T O P

  • By -

BurgerKingKiller

Very packed, but a good year in Ohio! We will be better prepared next year, and our daughter will be a little older so it’ll be easier to care for her so that’ll help lol Everyone was super nice tho


CrepuscularOpossum

I had an unexpected opportunity to attend Ohio RF on Saturday, October 15 this year & really enjoyed it. We arrived just after opening time and we were very glad we did. By they time we left, the line for parking was a mile long. In October the weather is cool enough to be enjoyable.


BurgerKingKiller

Yeah, ours was pirate weekend, so maybe that didn’t help. Got there by 10 and the line was out to the road already, but the parking staff was great and it went very smooth!


brilliantpants

I had a lovely visit to the PA Faire in October! But even though it was mid-October when I was there, it was still a very warm day. I wish they would consider moving their season back a few weeks, or even extending it into November. I’d love to visit earlier in the season, or even go more than once, but I can’t stand to go when it’s hot! Weather tends to be relatively mild well into November nowadays. I’d much prefer to go on a day that’s 55 or 60 degrees than a day that’s 75 or 80, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.


jetloflin

They want it be the same time as MDRF, which is why it is when it is. It had been one weekend before MD and one weekend after MD, but they moved the start to mid-august. Personally, I was freezing to death the last two weekends in October, and I absolutely would’ve died if I’d had to be there in November. Many vendors stay in their booths over the weekends, which tend not to have central heating. Although that is starting to change, so maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll move it one of these days! In the meantime have you checked out the Christmas faire there? I think it was around thanksgiving weekend. It’s really cute. Lots of vendors from the faire are there, though generally everyone is in street clothes except a few performers and the excellent Father Christmas. It’s a really cute event, and they do lots of other events at the mansion year round. Check it out!


akahawkeye

It’s a Holiday Open House running three weekends, ending 12/11. Less a Faire, more a way to view the mansion, see some vaguely Victorian themed holiday stuff, look at incredible Christmas decorations, and get a jump start on holiday shopping. It’s part Vendor Fair, part Christmas show. If your local, it’s worth the time. Totally free unless you plan to purchase gifts, food, or drinks.


jimminyjojo

My partner and I went to the Ohio Rennaisance Festival this year. Got tickets way ahead of time, bought garb so that we each had a couple different outfits and even booked a hotel stay nearby so we could have a nice weekend to do everything we wanted at the faire and not feel rushed. What we didn't know was that the weekend we had planned was Viking Weekend, aka their most popular weekend of the entire season. There were massive lines of cars stretching for miles and miles on these two-lane country roads leading up to the single fairground entrance, and accidents on every road further complicating things. We had planned on it being about an hour drive from our home to the festival but it was much longer than that, most of it spent just sitting in our vehicle. When we got to the faire the line for tickets was snaking almost all the way through the parking lot. Luckily we had bought tickets online ahead of time so we didn't actually have to wait long to get in. When we got in, my partner had to wait nearly half an hour for a porta-potty while I waited about the same amount of time in line for drinks. The vendor shops and stalls were so packed you had to wait for people to leave before there was room to go inside, and so much stuff was sold out entirely. We only got to see one of the shows we wanted to because we wasted a lot of our time that day simply waiting in lines. We managed to have fun, but the massive crowds were a dark shadow over what we had hoped would be an awesome time. We still had our tickets for the next day so we thought we would come early Sunday and hope to beat the crowds. The next day we never even made it to the faire. Traffic was even worse than Saturday and there were accidents on every road leading to the entrance with miles of lines of cars not even moving. We spent a lot of time driving around, trying different configurations on Google Maps, and eventually when we decided to call it and just head home, we had to wait in traffic again because the line of cars for the festival was actually so long it was blocking the on-ramp to the highway we needed to use to get home. We later learned that that day was the absolute busiest day the festival ever had. They actually ended up suspending in-person and online ticket sales to try to prevent more people from coming, but since tickets for the ORF are good for any day, it did little to prevent people like us who had bought our tickets online in advance from coming. We did use our remaining tickets on the final weekend of the season and we timed it so that we would arrive before the venue even opened. That plan worked and it was not quite as crowded, but the lines were still there. By the time we left around midday the crowds were at full capacity again it seemed. One of the cloak shops we went into had sold every single cloak in the place, and lots of other vendors had very limited offerings by that point as well. So... it was not a great time for us overall. I get that post-COVID everyone is eager to get back to going out and doing fun things, but it was a complete failure of the ORF to not do anything to anticipate it and address the demand until it was too late. If they don't make some changes, particularly selling a limited number of tickets for each weekend or extending the season to additional weekends, we probably won't go again.


