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.