OPENING WEEKEND
at the
TEXAS RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL 2002
The rest of Opening Day went like this: meet'n greet, meet'n greet, shop the Magick Cauldron; meet'n greet, meet'n greet, take in the Noon Parade; attend Second Court at the Globe Theater, join the Faerie Picnic, more meet'n greet (Photo, Above: Regina gets a big hug from her former beau, Thorn); shoot some, um, "interesting" costumes in the lanes, saw part of the "Masque of the Conquistadores," watched the Faerie Dance and viewed the evening Sandpainting -- as done by the TRF Faeries, of course (Photo, Below). Along the way there was a brief afternoon thunderstorm, one of those infamous "locally heavy" cloudbursts you hear about on the weather reports all the time. Aye, it cooled things off briefly, but when the sun came back out, the humidity SOARED! Whew!!!
Before the final fireworks show, I bid a fond farewell to Regina at the Main Gate and headed back to the campground. Outside of the ground displays and the music, I really didn't miss much. We could still see the aerial pyrotechnics from the campground, easily! Back at camp, I changed into my mundanes, ate some supper and then headed off to the Chaos campground. That night, the Knights of Chaos held a final memorial service for their former leader, Paul (AKA Red Dragon), who died suddenly of a heart attack last winter...
It was a really beautiful ceremony. Those who couldn't make it to Opening Weekend sent written testimonials instead -- all of which were read aloud, then consigned to the flames. Everyone came forward to offer their fondest memory of Paul, while others offered up individual mementoes -- a bottle of Dragonflight, a flask of Loki and a pack of Paul's favorite cigarettes among them -- before the last of Paul's ashes were added to the fire. Then they sang the "Warriors of Chaos" song together. Believe me, there wasn't a dry eye within fifty feet of the pyre! All the sobbing was truly heartbreaking, but then this was the final memorial to Paul: similiar ceremonies had been performed earlier at Excalibur and Scarborough, with a scattering of his ashes there at both festivals. The Officiant closed the ceremony by charging the entire Clan to do as Red Dragon would've done: go forth and PARTY: eat, dance, drink and make Mary (as often as possible)! Truly, it was a beautiful Rite of Passage, remembering Paul while defying Death at the same time with a spit in the eye by celebrating LIFE in all it's wond'rous glory! Needless to say, the Knights of Chaos did so, with gusto!!! For myself, I passed out several jugs of Thor's Hammer, making especially sure that both TAZ and the Reverend Warlock had a personal supply. Of course, TAZ really surprised me then. He took one sip of the Hammer and immediately squirreled one of the jugs away for, um, "future reference." The rest of the night he made the rounds carrying the other jug, cradling it in his arms protectively with an occasional sip now and then. It wouldn't've surprised me in the least to overhear him muttering "My Precious! My Precious!" to the jug that night!!!
I almost made gate on Sunday: HUZZAH! First, I checked out WOLGEMUT, a high-energy German group using Medieval instruments to play both old and new selections. To get an idea of the "flavor" of their music, just think "We Will Rock You" as played on the schaum, with bassdrum and German bagpipe accompaniment (Photo, Above: Mikhaela on schaum, center; Die Rota on bassdrum, left; Stephano on bagpipes, right)! OK, I was impressed -- so I had to catch their second show at the Wharfside Music Gazebo. Unlike a lot of musical acts at faire, they played an entirely different set of tunes at their second show. Not only OUTSTANDING but REFRESHING, as well!!! Next, I stopped by the Last Supper Stage to enjoy yet another performance by Hildegard von Bingen (AKA Leisa McCord), whom I had the pleasure of hearing for the first time at Scarborough this Spring (Photo, Right).
Afterwards, I shopped the Magick Cauldron (again!); played meet'n greet with Ben, Mike and Pam (again!); checked out the Sea Devil Tavern for photo ops (again!); and took in Third Court at the Maypole -- all the while keeping my camera ready to shoot the wily playtron in his/her native habitat. Like a rerun of Saturday, along came the "locally heavy" afternoon thunderstorms right on schedule, but this time with a vengence! I mean, the rain fell in hissing sheets that literally swept the ground in passing!!! As the humidity and temperature soared afterwards, I could feel my energy levels plummeting. So I called it a day. Hey, I still had to change back into mundanes, break down a wet tent, pack up my bedding and stow all my gear into my truck; then drive back to the house, UNLOAD my wet tent (and set it out to dry), as well as all my bedding and gear; dry my bedding, set up my own bed again, get cleaned up and try to catch some sleep before getting up at 3:30am for another day of work. Surprisingly, I managed to accomplish all that by 7:30pm Sunday night! AND sleep the sleep of the Just, knowing that NEXT weekend was yet another festival weekend at TRF!!!
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Standard Disclaimer: This webpage is strictly an *Unofficial* look at the Texas Renaissance Festival held near Houston every year since 1974. The author of these pages is in no way, shape, manner or form connected with the Texas Renaissance Festival (OFFICE ADDRESS: RR 2 Box 650 Plantersville, TX 77363-1505) and/or any of the sponsors associated with this event. All opinions expressed are strictly this author's own. Unless noted otherwise, all photographs are copyright ©2001-2003 by George Laking.
This page created 10 June 2003