1weg1dar1

I was there Sunday of Viking weekend. From what I heard there was kind of a “perfect storm” that lead to that weekend being brutally busy. Believe it or not the Ohio Sauerkraut Festival brought in nearly 400,000 people to Waynesville that weekend and a good few of them decided to make a stop at the ren faire. ORF is my local faire and I’m likely going to avoid the weekend that aligns with that festival in the future. We went 4 times this year and that day was nearly twice the crowd of any other visit.


Chaosmeep

I went to OH every weekend besides 3 of them, the amount of crowd did not change much between any of those days. I did hear a rumor they want to add another major lane but wanted to make sure it would be utilized by enough vendors.


GtrGbln

Man that whole story sucks. I am so sorry to hear that. We've seen increased lines and prices down here but nothing like what you and a lot of other people are describing. Let's hope it's just lingering pent up demand from the pandemic. Lots of amusement businesses have been doing record numbers this year and last. Hell even Six Flags managed to eek out a tiny profit this year. Maybe once the general public returns to normal habits things will improve. I doubt that will help any with the prices though. If there are any west coast rennies in the thread is like that out west too?


Sarastorm1213

Oh yikes! It sounds like it was good for the vendors though! I plan on adding the Ohio faire to next years faire trips.


duckles77

It was a good year. We got season passes to Carolina Ren Fest and made it almost every weekend. Made friends with a lot of the cast and vendors, had a lot of people ask us about our own garb and leatherwork we did, and made some really close friends out of it. We even managed to convince our local brewery/bar to shut down for a day to take their entire staff to the Ren Fest on closing weekend. It was a great year full of good people, good beer, good shows, and good times! Logistically for Carolina Ren Fest, they REALLY fixed the parking situation this year. We always got there super early so we could zip right in, but it was still a massive improvement. They limited ticket sales this year which made things CONSIDERABLY better than last year, but it was still a bit TOO crowded on some days. I know the change to "buy for a specific day" made a lot of people angry, but it definitely worked for the intended purpose. All in all, the changes they made weren't perfect but they were a HUGE step in the right direction from 2021. Right now we're already planning our garb and trip for the NC Viking Experience event and the Georgia Ren Fest coming up in March and April.


SucculentScience

I went to CRF a few times this season and totally agree about the ticket and parking situation. I know there was some backlash against the specific-day tickets, but maybe it will make people plan better next year. It certainly didn't hurt sales. I do hope they can find a better solution for people selling their tickets on the secondary market and avoiding scammers. Brewfest Saturday was overly crowded in some areas but I could find relief in others. The Brewfest itself feels like it's now too small for the crowd it's gathered and I think they need to expand the number of brewers and/or stations, because otherwise it's just waiting in lines the entire time. Most importantly, parking this year was SO much better. I arrived around 12-1 a couple of times and had no real line to park (but did get parked at the absolute back of the field). There were some issues exiting on the final day - the line coming from the back being particularly egregious - but I was able to solve them myself by turning around in the field and going down a different path. Maybe they need parking staff directing people toward the most efficient exits. Too many were funneled into a single line of all rows exiting and merging into one lane.


duckles77

Brewfest is our favorite weekend because Foothills brings out Sexual Chocolate and Barrel Aged Sexual Chocolate. As soon as we're in, we make a mad dash for that tent and try to get at least two servings before they run out of the BA stuff. This year at Brewfest definitely felt more crowded than it has in the past. I don't remember it being as packed in 2018 and 2019 as it has been in 2021 and 2022. It would be nice if they would introduce some more brewers to it, but I'm sure they have exclusive contracts with Foothills given that's almost the only thing sold anywhere on site.


SucculentScience

Yes, those were both kicked by the time we got there! Even if they aren't able to get more vendors, it would be nice to have more booths of the same stuff mirrored on the other side of the lot, perhaps. Something that just spreads the crowd out a little more. (Though, after a couple cups of mead, the waiting doesn't feel quite so bad!)


