While a wedding, complete with the white dress, was being held inside Neu Chapel, the lawn was flooded with “Rennies”, wearing sashes and scarfs, as a Renaissance Faire took over a large portion of Morton Lawn April 4.
“A ‘Rennie’ is somebody who is obsessed with renaissance fairs,” said sophomore Allison Hayden. “I have been a ‘Rennie’ for seven or eight years, since the seventh grade.”
The festival was put together by students in the Medieval Society and volunteers from the Society for Creative Anachronism, an Evansville based organization.
“We felt this would be a great way to recruit people to SCA and the Medieval Society,” said senior Lierin Holly, Medieval Society president.
There were multiple attractions and booths for people to visit such as the fortunetelling table where you could get your runes or tarot read. At the spinning, sewing and stained glass booths you could purchase the raw materials or already made objects.
But the biggest attraction was the jousting tournament. People were able to vote for their favorite fighter by purchasing ribbons for 25 cents and tying them onto the fighter’s colored baton. As the event wound down students brought out instruments and began singing folk tunes.
“We tried to give the fair as much as a renaissance fair feel as possible,” Holly said.
To go with the theme, students and SCA members dressed up in the traditional medieval attire. Fighters wore chain mail and many ladies wore dresses and hats, even a traditional kilt was worn—in its proper fashion, too.
As the day ended so did the events. The jousters packed up their swords and spears while the fortunetellers, spinners and “Rennies” ate pizza before returning from the past to the present.
“I enjoyed all of it, singing, dancing, tarot cards and watching the fighters,” Hayden said. “It’s been fun.”
