. The rest, however, landed in the grass, creating a shimmering impact pattern of bright rays radiating outward in all directions from the sparkling center. I looked down at the wasted glitter, then back up at Aviana, grinning. "You know," I said. "That looks like a Faerie exploded here!" There was an immediate pause with a long moment of dead silence...and then we all laughed out loud together!! Now THAT made a right good start for a faire day!!!

Standard Disclaimer: This webpage is strictly an *Unofficial* look at the Louisiana Renaissance Festival held near Hammond, LA in the Parish of Tangipahoa. The author of these pages is in no way, shape, manner or form connected with the Louisiana Renaissance Festival (OFFICE ADDRESS: PO Box 220, Robert, LA 70455-0220) and/or any of the sponsors associated with this event. All opinions expressed are strictly this author's own. LRF logo courtesy of the Louisiana Renaissance Festival. Unless noted otherwise, all photographs are copyright ©2000-2003 by George Laking.