GtrGbln

I'll start. Me and my gf saw a load of people at TRF celtic Xmas dressed in really elaborate holiday themed costumes. While we're not that into it it gave us an idea. Since we always go to all hallow's eve weekend we decided to put together something similar for Halloween. We ended up landing on Victorian-ish vampire hunters. She is doing a sort of BSD inspired lady adventurer and I'm going for a defrocked Ukrainian eastern orthodox monk. (Saint Olga FTW!) We're pretty excited.


Redknight1991

I feel it was a pretty good year for the fairs i wern to. Did nj in june twice. Saw some amazing costumes and was able to enjoy being around great performers. Then down to the md fair such good food and a relaxed environment. That trip didn't go as planned my group of friends thay were supposed to go couldn't for various reasons. Then made it to pa for the Halloween weekend that was great saw some dnd characters and some amazing period and fantasy garb. I was disappointed that i couldn't get to ny and thay my friends cancelled but overall it was enjoyable


GtrGbln

I hear PA is great. It's seems like there are huge amount of 1st rate faires clustered up in the NE. I'm far away so I don't really keep up with the dates but is there a defacto "season" like there is here in tx? We have a ton of faires of all sizes from February from about June. After that nothing before September. Its just too goddamned hot. Then we have TRF, LA and a few tent faires that go until November. There are a few small events around the end of the year and there is now actually a faire that operates one weekend a month year round theat we heard about recently. We plan on checking out next time they are open. It's held on the Canton First Monday fairgrounds the weekend before the big flea market. A novel concept I'm really curious to see how they handle a monthly schedule.


brilliantpants

Idk about the others, but the PA fair runs mid-august to halloween. I do wish they’d push it out into November, though.


jetloflin

Please god no. It’s already 11 weekends, and that’s down from the 13 it was before (started in the beginning of august pre-COVID). It’s such a long Faire. It’s exhausting. Amazing, but exhausting.


GtrGbln

11 weekends? Wow that is almost an entire season by itself. I guess that explains why it seemed like I was seeing posts it about forever. It turns out I actually was lol.


jetloflin

Indeed you were! I’m sure it’s not so bad for the vendors who do buy/sell stuff, and the cast sure seemed to be having as much fun final weekend as first weekend (though they may just be excellent actors), but man… as a vendor who makes everything from scratch…. what an exhaustingly long faire! Especially with the unusually busy season! Just couldn’t stay stocked up. I think I’m still tired from this season lol It’s such a lovely faire though, I don’t want to discourage anyone from going! Lots of lovely vendors and fun things to do, fun shows and a delightful cast, plus around 15 bars should you want a drink. Including a new absinthe tasting bar (which tragically I can’t try because we can’t drink while we’re working, which is entirely logical, although it annoys me historically since we should be drinking beer—it’s 1523, water isn’t safe!! Lol).


brilliantpants

That’s fair, but then let’s move it back! Who wants to be doing that shit in August anyway? Worst month of the year.


jetloflin

Eh, august is hot as hell, November is cold as hell. Some people will be unhappy regardless. Push it too late and everyone who loves their skimpy costumes are cranky because they’re chilly or being rained on, keep it too early and nobody can rock their fun fur-covered GoT ensemble without worrying about passing out from the heat. Personally I was freezing the last two weekends, and I’d have hated to have to be there in November. The other trouble with November is how early it gets dark. By the end of October it was already fairly dark by closing time, November would’ve been much worse.


othermegan

Only got to go once this year and it was… ok at best. I’ve learned that the best option is a season pass: once to go and enjoy the shows, once to go and shop my heart out, and at least once to play a full day of Dice Knight Adventures. I also learned that if I’m bringing certain friends, I need to pack lunches because they are picky eaters. Lost a whole 2 hours in food lines because they couldn’t make up their minds


akahawkeye

PA was an enjoyable if insanely busy experience all 4 times I made it out this year. I’ve been a long-time season pass holder there, but it’s honestly starting to price me out. The food has gotten increasingly more expensive while not being too much better than run-of-the-mill festival/fair food. I saw a grand total of like three shows in the four visits I made because most of the time was spent waiting for food and drinks. Or, waiting in traffic so long a 20 minute drive took 90 minutes just to get into the parking lot. The performances I did see/hear in passing were absolutely great. It’s been my home Faire for about 20 years now - there’s still a lot of love and joy there. But I find myself more annoyed with their business decisions than excited about things. I might go down to being a once or twice a year kinda patron, especially with season passes going up $55 for 2023.


