Post nationwide quarantine, outdoor events saw a massive resurgence.  Renaissance Faires were no exception, and good or ill, they brought in a new batch and the old batch of enthusiasts together.  On specific forums, a lot of new people were afraid they would not be welcome, and I made sure to throw open my arms and tell them they were wonderful.

Come as your lovely selves to the renfaire costume or not.

Inspo:

How do you all feel about fantasy themes brought into renaissance fairs? People dressing as their dnd characters and such? Seems like my local fair wants it to stick to historical standards.
by u/LexieRexiex in renfaire

Then there are some of the rest of you, and here’s what I’d like to say about that.

Stop the Effing Gatekeeping.
Honest to Goat, cosplayers are amazing -at all levels. They put their love for outfits right out there and they could transform how we bring new people into the faire.  Want to come as Link or Zelda or in your Disney outfit. I love it!  Mostly because you are still part of the fun, and NO ONE will mistake you for a staff member. I may even ask to have my photo with you in between shows.  I adore that you are here and at the faire.

Let people call it costumes, kit, cosplay, or “My Thursday Outfit” it doesn’t have to be garb.

The original renfaire was a thing people did as a protest, political statement, and dressing in not-even-remotely-authentic outfits. Honor that

When you are a shithead, you impact my paycheck.
If I witness that crap, I make it a point to approach the hurt person and even invite them into the tents, introduce them around, offer them a snack, and watch “Rennies” STEAM over that.  Dude, you could be here fondling my custom smallsword(not a euphemism), but you chose the path of dirtbag. The petty dirtbag in me laughs at the petty dirtbag in you, Na-nasty.  I want these people to come back. I want them to buy the unicorn hat and feel loved.  I want them to SPEND MONEY and RAVE ABOUT A GOOD TIME.

Not Rennie enough,
OMG I have written so much about this. It’s a hate engine I could run a thousand Teslas cross-country on. When I have to do four shows in 80-degree heat (we are in New England, we are not built for that). I will ditch the overcoat, doublet, and anything else I need to in order to fulfill doing 25-minute+  shows while my skin/costume turns into a slip-and-slide and I am sunburning my eyeballs.  If you think it’s warm watching the shows, hah, let me tell you, it fries our brainpan DOING the shows. Climate change is real, Y’all, and we put up modern sun sails for our audience, stripped down to what is legal, and incorporated hitting one another with icy water into the act.  At a certain point, even Queen Elizabeth would have cried for mercy.  Drink out of your cow horn, eat your turkey leg, and mute your rat-on-a-stick eating hole.

Finally, let people enjoy things.