Mark Bell's response to Gilded Serpent's inquiry--

I think altogether we had 11 or 12 different dancers for the Faire and only Jessie Gauld did almost the entire run. Our friend, Mira aka the fabulous Mira, did one show, otherwise all the dancers are from FatChanceBellyDance or Second Skin. The death parade also known as the Bones Band started out being just that, where they were kind of spooky and young kids got scared, but the other Faire turned it into something way less sinister. It was kind of like "Bring out yer dead" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Personally, I thought the Novato Faire had more entertainment than the Casa de Fruta one. The stages were way nicer.Hahbi 'Ru at Casa de Fruta performed on a stage that most days was so hot it was too hot for fishskin drumheads. Novato had a great ambience, our stage was great where the oak tree was so huge that the audience and the performers were under the same tree.

I experienced much more street theatre in Novato, like the vegetable guy doing shtick about potatoes and sweet potatoes, where one of the sales people (I think for Barbara Butcher's clothing booth) spent at least 10 minutes trying to sell an XXXL peasant shirt to a 10 month old kid in a stroller.

I remember someone saying the REC people (Casa de Fruta) will be happiest when they can finally get rid of the entertainers and there is that in the vibe down there.

The Novato Faire was more intimate, less commercial in many ways and tried to be more in keeping with the actual Renaissance time. Obviously things weren't as smooth as the Pattersons would have liked but a lot of people were doing both Faires, which ran concurrently. I had a great time. The only negative from a participant's standpoint would be not being able to hang out at night with a 10PM off the site curfew for all.

Karen		child mimics dancers			Wendy Allen
		Ling Shien/ Elizabeth Bell			Mark Bell watches the dancers intently
One of many Bones Band dancers parades down the lane in a procession along with this piper. Gennivie has this to add-"The Dead dance has been traditionally called the Dance Macabre and is one of the more authentic pieces of the faire. It's history is a dance that was done by local villagers, during the plague times, who would dress up as dead paople and march in town. The slogan was something like "If I be dead or look to be than death itself will not find me" It was a way to avoid plague and disease by fooling it. It helped protect the village. At the fair it often scares some children but when they hear someone explain that the people are helping to protect them against death the kids usually really get into it.					Michel proudly awaits his mentor
Lovable man powered carousel. This wonderful character thrilled the kids with his antics as they rode. Sophia isn't sure about the man, but enjoyed herself once the ride got going.		Michel teases the wrong knave
Don Brown's Tunisian Tea House			"Bored Offspring" Corwin doing "my parents are weird and I'm humoring them by being a roadie and playing some rebaba" - Mark Bell

The Tale of Two Faires continues:

• Back to Intro and Alnisa's History Synopsis
• The Faire at Casa de Fruta by Gennievie
  with photos by Gennievie's dad, Eric Herbranson

List of other "Ren Faires" around the world

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