A day at the Texas Renaissance Festival has often been embraced as a fun family outing. However, if you talk to any of the performers or regular participants, they’ll tell you the “real” festivities begin on the local campgrounds at nightfall.
The cultural exchange offered by the Texas Renaissance Festival is well known, but what happens after the fireworks show is a whole other story. While the majority of visitors pour out into a horrific traffic situation, a large number of visitors and performers prepare for a long, energetic night of camping.
There are several different types of campers at “RenFest.” I differentiate the camper types based on their camping needs and habits. The transient camper, for example, sleeps on the ground or in a hammock under the stars. I met a woman who only brought a hammock, a jar of peanut butter and a bottle of vodka. When I asked her why that’s all she brought, she replied that she was more concerned with making it there than what she brought with her.
The traditional camper, such as myself, sleeps in a tent and packs certain necessities like food. Despite careful planning on what to pack, don’t be surprised if you end up trading a case of soda for a stack of pancakes or a bottle of mosquito spray for another pile of firewood. The campground can be a real barter town, and the savvy return camper often comes prepared with extra commodities for potential trading. Toilet paper seems to be common currency.
The elite camper sleeps in a R/V travel home and doesn’t have to share a portable toilet or public shower with several hundred other campers. Sleeping in an R/V isn’t typically considered a “real” camping experience, but when the weather is known for changing rapidly and mosquitoes don’t know when to quit, the R/V camper is often envied by the other campers.
Despite each individual’s camping experience, everyone meets down by the large central campfire to hangout, watch performers and possibly play a game of Risky Jenga.
The central campfire burns brightly until the early morning hours drawing campers to it like moths to a flame. Gypsy girls dance around the fire while other performers juggle bowling pins and play soft drum music. Under a sky refreshingly filled with stars, one more thing not often seen while living in the city, concerns seem to melt away as campers are transported to a more simple time in history.
Risky Jenga is a spin-off from the traditional Jenga game. The objective is the same as the original game; pull a block from the tower of blocks without knocking it over. However, the tower is 20 times larger than the original, and each oversized block within the Risky Jenga tower has an unknown task or punishment written on it.
Tasks and punishments range from innocent to risqué. For example, I saw someone pull a block that read, “Do a cartwheel.” The following person pulled a block that handed out the punishment, “Receive five lashes from the cat o’ nine tales.”
If someone knocks the tower over completely he or she must remove all clothing and rebuild the tower in the nude; only then can that person put their clothing back on. It is definitely a “play at your own risk” type of game.
By the way, when a man steps up to do a cartwheel challenge and happens to be wearing capoeira dance pants while sporting a fierce ponytail… prepare for an amazing show. Huzzah!
Slideshow created by The Signal reporter Matt Coburn.