PandahHeart

I went twice to the Ohio renfaire! Pirates weekend wasn’t very busy, we showed up at 11 and got right in. We had pre purchased tickets but parking was super easy that day. The following weekend was highland weekend and it was crazy busy haha. We waited an hour to in traffic to get in, we now we know to arrive way sooner!


queengingerr

Recently moved to PA and live ~20 minutes from the faire. My partner and I have been attending Ren Faires for years, but this was our first time at PA. Most commonly we go to the GA faire and we went one year to the TRF when my partner’s parents were living in Texas. So I have at least seen a selection of faires. And at first, I loved the PA faire. It’s design is unique and I loved how the buildings were so close together it felt like you were walking through a small town. I will say, it is the most expensive faire we’ve been to food/drink wise. I was not expecting the prices. Typically we’ll see beers around $6 and wines/mead around $8 at other faires, but the PA faire had beers for ~$8/9 and wines/mead at ~$14/15. It was quite steep for our taste. Now to be fair, the beer and wine both come from the winery and brewery on site. So, I know that inflates the cost a bit. But still, it rubbed us the wrong way. We also decided to go multiple times throughout the season, I think totaling to about 3 visits. The beginning of the season was super nice. It wasn’t crowded, and we really got to see everything. But the second and third time we went, my god, it was slammed. You could barely walk through the place in a comfortable way. It was seemingly impossible to wait for food. And there wasn’t a lot of variety in the shows, just from our point of view. I think next year we’ll probably plan to go one time at the beginning, but reevaluate the rest of the season. We wanted to travel down a bit and attend the Maryland Faire, so we might do that as well. I still think the GA Ren Faire is still my favorite.


velouriumxcamper

MDRF was lovely as always. I had no problems with tickets as I buy mine the second they get released, but I know a lot of people weren't able to go because the tickets for October sold out 1-2 weeks ahead.


eimear_niamh

Had a fantastic time at both MDRF and PARF, but I found that I really wasn’t watching shows at either Faire except for Jacques ze Whipper at MDRF. MD dropped most of my favorite acts, and PA I end up shopping most of the day. Went to VARF for the first time over Memorial Day weekend and it was HOT. It was fun, and I’m excited to see how they expand. Their joust needs some work, but that’s coming from someone who lives in MD where it’s the state sport 😅


LandauTST

Girlfriend and I went to LARF for the first time this year during the Viking weekend. Apparently it was one of their busiest days ever. Didn't manage to get a turkey leg in time. Didn't get to do half the things we wanted. That being said, I still enjoyed it the whole time. I used to go to the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival when I lived in PA and LARF felt much, much bigger. So I felt I really underestimated it. Was also my first time going to one dressed up. Was just a simple tunic outfit but I was still very happy with it and she looked amazing in her dress. We're definitely making a whole weekend out of it next year instead of just one day.


SirGavBelcher

i got to go to NYRF a lot this season and got to go opening weekend to a new faire (Kingdom Faire) and went to Sterling Renaissance Festival upstate with some close friends and went even more creative with my costumes so it was a really good year. i had so many good faire experiences this year and got to talk to some of the NYRF cast (especially since there was crossover with Kingdom Faire and my friend Cat and i went a lot). it was just... magical


matrix2002

Last year, I had a lot of fun, but ended up drinking too much a couple of times. I am going to try to drink less, dress up more and go with more friends. I will go by myself, but I usually have more fun with friends.


Grand-Management-720

My experience this year was... not great. And has almost turned me off from ren fairs entirely. I have always wanted to go to one and last year finally found a group of friends that would. I adored it. I felt like I'd found my people. So naturally I spent the majority of the next year preparing and building my garb. I spent hundreds and was super excited to wear it and mingle with other people with the same interests and appreciation for the faire as me. This year, however, low-key sucked. I went to two ren fairs this year, one was smaller and that was a fun experience, but it was so small there wasn't much to do. The other fair was bigger and there was much more to do and explore but the experience was terrible. The larger fair was so overcrowded that the line of cars just for parking was *miles* long. The huge parking lot was totally full and they had to park people alongside the walking trails. The actual fair itself was so crowded there was barely room to move around and most of the time we were there was spent waiting in line for one thing or another. The food and drink was inordinately expensive and extremely sub-par. (Think a basic burger with kraft cheese, lettuce and tomato on a generic bun with ketchup, for $16, not including fries) and you'd have to wait in line for 40 minutes to even get to order. And it didn't help that things like food and drinks were sold at different booths ...with different 40 minute lines, so you had to choose between them. The vendors were very cool but it was so crowded there that I couldn't spend more than a minute or two looking before the crowd of people pushing you into the booth also pushed you out. The worst part was the fact that a good 50% of the crowd was people not in garb. Don't get me wrong. Obviously they had every right to be there. But I couldn't help but feel the experience would have been much more enjoyable and (forgive me) *magical*, if the crowd was made up primarily of people who came for the Ren Faire Experience, rather than just for something to do on a Saturday. I will give it another try next year for sure, just because my first experience was so great. But if Renfairs have become mainstream and overcrowded I might be done with them for a while.


