By Colby Williams

news@joplinglobe.com

The Joplin Renaissance Festival is back, though the name is a little misleading this time out.

It won’t be held in Joplin — the weekend event will actually take place along Route 66 in Carterville — and it won’t feature actors dressed in just clothing from that period.

With a theme of “A Walk through Time,” it will incorporate settings and characters from Renaissance times to the present. This includes knights, fur traders, Civil War soldiers and ’50s greasers.

“I want something for everybody,” said Bruce Morgan, the fair’s founder and coordinator. “So I think we’re touching everybody this year.”

Morgan is an avid fair-goer and enthusiast today. He was not always as fanatic about Renaissance festivals, however.

“Three years ago I didn’t hardly know how to spell ‘Renaissance,’” Morgan said. “I went with my wife to the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival, fell in love with it and the rest is history.”

Morgan attended only two fairs before starting his own in Joplin’s Landreth Park last year.

This year’s fair almost did not happen, though. With an overwhelming amount of fair-related stress, Morgan canceled his festival at one point.

“But the support was phenomenal,” Morgan said. “I had over 300 e-mails of disappointment from people. So I decided just to have a small local fair and it turned into twice the size of last year.”

The ‘wow’ factor

Morgan hopes his fair does for others what it once did for him. When the mundanity of life got to him, Morgan found escape in the Renaissance-fair culture.

“When you walk through the gate, you leave the world behind,” he said. “That’s our goal. You’re going to have authentic costumes, accents, foods. You’re going to think you’re in the 1500s.”

This authenticity includes a real blacksmith, swordfighting and food prepared over campfires. Morgan also plans for more than 40 vendors selling wares such as chainmail, handmade jewelry and perfumes.

“We want it as historically accurate as possible, but always maintaining fun and excitement for everybody,” he said.

Much of the atmosphere is created by the diverse lineup of performers.

Nine groups of musicians and comedians are scheduled throughout the two day event.

“There’s always something going on,” Morgan said, “whether it’s musicians strolling around playing guitar or a harp or gypsies teasing kids. We try to involve patrons as much as possible.”

Aside from the scheduled entertainment, the fair also includes about 75 actors in full Renaissance garb.

Returning to the fair this year is Duke Hamish McPhearson, the second Duke of Ormonde. McPhearson is one of the characters whose job it is to stroll around the fair’s streets interacting with visitors and making them feel welcome.

“Even a simple greeting adds something to the fair and makes people feel a part of the atmosphere,” said Thomas Robson, who plays Duke McPhearson.

Robson had never experienced a Renaissance festival until last year’s event, when he joined the team of actors simply to try something new. Now he hopes to continue to be a part of the cast as long as he can.

“It’s an honor to be a part of this one from its infancy,” he said. “When I first got into this I didn’t know what I was getting into. I thought it was going to be like a play. It was totally not like that.”

Instead, Robson found himself responsible for creating conversations at random with fair attendees and improvising his own lines. He said it was a rewarding challenge and looks forward to it again this year.

Morgan hopes these actors will add to the already saturated atmosphere of entertainment.

“I don’t see how anybody could see all the entertainment in one day,” Morgan said. “I want impact and the ‘wow’ factor, but most importantly I want people to have fun and look forward to next year.”

High hopes

Morgan plans to rename his fair the Missouri Renaissance Festival beginning next year and expects a 5 to 8 percent increase in attendance each year.

His optimism is combined with gratitude for those in Carterville who have helped put the festival together. He hopes to make the city the fair’s permanent home.

“We’ve gotten major support from the city of Carterville,” Morgan said. “It’s hard to explain how good they’ve been in getting this organized.”

According to Morgan, some proceeds from the festival will go to the city of Carterville for the purpose of purchasing land. Mayor Dale Davenport said the city plans to turn the land into a city park.

Davenport also has high hopes for the fair.

“This is going to be new for our town, and if this is a pretty good success, it’s going to be a yearly event, something to mark the city of Carterville,” he said.

Even though this will be his first experience with such an event, Davenport hopes the Renaissance festival becomes Carterville’s version of Joplin’s Boomtown Days or the Maple Leaf Festival in Carthage.

He also said the city realizes the difficulty of accommodating potentially thousands of fair-goers, but many are volunteering to get Carterville ready.

“Everybody in town is looking forward to it,” Davenport said. “It’s an event that gets everybody together. We know how everything is right now with the stressful economy, and everyone is struggling. Hopefully it’ll be a chance to take a time-out and just relax. I think it’ll do the community some good.”

Morgan looks forward to providing that relaxation to many this weekend. He also hopes his fair will stir in others an affection for fairs.

“You know you’re a Renaissance fair person when you spend more money on your costume than on your car,” Morgan said.



Details

The Joplin Renaissance Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday in Carterville. For more information and ticket prices, visit the Web site at www.joplinrenfestival.com