I could feel the cool granite through my heavy layers of skirts as I sat on a fountain’s wide rim, its waters babbling behind me. The scent of old damp wood mingled with the smokiness of a patron’s aluminum-wrapped turkey leg. My mouth watered, but my belly was warm and full of frothy ale and some kind of Irish potato pizza that still lingers in my dreams. And while I’m usually a wallflower, soon I was dancing on tables and singing sea shanties with drunken pirates.
Later I found a mute mermaid who seemed to communicate telepathically through bubbles. I started categorizing strangers by who had wings, fangs, or fur and who didn’t. Each conversation with these beings felt sincere and bursting with curiosity. We made promises to return, hoping that next year’s festivities would bring us together once more. The universe heard my worries and answered my prayers—no malice but plenty of mischief, the good kind.
“These were my experiences at the Renaissance Faire. Historical re-enactment isn’t the event’s only dazzling feature. Faire is a land of enchantment as well. Years after my initial adventure I’ve discovered many magical vagabonds have found their homes at Renaissance festivals across the nation. Faire is a place where cultural alchemists spin their stories and magic into experiences finer than gold and acknowledge individuality.
Blank Canvas
Fairies often look like they don’t have a care in the world. There are so many illustrations of a fairy napping in a flower or having feasts with friends. The fae are beings who aren’t slaves to time and seem to understand the importance of the present moment. When the sting of summer’s heat fades away and the skies are periwinkle and gray, I know it’s time for Faire. I invite old and new friends to frolic with me and simulate that very carefree nature we’ve read about in storybooks. After invitations have been made, I petition the universe to hear my words: At Faire nothing can touch us. We’re ethereal, mysterious, alluring, and bold. Naysayers do not exist in this new found realm we’ll share together. While I can’t guarantee that the monsters that plague social media threads won’t show their ugly faces, I always have faith they’ll stay at home—at least this weekend.
Online, I’ve cut, pruned, and tailored my social media feeds in a way that allows me to portal into fairy tales beyond my wildest dreams. But prior to experiencing Faire for myself, I feared that I, a plus-size Black woman with iridescent wings sprouting from my back and ankle bells announcing my every move, would become a target for bullying. These types of unpleasantries, after all, have been part of my personal history since way back—in the 20th century—when I was a nerdy bookworm. Those troubles have sometimes lingered into adulthood—surprisingly, only when I’m dressed in fantasy garb. So the thought of going out into public without the safety of digital walls and the ability to unplug or block if things got dicey left me fearful that my lighthearted experiences in my digital realm, the Shade, wouldn’t translate in person. It’s with the utmost satisfaction that I canreport: They did.”
Muses and Kindred Spirits
Faire in Florida is everything you might imagine: The people are as attractive as the weather, and the energy is sunny and bright. My companion this year, Rayne (pictured at left), has a feline-like smirk that immediately alerts my senses. What mayhem is she about to stir up today? I follow her hooves—yes, hooves—down winding unpaved trails with no true destination in mind because she truly is some deity of adventure. If you’re lucky, you can find her swimming in the streams as a mermaid. You can tell by the sway of her hips as she walks, the gentle waters wave through her movements even when she’s walking on land. It’s no surprise that this goddess draws a crowd nearly everywhere she roams. Only a few feet ahead and we’re stopped for a picture, and another. Some newfound friends offer tiny gifts in exchange for our time.
Others delight us with an incredible talent that likely took years to perfect. Some were curious about me too! Though my tongue tripped over the simplest words as I excitedly shared my personal lore with goblins, orcs, and knights. I cherish each interaction because they resembled wishes so buried in my heart, they have never reached my lips. I wondered how a place like this even came to be. And where have these people been hiding all my life? I began to think back to all those introverts I’ve collected in my online communities. My spirit was crying out to them, wanting them to know what happiness I’ve found: a unique bliss that is tangible, yet its magic can be found only in the company of the people you find at Faire.
I’ll take a quote from Maria Tatar’s introduction to The Annotated African American Folktales. Like her journey to help write the volume, I hope sharing my experience at Faire will “make the journey somewhat less arduous and … not only sustain us but also arouse curiosity rather than awaken fear, promote change rather than foster complacency, and hold out the golden promise of hope.” A hope that there is a place where all manner of human and beast can continue to inspire the world with whimsy and brazen authenticity.
So if you see a coy fairy like me, frolicking timidly, come take my arm! Let’s venture forth together. Faire is in the air, and it’s time to play!
You can visit Jasmine La Fleur on Instagram @blackfaedayofficial and @faebiesandfriends.