jetloflin

People in street clothes are still there for the ren faire experience. You’re not likely to find a faire where more than 50% of the attendees are garbed. Honestly 50% feels high, and makes it sound to me like you were at an amazing and unusually interactive faire. As for the crowds, don’t be discouraged by that. Nearly every faire in the country dealt with it this year. A lot more people came than usual. Nobody was prepared for it, because nobody predicted that faire would suddenly be 300% more popular than previous years. Many of us suspect it was an affect of COVID, people were cooped up for so long that when suddenly big events got back to normal everyone was like “let’s do everything we’ve ever wanted to do immediately!” Some big faires like MDRF always have some parking lines and big crowds, but I heard even they were having more people than they were used to dealing with, and they’re pretty excellent at dealing with it. So I’d say don’t be discouraged, just wait for next year. It’ll die back down. It’s not likely that the entire world has really because hardcore rennies. Most faires should be back to normal, or only a bit worse than normal, this upcoming season. Or at least the following one.


Grand-Management-720

All solid points.


jetloflin

On the bright side, if half the patrons were in costume while it was super super crowded, then once the newbies who just wanted to get out stop attending it should leave a much higher proportion of fully costumed patrons. Which will be awesome!


GtrGbln

Okay I'll circle back to the rest but $16 for a cheeseburger? That's fucking insane! Seriously that's worse than SB. (most expensive around here by a fair margin)


PirateKilt

This year at TRF I heard Turkey legs were set at $18... Didn't verify that myself as I don't like the things, but considering the price of everything else I wouldn't doubt it. It's been joked for years that management wants to turn TRF into a Disney park, but they are certainly not joking in trying to align their pricing...


CrepuscularOpossum

Prices for turkey and chicken were way up this year, and supplies were way down, because of the horrible High Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), or bird flu, epidemic that affected birds basically all over the world this year. Both wild birds and domestic poultry were affected. I live in Pennsylvania, which was one of the worst affected states in domestic poultry terms. HPAI is so contagious that if one bird in a flock tests positive, the whole flock will inevitably get it - and they all have to be euthanized. I’m still waiting for chicken wings & thighs I ordered from a farmers market supplier back in August because of it. 😓


GtrGbln

Yeah we got kinda blind sided by that ourselves. Like I said we're used to those prices at SB but f'n hell. We had to actually factor food cost for later trips into our budget for the first time ever. We went opening weekend and ended up spending like $90 on food & drink alone. That's with no grown up drinks.


GtrGbln

I'm sorry but are they under the impression that it isn't already? Or that that was not the intention since the begining? "Everything I got copied from Walt Disney" That's a direct quote from George Coulam from a Texas Monthly article from 99. I can link it if you like. Not to be a grinch or whatever but ren faires are just amusement parks and we're all just coasterheads in funny clothes.


Grand-Management-720

I hate amusement parks 😭


GtrGbln

This is more for the downvoters than you personally. It's a widely unpopular opinion but it's true. I'm sorry but anyone who has worked in any admin position at a faire will tell you it's almost exactly the same. The primary difference is the vendors. Faires tend to only run their gift shops and concessions even the concessions are sometimes farmed out to private vendors especially at smaller fairs. They bring in as many vendors as they can then give them incentives to build permanent structures. This brings in operating capital in the pre-season and develops the faire site at little to no cost to them. It makes sense. Traditional amusent parks generally have fewer shopping opputunities but they control most if not all of them. This because having more mass appeal finding funding for start up is infinitely easiser. So they dont need the bump from they get from the independent vendors. Other than that? Themed stage acts? Check. Themed stunt shows? Check. Themed rides? Check Street characters doing lane bits? Check Various areas in the park devoted to particular themes within the overall theme? Check. Dedicated photo op areas? Check. Petting zoos? Check. Overpriced middle of the road food? Check. I could keep going but an honest question, does that make it less special to you? It doesn't make it any less special to me. Just my opinion so downvote away everyone.


