Anderson Ren Faire (aka Shasta Dragonwood Celtic blah blah blah Faire) May 1-2, 2010

This is a favored event for the Sirens, mostly because it's relatively close to home. They also let us fire cannons and muskets, which makes it even more attractive. The weather was great, which has been a rarity so far this year.



The fair itself is rather small, but who cares when you get to go costume camping by a gorgeous river?



Our camp was out of the way, which was lousy for getting visitors during fair hours, but wonderful for having privacy and relative quiet. We encamped with the Earl of Stampford's Regiment of Foot (Thorne's roundheaded bunch) and Montrose's Free Artillerie Company (Dale Shinn's royalist bunch). Despite having opposing sides in the English Civil War at such close quarters, peace and harmony were maintained throughout the event.


Photo from Stacy Dunbar

Dale Shinn brought his hurdygurdy, and serenaded us now and again with old timey tunes. If only he had been playing when we sang Friday night; we might have stayed more in tune. Dale also had a reproduction of an old water-filled clay bird call that got me running about looking for that strange bird. Saturday was gambling night, with a good game of three pot brag. Some fellows from another camp came by, hoping we'd be singing again. This surprised us, considering our singing is strong on enthusiasm and short on tunefulness. But I guess they were desperate for entertainment.