Not everything was completely new and different at the St. Louis faire, however. There were a number of my old circuit favorites like The Limey Birds, Vince Conaway, Elven Drums (Photo, Above), Owain Phyfe (Photo, Left) and Tartanic (Photo, Below) performing both onstage and in the lanes all day long. Aaron really enjoyed The Limey Birds' shows even more than I: fact is, he was singing their ribald songs repeatedly on the long drive back home to Arkansas after faire! As for myself, I was -- once again! -- most impressed by the sheer range and breadth of their classically-trained voices. With such amazing talent between them, they could easily have gone commercial but chose artistic integrity and the freedom of the faire circuit, instead. A most-admirable trio of young ladies, indeed! It was also my pleasure to hear Elven Drums play again in public. Altho I still follow their musical adventures thru their website, the last time I actually heard them perform was at King Arthur's Faire in Stroud, Oklahoma several years ago. As always their music was fast-paced and excellent, even if they have moved well into the mainstream since Stroud. As for Tartanic, I was both surprised and downright pleased to see them at St. Louis. This is one HIGH-ENERGY bagpipe band: with Adrian leading on the bodhran (Irish drum), Tartanic simply ROCKS! Believe me, I wasn't the only one who enjoyed their tunez immensely. Whenever Tartanic played, there were always plenty of players and patrons who just had to get up and dance -- their feet just wouldn't stay still with such lively music playing!!!

Noble Cause, the jousting troupe I first encountered at the late Withrow Renaissance Festival in Arkansas, was another old circuit favorite of mine at St. Louis this year. While not a musical act -- unless you count the clash of arms and the ring of steel on steel as "music to your ears" (Photo, Above)! -- their thrilling performances are always filled with excitement, chivalry and a light touch of romance (Photo, Left: a victorious knight crowns a patron lady as the Tournament's "Queen of Love and Beauty" with a colorful wreath of ribbons). As always, Noble Cause put on such a spectacular show that all the patrons present were soon cheering enthusiastically for "their" knight -- or just as loudly booing and catcalling his opponent! The kids, especially, were easily enthralled by all the color and pagaentry of the Tournament: between shows, scores of youngsters engaged in enthusiastic -- if somewhat untrained! -- hand-to-hand combat next to the Field of Honor (Photo, Below: two would-be knights eagerly cross wooden swords in imitation of the knightly combat they had just witnessed at the Jousts). With such imitation, Noble Cause should be most sincerely flattered, indeed!

As for Aaron, St. Louis was an entirely new experience for him (Photo, Above: but one that he enjoyed with as much enthusiasm as he enjoyed one of the ubiquitous turkey legs found there!). Aaron already had considerable faire experience before visiting St. Louis: he had started with a small faire -- the late Withrow Renaissance Festival, once located near Huntsville, Arkansas -- then graduated to the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival, a larger faire also known as The Castle at Muskogee. As a truly LARGE faire, however, St. Louis had considerably more to offer him than both those two festivals combined. He was most impressed by the sheer SIZE of that faire, of course, but The Limey Birds, the Salamandre Pirate Show and the King's Royal Jam still remain his fondest memories (Photo, Below: not to mention posing with his newly-purchased bokan in front of this Hobbit house, located in the Faerie Kingdom at St. Louis. Alas, but Frodo was not at home at that time!).

Not too surprisingly, Aaron was quite a hit with the Rennish ladies at St. Louis, easily striking up several new acquaintanceships there. He also proved to be quite an able and accomplished dancer -- mastering at least one Medieval dance in record time -- at the Closing Ceremonies (Photos, Right and Below). This particular dance was fairly intricate in its' moves, with the inner ring of dancers moving widdershins (that is, counterclockwise) while the outer ring moved deosil (or with the clock) to the music. At every third rotation, the dancers would break into couples, swinging their partners arm-in-arm, circling each other back-to-back and performing several other complex maneuvers which were way too complicated for the likes of me to follow. Once all that was accomplished, the dancers then resumed the rotation until it was time to pick a new partner. Needless to say, Aaron didn't have much time with any one of the ladies to practice his small talk and usual smooth moves. Considering also that the music for both the dancing and the Closing Ceremonies was all provided by Tartanic (Photo, Below) and you can well imagine how lively the dancers stepped to those tunez! All too soon it ended, alas! As the bittersweet notes of "Amazing Grace" echoed and re-echoed from the surrounding woods, Aaron and I said our fondest farewells to St. Louis for another year. Yet I, for one, definitely know for sure that Ryleh the Wanderer will return next season. That Closing Weekend, you see, I noticed that several new pathways were being bulldozed thru the trees, undoubtedly in preparation for opening several *NEW* areas with even more exciting attractions for The Greater St. Louis Renaissance Festival! Needless to say, I will certainly be back -- if only to see what ELSE is new and different at St. Louis. Mayhap I will see thee there: HUZZAH!!!

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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.