Faire play

Mancos Renaissance event finds place in modern-day Southwest Colorado

by Katie Burford
Herald Staff Writer

Article Last Updated; Monday, June 29, 2009 7:10AM

Photo by NICK MANNING/Herald photos

Stuart Dillen, left, heads off the mock battlefield with his opponent, Aaron Dwyer, after a joust Sunday afternoon at the Mancos Renaissance Faire.

Click image to enlarge

NICK MANNING/Herald photos

Dave Imming, of Durango Dot Comedy, heads into the mud for “mud theatre” at the Renaissance Faire.

NICK MANNING/Herald photos

Dave Imming, of Durango Dot Comedy, heads into the mud for “mud theatre” at the Renaissance Faire.

NICK MANNING/Herald

Aama Harwood gets put in the stockade after disobeying her father at the Mancos Renaissance Faire.

You have to watch your step at the Mancos Renaissance Faire.

You could trip over a groveling beggar, be splattered by a dripping thespian from the mud theater or - perish the thought - be plied with free samples of mead.

The two-day festival, now in its fifth year, wrapped up Sunday with what appears to have been its best year yet.

Midge Kirk, who co-produced the festival with Charlene Swanson for the Mancos Public Library, said about 2,000 people attended Saturday and she expected about that many Sunday.

The fair takes place at Cottonwood Park and offers a dizzying array of performances, entertainment, food, drink and wares.

"There's something for everyone," Kirk said.

The mead was supplied by Bacchus Meadery. The drink, made from fermented honey, predates the Middle Ages, though it was consumed then and is closely associated with the period.

Phinnius Fain, who was serving up the beverage Sunday, said it was the Loveland-based company's second year at the fair.

The drink, similar to wine, proved quite popular.

"We've been making a killing," he said.

Among the stand's offerings was a "meadarita," which replaces tequila with mead in the popular Mexican drink.

And it wouldn't be a renaissance festival without dueling knights, though custom-made batons replaced the swords of yore.

The combatants belonged to the Society for Creative Anachronisms, an international organization dedicated to researching and recreating the arts and skills of the Middle Ages and Renaissance in Europe.

Krista Lewis, head of the society's Farmington-based chapter, said the appeal of the era is its emphasis on honor, chivalry, courtesy and respect. She said, through the society, she has learned everything from weaving to beer-making.

"If they did it back then, we try to do it now," said Lewis, whose brothers and father also participate.

It was the first year at the festival for Durango henna artist Molly Arms, who uses the plant-based dye to create temporary designs on the skin. Arms said she developed an interest in henna while studying in India and Nepal and now gets hired to apply "tattoos" at various venues.

She said business was good at the Mancos fair.

"People like henna, so it does pretty well," she said.

Fair organizer Kirk said the event will return next year "bigger and better." Lords and ladies, rejoice.

kburford@durangoherald.com'>kburford@durangoherald.com