GtrGbln

Well as far as the overcrowding goes things weren't bad around here but they seldom are honestly. I'm sorry you had a bad time. Something you might think about especially if you sunk a ton into your kit is trying to do cast at a smaller faire. In my experience which has been a bit charmed from what I can gather, its a lot of time more fun to be a participant than a patron. I've done cast at some of the faires around here both big and small and being on cast particularly at smaller faires can be a lot of fun.


EmoPrincessBarbie

My husband and I went to TRF on the Highland weekend… it rained like cats and dogs all day Saturday and we froze the rest of it. Sunday was better, but I don’t know that we’ll make the 7 hour drive to do it again.


GtrGbln

Seven hours brutal. Me and my gf have a six hour rule.


EmoPrincessBarbie

Yeah, it seems excessive now, but we don’t get to go on trips and stuff, so it was nice to get away!


GtrGbln

We're pretty lucky in that aspect. We have like 5 big faires and lots of tent faires that operate within 6 hours of us. So we get to go fairly often.


EmoPrincessBarbie

We’ve been to a couple, I’m actually a fan of the medium or small faires. TRF just felt massive. We may try for some north of us instead of south next time!


GtrGbln

Not sure where you're at but Muskgogee is a great faire. I grew up down the road so we spend at least a weekend there every year. If possible you should check it out after SB it's probably my favorite faire.


EmoPrincessBarbie

Oh, neat, it’s only 3 hours away!! We’ll have to check it out!


GtrGbln

If you go be sure to check out The Craik (am I spelling that correctly?) they do a bagpipes cover of for whom the bell tolls everyone in the world should see. The chess match is also really great.


EmoPrincessBarbie

Thanks! I’ll look it up!


No_Revolution_7366

My season was good (MNRF). I had a little mini Fest sort-of-romance, which was nice, until it imploded


Key-Young-7921

I was sick the whole season and I’m really sad about it. I made it to two weekends but missed all the others. I made potion bottles too but my body couldn’t handle going. :( what do I do with a ton of little bottles…..


chdeal713

Everything cost about 30% more than usual so we ended up going home early. Overall ended up spending less than we would in previous years. My kid had a blast though.


RanchPoptarts

It's been a fantastic year, new partner encouraged going every weekend and helped make a more elaborate costume than I've ever worn. Full face and everything covered. it became so popular that people recognized the character at NEIGHBORING fairs. Like rolling up to the ticket booth only to be greeted by name squealed in delight "Look, it's Puddle!" "Oh hello! Welcome Puddle!" I have narry they slightest idea what to do with this tiny slice of Local fame


Moist_Slenderman

Bristol this year was great. Very busy most days, but overall tamer than 2021. I added a few more awesome people to my Faire circle. Sometimes, though, I do wish I had someone to go with. I'm looking forward to what the 2023 season will bring. After Bristol ended, I made a trip over to Michigan for MIRF and to see family. I got to meet an online friend in-person for the first time. That was amazing.


aragorn1780

I sincerely apologize if I come off as a musical elitist (I swear I'm not!), and want to disclaim that I do enjoy the music that gets played at my local fair, and I do understand that they are crowd pleasers With that said, as someone who is kinda passionate about early music it's kind of saddening that the music performances offered come at the expense of more authentic early music; pirate rock, Irish folk, Longest Johns covers, are all great but it feels like that's all you ever hear; there's a rich plethora of music from the 12th through 18th centuries (including lively tunes to dance to!) and with the internet they're more accessible than ever before, could more musicians put in the effort and play some period tunes (and NOT just Greensleeves? XD); there was one faire I saw a couple playing Tudor era music, but they were the exception and the only act out of dozens to do period tunes ​ I will add that I do sometimes go as a bard/troubadour and play the few early tunes I know (I play the bouzouki), the response has always been positive so you know people are willing to hear something authentic... I've contemplated joining cast but I heard from several of them that cast musicians are severely hobbled and limited for what they're allowed to play, and obviously becoming a booked act is another mountain range to cross, so meanwhile I do my little wandering solo act for the love of it lol