After years of begging my family and friends to attend with me, I finally got to go to the New York Renaissance Faire for the first time on Labor Day.
Never heard of a Renaissance Faire before? Well, buckle in because I’m about to give you a crash course on what made this day one of the best of my summer. Every year throughout the U.S, thousands of people flock to the country’s parks to pretend, just for a day or two, that modern life is a thing of the inconceivable future. Faire goers dress in all kinds of historically (in)accurate outfits and frolic around in character throughout the day. Cosplay is also greatly encouraged and you shouldn’t be surprised when you see a character from your favorite period-Esque show walking about (shout out to the Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow pair that I saw towards the end of my day).
I decided to be an ambiguous fairy-type person this year and I had a blast putting the pieces together for my outfit. While the pieces for my outfit mostly came from Amazon, it was still an adventure going on TikTok and Pinterest for inspiration and trying to see how close I could get to my vision. When I finally had all the pieces and put it together, I felt a little defeated because it didn’t look at good as I had hoped… but there’s nothing puffy sleeves and safety pins can’t fix. Here’s how the day went:
From the minute we arrived at the faire, we were greeted by parking staff that were extremely high energy for such a demanding job. I will say that all the faire workers were incredibly energetic and welcoming, especially since it was my first time and my friends’ first time as well!
We went all out for the day and, immediately upon arrival, kicked our time off with a commemorative photo near the entrance. From then on, the day was filled with nothing but eats, shopping and merriment. I had one goal and one goal only for my shopping: I would get a full outfit from one of the faire vendors.
The highlight of our day was seeing a performance by The Flaming Ginger. Other than that, we truly didn’t see much else because we were too busy walking around and exploring the fairgrounds. I got live my Brave fantasy when we made a brief stop at a shooting range where we got to use bows and arrows – it was so much fun!
My best moment was shopping from Hearts Delight, a vendor that sold everything from corsets to bodices to dresses to skirts. Now, I stopped by plenty of vendors and perused their offerings but Hearts Delight was really the only vendor that shouted out to me. Now, I won’t get into detail about how much I spent but please know that I spent a pretty penny on the ensemble I bought and it was worth it!
The entire experience with Hearts Delight was a joyous one. The woman who assisted me in pulling together my outfit was super knowledgeable and made sure everything fit me just right. The only pitfall of the entire experience was that I didn’t ask what size my bodice was so I could order more from their online store!
I also bought a triangle dagger from a vendor, as well as a few pieces of jewelry from other vendors throughout the day.
I will admit that the food at the faire wasn’t the best I ever had, but I wasn’t expecting much (although I ordered chicken nuggets in anticipation of the more elaborate dishes being a let down and the chicken nuggets were still bad). I spent the day drinking nothing but water and hard cider, so I was full regardless of the meal options being less than appetizing.
We finished off our day with a quick visit to an adults-only puppet show in the rain (did I mention it was raining on an off this entire day?) and happily scored some free sweets from a deserts vendor near the faire’s exit.
Through the rain, mud, moments of hanger, and weird in-character interactions, my friends and I had a fantastic time! I can’t wait to go back next year.
Aliyah and Words 