Maeve Bauer, Spectrum Editor
Once upon a time peddlers, paupers, painters, pirates, poets and a plethora of ye ole Renaissance faire goers paraded the ground of Dorey Park — henceforth marking April 18 and 19 as the first Richmond Ren Faire.
It is safe to say the folks of RVA had a jolly good time at the inaugural event, through rain and shine, as over 14,000 guests attended between both days. The Richmond Ren Faire was brought to the community by Virago Alley and supported by a roundtable of Richmond nonprofits.
The faire was the brainchild of Amanda Robinson, founder of Virago Alley, Gallery5 and now the Richmond Ren Faire. She has been heavily awarded for her work within the city’s art scene and her persistent dedication to convening communities in the name of creativity.
Virago Alley is a nonprofit organization set on the quest to bring people together and share knowledge and skill. They ultimately plan on opening a community center equipped for combat training, archery and workshops teaching a variety of historical trades.
The Richmond Ren Faire was focused on the tradespeople and artisans who encompassed the Renaissance Era. It was split into 12 unique guilds, all specializing in a historical craft. In the absence of monarchy, guilds rely on the existence of one another.
It was important to focus on all aspects of the Renaissance time period and the cultural exchanges taking place, not just Europe, according to Ash Moore, managing director of Virago Alley. They were inspired by the exchanges that took place on the Silk Road.
“Taking that approach was important to us,” Moore said. “The way that we’re shifting the focus towards the everyday people. Most Renaissance faires follow the storylines of nobility and figures who were in a higher class system and we’re choosing to focus in on the artists and the tradesmen of the era.”
As the faire came together, Moore noticed the way the different grassroots organizations, or guilds, supported each other — making the Richmond Ren Faire what it was.
“I always joke that the real renaissance is the community building that we see behind the scenes,” Moore said. “I’ve watched this event come together and I’ve watched people come together from various communities and they’re really building something. I think that’s what’s so special about all of this — it’s inspiring in a lot of various ways.”
Preparations for the festival have been in motion for over a year. Festivities kicked off on March 7, 2025, with the “Richmond Renaissance Faire: A Fundraising Kick Off.”
During the fundraiser, a sword was forged by Join or Die Knives of the Iron and Steel Guild. The sword was carefully crafted to be auctioned off with the proceeds going toward the greater faire. The winner of the auction was announced on Sunday, and soon after, a new sword was forged for next year’s faire.
The full scale of the event was much larger than what anyone imagined, according to Bizhan Khodabandeh — who wears many hats, or helms, as vice president of Virago Alley’s board of directors, one of their Historical European Martial Arts instructors, an assistant professor at VCU’s Robertson School of Communication and Robinson’s spouse.
“We kind of started out with this doing a Ren Faire-themed art exhibition at Gallery5 and as soon as we posted the Ren Faire logo, it went bananas,” Khodabandeh said. “We ended up doing other events leading up to this to kind of test the waters, to kind of get some organizational things down cause we’ve never done anything like this before and then finally led up to this one.”
Virago Alley hosted “Warriors in Bloom” at Agecroft Hall, a screening of “The Princess Bride,” at the Byrd Theatre and a handful of other gatherings with local businesses that saw to the completion of Richmond Ren Faire.
Many historians came to share old trade knowledge with the ren faire folk. The Illuminators and Scribe Guild gave demonstrations on how ink was once made and how script was once written. The Combat Guild showed festival-goers how to historically defend and disarm with honor.
Henrico Parks and Recreation shared the secrets of the spindle — using wool from Henrico County sheep, looking to give people a hands-on history lesson, according to their history programmer Kara DiComa.
DiComa admires the mission of the Richmond Ren Faire to shift focus to the tradesmen of the time and give space to tell their history.
“Within history, a lot of times what is made most available to people is the history of the ruling class,” Dicoma said. “We don’t always get to hear about everyday people.”
Richmond-based businesses were scattered throughout the fairgrounds, all contributing to different guilds.
Spoons and Brooms RVA is run by Tim McElhannon, who makes the spoons, and Cathy McElhannon, who makes the brooms. The McElhannons have been married for 41 years and have been selling spoons and brooms together for four months.
“We get wood from tree cutters and people who are just having trees cut down in their yard,” Tim said. “We hear a chainsaw, we go to the sound of the chainsaw, hop on our bikes and check it out.”
Cathy enjoys the craftsmanship of everyday objects — finding beauty in belongings that can be used for a lifetime. The couple prides themselves in never making the same spoon or broom twice, taking their time and enjoying their retirement together as artisans.
“We’re thrilled as vendors, in what we’ve sold, but I had no idea it would be this much fun,” Cathy said. “People are so nice and I love the inclusivity of it all. When we came on Friday we felt like ‘oh my gosh, we are the oldest, whitest, square-ist, straightest — we’re just like grandparents,’ and we have felt like anything but that. We just feel like, it sounds so corny, but everybody loves everybody.”
Located by the Faewild Guild, just off the gate’s entrance, was Laura Mauger, who creates wearable sculptures — elaborate headpieces, eye-catching earrings and necklaces that make a statement. Her works are fantasy-inspired and modeled after different whimsical themes.
“Last year was my gods and goddesses collection, where I took nine Greek gods and goddesses and designed crowns and jewelry based on those,” Mauger said. “This year is my courts of men collection, where I chose five different courts — the court of flame, the court of stallions, the court of artificers, the court of the wild and the court of fjords — and then made designs based on mood boards I had for those.”
Celebrations commenced throughout the faire grounds throughout the fanciful weekend. Attendees sang, danced and drank through the heat on Saturday — and huddled under tents and connected with one another during a rain-filled Sunday morning. They rejoiced as the sun made an appearance that afternoon, giving way to a picturesque sky and the perfect weather.
Holy River Music and EarthFolkRVA played the last song of the Richmond Ren Faire. While fair maidens, monks, wizards, knights, fae and all other fantastical creatures circled the stage — creating a jubilant ending to a festival that will forever be remembered in RVA’s story.
The End.