I was at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival all day on Saturday, and while I didn’t take any photos there myself, I knew that was going to be today’s theme.  I was able to find a wonderful stock photographer on deviantart named Mark Longsinger, posting as Dracoart-Stock, who took these lovely dragon sculpture photos at the New York Renaissance Faire in 2007, and even though I didn’t quite get them posted on Saturday, the photos were too good not to share.

This next one is a neat water feature piece:

And finally, here is a teriffic hanging lamp.  You can check out more of Mark’s photographs of all sorts of things from waterfalls to Universal Studios Orlando in his gallery.

My girlfriends and I each updated and added to our Renaissance garb costumes first thing when we got there, which in my case meant buying a brand new overskirt and a corset — a fashion choice I was very near to regretting as the day wore on!  Thank goodness those went out of style.  The boys were not dressed in garb, but dressing up is certainly not a requirement for attending, and it’s always a good time either way.

We wandered around, looked at shops filled with artisan wears, saw lots of cute dogs (it was Pet Day) and watched them run races and agility courses, and saw some amazing performers, including the Bust Dusters (with us, above), and The Dregs, a comedic musical group that sings traditional and bawdy Renaisannce and Celtic music, including the amusing Seven Drunken Nights (at my personal request).  I’m heading back to Fest to wander by myself this coming Saturday, and I hope to get quite a lot of writing done as I take in more music, so wish me luck with that!

Image credits:
New York Renaissance Faire 7 by Mark Lonsinger
New York Renaissance Faire 2 by Mark Lonsinger
New York Renaissance Faire 3 by Mark Lonsinger