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How to Make a Renaissance Faire Booth

Step back in time 400 years to an era when kings and queens reigned and a great rebirth was taking place all over Western Europe in art, literature and learning. In England, Shakespeare was writing plays at the Globe Theatre and Sir Francis Drake was discovering new worlds. A Renaissance Faire celebrates this time in England with food, drink and merriment along with costumes and decor of the period. If you are a vendor or crafter who sells wares with a flair that meets this atmosphere, you can set up a booth specially created for the Renaissance Faire. Sometimes these events have permanent structures, and sometimes they are temporary. The key is making sure your booth fits the theme.

Things You'll Need

  • Portable canvas tent
  • Jewel toned canvas or heavy fabric
  • Iron
  • Hook and eye closures
  • Staple gun
  • Wood tables
  • Sisal rope or twine
  • Rustic wood crates or straw bales
  • Period costuming
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Instructions

    • 1

      Determine if your location is a permanent structure or if you are setting up a temporary spot. If you are using a permanent structure, you will decorate the existing fixtures and structure. If you have a temporary location, you will be creating your booth from scratch and need to bring everything with you including the roof.

    • 2

      Look the area over and measure for space. Note where you want things to be in the open or will house them under a structure. Remember Renaissance Faires are outdoors, so anything displayed in the open needs to be put away quickly if the weather turns bad. Plan for a tent structure such as a portable pop-up type tent if you are providing your own cover.

    • 3

      Set up your portable tent if you are using one and secure it in case of wind.

    • 4

      Cover the posts of your structure by using hook and eye closure strips attached to brightly colored canvas or fabrics. Iron one part of the hook and eye closure to the canvas. Wrap small loops of the other piece of hook and eye on the tent poles and wrap the fabric around the posts of your tent to conceal the metal. For a permanent structure, hang them from the crossbeams in banner type sections by stapling the fabric in place. Be sure to remove the staples when you tear down. Paint designs on the canvas, if desired, such as fleurs-de-lis, coats of arms or outlines of gray bricks to mimic a castle wall.

    • 5

      Furnish your booth with flea market, rustic-style fixtures on which to display your wares such as old wood tables, wooden crates or barrels. Straw bales can be stacked and used as a makeshift table that fits the rustic Renaissance theme.

    • 6

      Add light, billowy fabrics as accents and to create movement for your booth. Make calligraphy signs by hand to add to the old-world flair for prices and names of your wares. Use the jewel-toned canvas or fabrics as cloths for the tables or even lay them across the straw bales as a backdrop for your goods.

    • 7

      Dress in a Renaissance period-type costume to work your booth. You will want to create the most accurate atmosphere possible, and your presence is as important as the booth presentation.

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