The Dryden Renaissance Faire is this Saturday, May 30th.
Two of the organizers, Michael Arnold and Stephanie Bell joined CKDR in-studio this week to chat about the event.
For those who don’t know, Stephanie explains what a Ren Faire is;
“It’s a festival. It’s a group of entertainment and market and food and fun where people can dress up and just kind of enjoy the day. You have tons of different things you can do and be someone maybe you’re not.“
Michael talks about where the idea to have a Ren Faire came from;
“Actually, Sioux Lookout. Back in 2024, Sioux Lookout held a Renaissance Faire attached with their Blueberry Festival. We attended. We wanted to check it out. We saw the enthusiasm from everybody that was there. For them being their first year, almost every attendee that we saw was dressed in some form of costume, which shows you the level of excitement that people had for it. We’ve been very fortunate that Sioux Lookout has now hosted two Renaissance Faires. We got to attend last year as well to see how they’ve built on it. And every year we’ve attended, it’s given us a drive to say, you know, people really want this, and we think Dryden can really benefit from something like this.”
The Dryden Renaissance Faire will go ahead from 11 until 6 this Saturday at the Dryden Agricultural Grounds. Stephanie and Michael tell us what to expect;
“We have a fire dancer, and we have Superior Hema from Thunder Bay coming in. They are full metal combat, so they’ll have long sword fights and scimitar fights, so one-handed fighting. We also have a character artist. And we also have carriage rides. And we’ll have trinket trading. We’ll have storytellers. We’ll have some games, kids’ activities. So really something for all ages at this event. We really wanted to bring home the family-friendly entertainment. Yes, and food, lots of food.”
For those who have never been to a Renaissance Faire before, Michael says be ready for an adrenaline rush;
“Get excited. The energy level at these things, the music is upbeat. The activities are adrenaline-pumping. Things like axe throwing. The combat is always exciting to watch. Somebody playing with fire. All of these different things show into a high excitement environment. You’ll be enjoying it, for sure. You’ll be on your toes all day.”
There are some movies that Stephanie recommends watching before attending the faire;
“Lord of the Rings, Monty Python the Holy Grail is a really good one to go off of. We actually have a trash pony coming in that’ll have a sign saying, bring out your dead, for all those that would remember that.”
There is going to a Renaissance Village at the Faire. Michael says the fantasy world will come alive there;
“We decided that instead of just having a event, we wanted it to feel like when you stepped into the grounds of the festival, that you were somewhere else. Emberfell is the name of the village. We’ve tried to give it life through social media posts and trying to create not only this one-day experience, but a story that we’re gonna be able to start today, build on tomorrow, and for hopefully years to come, continue to expand upon this world that we are creating and sharing with the communities.”
Stephanie adds;
“We’ve got a storyteller section where we’ll have people telling stories, some through books and some just sitting there like you would have back in the olden days, sitting around a fire, just telling stories. We also have a kid’s section where we have crafts and games. We have ax throwing, which is for kids and adults, as long as you’re responsible. And I believe the museum is actually coming in.”
Michael continued;
“Yes, the museum has partnered up with us and they’re bringing, as we understand it, a small catapult that will launch beanbags at cardboard castles that you have to try and knock down.”
The Dryden Renaissance Fair is this coming Saturday, a clash of steel, vendors, exhibit booths and a costume contest. Michael shared the details about the costume contest;
“There’s absolutely no requirement for you to come dressed up if you would like to dress up to enhance your fair experience. For those that are taking the time and energy to put together a little something, we wanted to reward that with some fun little prizes. We’ve partnered up with some of the local vendors that we have coming in. Some of them have donated prizes to some of our prize categories. We’re really excited to see what people put together because costumes can come in all shapes, sizes, and directions. Some people might show up dressed as a pirate. Some might show up dressed as a Viking and literally anything in between.”
If you’re wondering how to greet those who are going to be in costume at the Ren Faire, Micheal has some suggestions;
“Some people get very into it. Old timey speak, good morrow, good day, huzzah, all of these things. We have more information on our Facebook page where we’ve kind of gone over some more of the general terms but go ahead and use this as an excuse to watch your favorite medieval movies, the Princess Diaries, any of those types of movies. Go binge watch them this week and get inspiration for your greetings and your gestures. Not everybody will be into it and that is okay, but for those that do, I’m excited to see people’s enthusiasm.”
Stephanie directed us to the festival’s social media pages;
“You can look up the Dryden Ren Faire on Facebook, Instagram as well.”
Michael says the Dryden Renaissance Fair is a fundraiser;
“We are asking for a donation, if you’re able, to the Dryden Food Bank. We understand, especially in today’s day and age, that a lot of things, the cost of things are through the roof and the one thing we didn’t wanna do was keep this event inaccessible to anybody. We want as much people to come out and enjoy the day as possible, but we also want to give back to the community that has helped us so much over the last two years of organizing this event. So as a way to give back, we’re asking the community to rally on the day, bring us donations, monetary or otherwise, to donate to the Dryden Food Bank. They are gonna be set up outside our entrance gates with some of their volunteers. They’re gonna be helping us collect the donations the day of, and it’s just another example of the community partnership that we’ve seen alongside this journey. It is a thank you to everything that’s happened so far. We’re trying to give back in any way we can.”
Some of the Ren Faire performers are coming from outside of Dryden. Stephanie with information on that;
“Superior Hema is from Thunder Bay, and they have people also coming from Winnipeg and Halifax to do a tournament in Dryden, and hopefully this can become an annual event, ideally. And then I believe our fire dancer is from Thunder Bay as well. We also have a character artist that’s going to be there, and he is from Winnipeg.”
There are some businesses and organizations that are helping fund the inaugural event. Michael shared;
“We’ve partnered up with Dryden Tourism. They’ve been a huge help with financial backing. BrokerLink, formerly The Standard in town, has also come out and supported us. The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, as well as other businesses, Tim Horton’s, No Frills, Rona, so many local, smaller local businesses have come out in support in other ways, not necessarily monetary.
Stephanie added;
“We did a masquerade ball last October. I’m sure everybody remembers, and we’ll be doing another one this coming October. And a lot of the businesses donated for our silent auction. It was amazing. We had such a big turnout, and it was awesome to see the community really help support this.”
Final words from Stephanie;
“So I don’t know if everyone’s been watching our Facebook, but we’ve been doing trinket trading. We did it at Sioux Lookout. We did it at Thunder Bays when we went, and we’re going to really encourage it. It’s a fun way to enjoy the day and maybe not spend money, but still come away with a little souvenir. So trinkets can be anything from buttons to rocks to little pennants and flags”.
Michael hopes the Renaissance Faire leaves a lasting impression;
“The idea behind it is by the time you’re done your day, when you go home at the end of the day and you take your costume off and your pajamas on, you know, you look in your pocket and you see all of these small and tiny things, but you go, oh, I remember this girl. She was the one with the mushroom on her head. This guy was riding a unicycle with a horse head on it. And it’s a real reminder of not only the day, but the community behind the days that make them so successful.”
The first ever Dryden Renaissance Fair, coming up this Saturday from 11 until 6, will bring something for the entire family at the Dryden Agricultural Grounds. Admission is a donation to the Dryden Food Bank.
