As my readers know well just from viewing the sprawl on this website, one of my favorite hobbies is hunting the wild Rennie in his or her native habitat. Rennies, of course, can be found all across the country from Maine to California, but they are strictly limited to one -- and only one! -- ecological niche: namely, renaissance festivals. In 2004, The Greater St. Louis Renaissance Festival certainly provided more than enough rich and varied hunting for me (ranging from the Fae Folk playing Faerie chess with a hobbit (Photo, Above); to the German banker and his lovely wife who strolled the faire grounds as outstanding examples of "Living History", visiting often with faire patrons (Photo, Right); to the sweet voices and bawdy lyrics of The Limey Birds, whose outrageously-funny performances I knew first from both the Texas and Louisiana Renaissance Festivals (Photo, Below). Quite honestly, I had actually planned to visit this faire years before. In fact, I had followed the fortunes of St. Louis thru the posts of the newsgroup alt.fairs.renaissance from its' earliest inception in 1999. A five-year sojourn in Texas, however, interrupted my Midwest faire experiences here, altho instrooth it did allow me to enjoy the ample Rennish hospitality of Louisiana and Texas instead. But upon my return to "Flyover Country", I immediately decided to take the opportunity to see what St. Louis had to offer. Let me tell you, I enjoyed my first visit there so much that I simply had to return for their Closing Weekend -- and bring my cousin's teenage son to share the faire with me!

Unlike many other renaissance festivals, St. Louis does not have an imposing Main Gate with looming battlements and soaring towers to greet visitors and patrons. Instead, there is a low wet-weather bridge crossing a gentle little creek, with a wide path leading up to the ticket booth and entrance turnstile (Photos, Above and Below). That part, at least, was most familiar to me from alt.fairs.renaissance. Several years back, you see, that "gentle little creek" had been transformed by unusually-severe thunderstorms and torrential rains into a raging flood which not only threatened to strand both players and patrons alike but also began backing up into the lower portions of the faire grounds themselves. Fortunately for me, the weather was bright and sunny on the occasion of both my visits to St. Louis!

Shade -- and LOTS of it! -- was my first impression of St. Louis. While the paths were certainly wide enough to handle even the heaviest foot traffick, it was apparent to me that great care had been taken to spare as many trees as possible -- and preserve as much of the shade as was practical -- while still providing plenty of groundspace for merchants, stages, games, rides and other faire attractions. In that respect, St. Louis reminded me of yet another faire, the now-defunct Hawkwood Medieval Fantasy Faire of Fort Worth, Texas. As at Hawkwood, the shade was there with a serious purpose in mind. Taking into consideration the high Midwest humidity, it gets just as (relatively) hot in St. Louis, Missouri as it does in North Texas (Photo, Right: on such a hot day, man's best friend gets a much-needed drink of cool water, straight from the bota bag)! In addition, The Greater St. Louis Renaissance Festival is built over and around several low hills and the deep hollows between them. Furthermore, while most of the site is well-shaded, this faire does have its' own Serengeti: a wide, flat, treeless plain surrounding the Tournament Field, where the sun beats down relentlessly all day long (photo, Below). The combination of heat, hills and humidity didn't bother me overmuch in 2004 as I was still well-acclimated for Southern Texas, but it was much harder on other patrons there. At least two fairegoers had to be treated for the heat during my first visit to St. Louis! So the shade -- as a cool place to retreat from the heat, sit down, rest, relax and catch a stage act or two -- was greatly appreciated, believe me. Kudos to The Greater St. Louis Renaissance Festival for their outstanding forethought and excellent planning!!!

Standard Disclaimer: This webpage is strictly an *Unofficial* look at the Greater St. Louis Renaissance Festival held at Rotary Park in Wentzville, MO. The author of these pages is in no way, shape, manner or form connected with the Greater St. Louis Renaissance Festival (Faire Office: 425 Spencer Road, St. Peters, MO 63385; Phone (636) 916-1643) and/or any of the sponsors associated with this event. All opinions expressed are strictly this author's own. Unless noted otherwise, all photographs are copyright ©2000-2005 by George Laking.