Las Cruces, New Mexico, holds an annual Renaissance ArtsFaire that is an absolute blast to attend. So, once again this year, we loaded ourselves into the roadster (big mistake, as you’ll soon see) and headed north from El Paso.
Althought it’s billed as an Arts Fair, Renaissance is much more than that. Participants dress up in fancy period costume and parade about the grounds. Innumerable food vendors ply their wares. “Gypsies” perform sword dances. And even rescue greyhounds are sent off to new homes. It’s a pretty fun time for those of all ages.
Now for the story of bringing too little car to too large a source of art:
Being an Arts Fair, we of course went art shopping. What we found (see gallery below) was something that does not fit into the trunk of a BMW Z3. Thus, we wound up driving back to El Paso, switching out cars, and then returning to Las Cruces to load up our new acquisition.
So, here’s how a Renaissance ArtsFaire appears:
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- Medieval Ice Cream Stand
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- Even the Gypsies Made an Entrance
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- Going to the Dogs . . . or in this case, the Greyhounds
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- Colorful Garb
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- More Happy Couples in Costume
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- Wenches on Parade
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- Opulent Dress
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- More Bagpipes
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- The Bagpipe Brigade
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- Costumed Characters
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- Renaissance Bridge
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- In the Shadow of the Organ Mountains
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- Gypsies with Swords
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- Home Cooking Renaissance-Style
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- The Wizard Watches Over His Apprentice
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- And Here’s the Culprit — 5 Feet of Sculpture for a 3-Foot Trunk
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- The Downfall of the Z3 was Contained within this Stand
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- There were some Tents Moments
Decisions — Murder in Paradise
The Globe — Murder in Luxury
R. Doug Wicker — Author 