The ORF Blog

February 18, 2020

In his book “Guerrilla Theater For Faires and Festival,” J. Paul Moore refers to the improvisational performance required of the cast members for many ren faires as a “nebulous energy which is transmuted into an experience for the audience to view or more often than not, participate in for themselves.” The theater is communication. Communication […]

February 14, 2020

People don’t seem to like Valentine’s Day very much. I get it. In fact, it makes a lot of sense. We’re attached to an ideal version of how love happens. You meet someone and they smile and you smile, kismet happens and boom, soulmates. Even the most jaded and self-aware among us still holds out […]

February 11, 2020

Every year after The Ohio Renaissance Festival finishes its run, the boothies and stage acts move on to their next festival. Those of us in cast and crew, however, snuggle up in our houses to wait out the unpredictable Ohio winter for the next three or four months. We decompress from the season, take in […]

February 4, 2020

There is a rapt fascination with the art of the glassblower. From the precision work of the man sitting in front a blow torch as he crafts the smallest detail of a dragon’s wing to the powerful forge of an artist as he draws molten glass from the fire and carefully rolls it into shape. […]

January 28, 2020

In previous blogs we talk a great deal about how easy it is to become a part of the ren faire community. From cast members to crew, playtrons to boothies, it feels like there are plenty of ways for people to become a part of our ever-expanding family. That being said, sometimes it can take […]

January 21, 2020

Faire gives me the freedom to be me. I love to dress up and be someone else for the day. It takes me out of my mundane day to day and into a world of magic and adventure. It’s a community of people like me who are such a major support system and family.” Halee […]

January 14, 2020

Imagine if you will a theater troop. Each member assigned their roles, devoted to the part, and committed to making the play a success. Through rain or shine, wind and snow they take the stage to tell you a story. Only instead of tales of knights and dragons, it’s the story of an unassuming little […]

January 7, 2020

I love the scent of leather. There is nothing else similar to it in the world. No substance which has quite the same mix of earthy masculine and faint hints of sweet feminine combined. It’s natural, not perfumed, and quite mild if treated right. Any time I walk into one of the many leatherworking booths […]

January 3, 2020

Another year has gone and a new year is stretched out to the horizon, just waiting to be explored. So often it feels as if the world around goes by too fast, opportunities moving past us like logs rushing downstream as we swim against the currents. With that kind of a metaphor, you might be […]

December 31, 2019

Should old acquaintance be forgot And never brought to mind Should all acquaintance be forgot And auld lang syne. Robert Burns Auld Lang Syne (1788) When we look back at the old year, we are filled with memories from all we’ve experienced and how far we’ve come. A new year means new opportunities, new challenges, […]