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Step 1
Invest some time and money in putting together one or two Renaissance-style outfits (see "Dress for a Renaissance Faire," under Related eHows). Many Web sites offer suitable costumes, and if you sew, you can look for Renaissance costume patterns on the Internet and at your local fabric store.
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Step 2
Attend a local Renaissance faire or two. Talk with the merchants, performers and other employees of the faire about their experiences. Get a realistic impression of what being part of a Renaissance faire is all about.
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Step 3
Search the Internet for Renaissance faire organizers. There are several throughout the United States. Here you will find a calendar of faire dates and employment information. Many organizers sponsor online bulletin boards that contain employment advice and help wanted ads from merchants and performance groups.
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Step 4
Contact large faire organizers well in advance of the local faire date. Potential performers may be expected to attend training sessions for the three or four weekends preceding the opening of the faire. After the training sessions, faire organizers will let you know whether you have been selected as a performer.
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Step 5
Be prepared to work for very little compensation ' or none at all! The competition for jobs at any Renaissance faire, especially those involving performance, is immense. For most if not all of the faire performers, compensation comes in the form of freebies and discounts.
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Step 6
Be prepared to give up weekends for at least two months to work at a large faire. The faire organizers depend on the reliability of their performers and employees. Remember that there are many others willing to take your place.
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Step 7
Look for paid employment as a faire employee. Jobs involving custodial, maintenance and gate work are available. Paid employment can also be found with one of the vendors or merchants attending the faire.
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Step 8
Know that permanent faire employment is difficult to obtain. Most faire employees and performers are drawn from the local population. If you want to travel the Renaissance circuit, join a performance group that travels with the faire or obtain permanent employment with a faire merchant.
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Step 9
Consider the seasonal nature of Renaissance faires. Although faires are held in the sunbelt during the fall and winter, most occur in the spring and summer months only, so year-round employment is not guaranteed.
Comments
CarpeNoctem said
on 2/15/2008 the comment above is very common. also at larger longstanding faires your clothing must be inspected. Most modern items are restricted from being visible aswell (i.e. Cell phones on silent. no mp3 players etc.) many lager faires will also disallow cigarette smoking in public areas (behind scenes only)
Most of the booth you will see at more than one faire run one or more faire "circuits" these are faires in multiple cities and states that run around the same time of year. 4-7 months is typical for a circuit.
Many people you will see following a circuit does this as a lively hood. And many are the actual craftsmen of the handmade items you see for sale in their booth.
It's common for them to also have a website to monitarily compensate for the off season of the year that is mostly spent preparing for the next years season. most of this downtime is spent building new stock, making
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 I know the characters at the Kansas City Renaissance Festivals aren't allowed to speak of things out of character, but if you look for websites for the faire (most places now have them), they have sign-ups available.