Posted 9:03 am Sunday, March 09, 2008
Renaissance Faire Attracts Crowds On Opening Day
Entertainment, Festivities At Four Winds Faire: Day And Knight
By LAUREN GROVER
Staff Writer
TROUP - Dusty "Sir Roland" Martel, 24, slowly stepped his horse sideways, paused and then turned, galloping the Friesian gelding at full speed down the list toward a target. He thrust a spear into the bull's eye.
Staff Writer
TROUP - Dusty "Sir Roland" Martel, 24, slowly stepped his horse sideways, paused and then turned, galloping the Friesian gelding at full speed down the list toward a target. He thrust a spear into the bull's eye.
The crowd cheered - pirates, peasants and gypsies on one side, Austrian and French royalty on the other.
The young knight was hoping to catch up to his older brother, "Sir Stephan Von Ziegler" Martel, who led the jousting tournament by two points.
The 1600s have never been so close.
Just 15 miles south of Tyler, the 14th annual Four Winds Renaissance Faire drew some 2,000 visitors on Saturday, including a small Henderson County pirate, 11-year-old Blake Dunbar.
Just 15 miles south of Tyler, the 14th annual Four Winds Renaissance Faire drew some 2,000 visitors on Saturday, including a small Henderson County pirate, 11-year-old Blake Dunbar.
"I feel like a pirate," said Dunbar, who was clad in buccaneer attire from head to toe with an ornate dagger fitted snugly in his hip sheath.
He watched the jousting events carefully, saying he liked history and has learned about jousting and medieval weapons used in the old-time sport.
Actors and vendors selling period costumes and weapons get into the spirit of the 15th-17th centuries.
The Martel brothers, from Longview, can relate.
Their interest in history sparked a love for jousting that caught on with their mom, Bobbie Patterson, now the only female knight who competes at Four Winds, she said.
"It's a serious hobby," she smiled, sitting atop her Andalusian gelding, Apollo, before jousting on Saturday evening.
Her family uses horses from Spain, Holland and Belgium, the same breeds chosen for jousting in the 1600s.
Four Winds is the only Renaissance fair that holds full-contact jousting tournaments, said owner and director Dustin Stephens, an international joust champion known as the "Green Knight" at the Faire.
The Faire developed as an authentic amusement for residents in and around East Texas, and a place for niche vendors to sell their old-time crafts and wears, he said.
The Masque Ball, held March 29, is one such special development, he said.
"We're making it more of a Cinderella ball, a more magical, elegant evening," he said.
Dancing, a feast, a belly dancers' performance and music will highlight the ball that costs $15 per person.
Dozens of fair cast members and participants will don corsets, scarves, petticoats, pirate boots, while others will be dressed in royal attire.
The King and Queen of Austria and their court were guests of the fair and visitors could enter their royal tent to learn about their history.
"I love it," said Lyn Jenkins, a horse lover who was giving rides to fair-goers on her handcrafted carriage. "For a few weeks each year, we become someone else, we step into another world, don beautiful costumes, and forget our other lives."
Renaissance-era wares made and sold at the fair included metalwork, bows and arrows, jewelry, fire-burned ale mugs and wooden journals.
One tent served as an armory, where a knight was taken after a bang-up last week, cast members said.
"We're like family," said Diane Voegeli, a member of the comedy group Ladies of the Salty Kiss.
She's been doing Renaissance events for more than a decade, and said the Four Winds is top-notch for its authenticity.
Stephens agreed, and said East Texans should come out and explore the fair in its next six weekends of operations. Interested visitors can ask about participating in costume or local vendors about selling their wares.
