Cutthroats of Corona Pyrate Festival (2008)

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We pillage we plunder, we rifle and loot.
Stand up me hearties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot.
Stand up me hearties, yo ho.

This was our first Pirate Festival and it was, shall I say, an "interesting" experience. We actually went twice, once in the evening, just before closing time and then again the next morning.

Both visits were almost eerie; kind of like being aboard a ghost ship...err...in a ghost pirate town. The first time that we went (Saturday evening) was just an hour before closing. We had planned on going earlier, but we couldn't find a vital costume piece (Damn! I hate living in a construction site!), and the main road to the festival was closed because of a grass fire (which started in the Faire parking lot!), so we had to take the longer back route so we were late..very late. Luckily, we got in for only $5.00!

I must say that I love Faires (and LARPs) at night. There is something about shadows and candle light that makes everything very ethereal and in turn, makes it so much easier for me to pass through the barrier between the real and the unreal, between reality and fantasy, between Lianna and (in this case) Gwen Scarlett. This time the soft light made the place even more ghostly. This spookiness was compounded because there was no one there. Pam, Chaucer (in his pirate costume replete with a parrot) and I had just about full reign of the place. The vendors, their hungry, almost desperate, visages peering from the shadows behind flickering candle light, looked almost unnatural. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved the atmosphere, but I kind of felt sorry for the merchants whose only (and very few) customers were merely ghosts passing in the shadowy streets.

 I will admit that they did a MUCH better job of covering up non-period lighting then they did at Koroneburg/Corona Renaissance Faire in 2007!

Incidentally, I later heard from a vendor at the Koronburg Renaissance Festival that there were only 100 paid Pyrate Festival admissions that Saturday. I sincerely hope that the powers that be keep the Pyrate Festival going.

When we returned the next day it was near to 100 degrees, torture if one is wearing full pirate dress including a leather bodice or you are covered with black fur (we left Capt'n Chaucer home)! The faire was empty again. Because it was so hot, it was kind of like a ghost ship in hell especially since one could still smell the lingering smoke from yesterday's fire. At one point we sat a one of the stages for a short time waiting for the entertainment (a comedy act of some sort) to start. It never did...I guess that it was so hot that the ghosts didn't even want to play!

I could see the look of desperation in the eyes of the merchants. I was actually embarrassed to enter some of the booths knowing that I wasn't going to buy anything. They all looked so sad...except, that is, at the place where we bought a rather small iced chocolate drink for $4.00! That's robbery, but then they were Pirates!

Sorry me harties, but The Cutthroats of Corona only rates two Wyveries. Maybe next year will be better.