Folsom Renaissance Faire draws sold-out crowd for costumes and swordplay
Soren Olafsen, with his bright green cloak over his shoulders and his bright eyes flashing, prepared for battle.
The 8-year-old leapt into the ring bearing a black practice sword and called his stepfather, Joe Deaton, to meet his challenge, as onlookers at the nonprofit Folsom Renaissance Faire looked on.
“My stepson thought sword fighting would be fun,” Deaton said. And it was.
As the event completed its 33rd year in Folsom on Sunday, Soren and his family were among about 7,000 people who attended the sold-out event on Saturday and Sunday, many painting their faces, clipping on pointed, elf-like ears or dressing as lords and ladies to watch archery and jousting matches, drink mead and beer (for the adults) and shop for crafts and costumes at Lions Park.
The fair, which makes an annual donation to the Folsom library and zoo, boasts 800 actors — most of them volunteers. It included 80 booths selling a variety of items such as brightly colored floaty skirts for those inclined to dress like fairies, coconuts filled with beverages dished up by pirates, henna tattoos and intricately designed craft jewelry and art.
At a time when most people are fixated on their phones, said organizer Marti Miernik, the fair offers attendees a creative and educational outlet in the real world. Many of the characters who wander the pretend Renaissance-era village were drawn from history or Shakespearean plays, while others are a nod to old stories of English faeries or such fantasy worlds as the famed “Lord of the Rings” books and films.
“This makes people look up again,” she said. “This brings back humanity.”
A high point of each day’s festivities was the tongue-in-cheek reenactment of a joust, featuring an emcee making corny jokes and a family of entertainers playing the roles of knights. Attendees, many in costume and one man with his face painted bright green packed the stands, cheering for their champions.
As the Green Knight, played by Russel Montgomery, strode into the stands to distribute strands of green beads after vanquishing the Black Knight, played by his father, Tom, one costumed woman gave herself over to the moment, screaming, “Please! Please!” while taking a video of him with her phone.
Jessa Barniol, 38, a graphic designer and history buff who works as a tour guide at the Sacramento History Museum in Old Sacramento, had a faux dragon perched on her shoulder like a parrot and wore a top hat festooned with a pair of goggles.
Her husband, Rodolfo, a physics professor at Sacramento State, wore a black robe and pirate’s hat, and sons Lucas, 9, and Isaac, 7, brandished medieval-looking weapons as they watched the joust from the stands.
This is the family’s third year in attendance. Jessa likes the historical nature of it, and Rodolfo said that it was a fun event for everybody.
But Lucas, who wore clip-on pointy ears along with his costume of a brown cloak. had his own reason for showing up: “It’s the swords.”
