Location Taken: Maryland Renaissance Festival, Crownsville, MD
Time Taken: October 2010
I got the expected call that I’m rehired for working at the Renn Fest again. So let’s pull out a photo from the one time I took my camera in to work!
Well, this isn’t IN the Renn Fest. It’s just outside it. This is the front gate, and the large crowd of people gathered around it, waiting for the festivities to begin.
I get to the Renn Fest about 10-15 minutes before they open at 10 AM. Other people have to get there hours earlier to set up, but since I’m working for the well-organized food people, and I’m on a cart to boot, all I need to do is check in, grab my till and the ices, and head on out. Takes less than 5 minutes, and I’m in place before the cannon sounds.
Yes, the cannon. They fire cannons to mark the beginning and end of the day. It’s actually rather nifty to watch. Which I frequently do, since one of the places they set up the end-day cannons is by the Royal Stage, right by my cart. It’s especially nifty at the end of the season, when it’s dark by the time we close, since the people guarding the cannon bring lanterns, and the flash of the blank going off is nice and dramatic.
It’s no wonder hundreds of people come even before the gates open. Many of these people are dressed up in full garb, and likely will stay the whole day, watching the shows, buying nifty things, or just spending the whole day singing along with various groups at the White Hart Tavern. Others just have a few hours, and are the type for whom 10 in the morning isn’t early. And if you get there early, parking’s easy. You’ll get a nice close spot, and if you have to leave in a few hours, you’ll get out just fine.
Mind you, that’s not always the case. I’ve been stuck for over an hour waiting for people to leave on the busiest days. Well, the busiest days when the main parking lot is over filled because we employees had to park there too. We’ve got our own parking lot, but it’s prone to flooding so they have to close it when it’s rained too much the night before. It was one of those days when I took this picture, actually, since that’s the only time I walk in past the front gate. There’s a faster way through the employee-only areas from the employee lot. Though it does involve walking past the elephant tent, and the stinky piles of elephant droppings…
