It’s a place of merriment and wonder — where, for an afternoon, you can trade in your smartphone for a sword, blue jeans for stockings, and a t-shirt for a doublet. Welcome to the Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire, where guests are transported (via the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale) to an immersive 16th century English village. Here, celebrity sightings mean catching a glimpse of Her Majesty Elizabeth I rather than a Kardashian or TikTok influencer.
This year marks the Faire’s 60th anniversary, and it’s come a long way from its humble 1963 beginnings in Agoura Hills. Every spring, flocks of guests from across Southern California and abroad visit, sporting their finest Renaissance attire.
More: Cute the lute, raise your flagon: SoCal’s Renaissance Faire at 60
The event is more than Coachella for history nerds: Extensive time, effort, and, sometimes, an incredible amount of money, go into each and every outfit donned by actors, performers, and guests alike on-site.
KCRW recently visited the Faire and rounded up a few of our favorite looks.
More: SEE: SoCal struts its finest 16th century attire at Ren Faire
Not a costume, but a self-expression
By day, Rachel Jeffrey, 50, is an educator. But on some weekends, she moonlights as a frilly wench. Photo by Zaydee Sanchez.
Showing off her wild, spirited side was the goal this year for Rachel Jeffrey.
When she isn’t at the Faire, Jeffrey works as a second grade teacher, and loves dressing up whenever she has the chance.
“It's truly a space of self-expression,” she says. “Everybody has an opportunity to come out and express their inner self, whether that is their favorite anime character or person from history. It really is a free, open space where, as we walk, there's no judgment.”
She adds, “You truly are having an opportunity to freely express yourself in whatever manner you like. And, and that's always something that's treasured. And we enjoy that every year.”
Want to get her look? All of Jeffrey’s costumes are an amalgamation of diverse pieces collected over the years.
In total, she says she spent at least $200 on this outfit — $10 to $20 on her headband, $20 for a tulle skirt via Amazon, $40 for her blouse, and $100 for her leather corset. And that doesn’t include the rest of the bits and bobs hanging around her neck and waist.
Remembering a family patriarch
Gary Johnson (center) and his family visited the Renaissance Faire in Irwindale in memory of his father, who was an avid fan of the event. Photo by Zaydee Sanchez.
Gary Johnson and his family came out to the Faire in memory of his father, who died last year. To honor his love for the Renaissance-themed event, each of them wore different parts of dad’s costume. Johnson’s sister, Jamie Carretta, says their father also designed a rune that many family members, including herself, have tattooed on their body.
“He could have very easily been an artist … he loved to make things, carve things, make things out of clay, make things out of wood,” Carretta says. “And so he had this really, really cool image [of the rune]. And when he passed away, we decided we all wanted to put it on our body and memory of him.”
Jamie Carretta painted her father’s favorite rune on her forehead in preparation for her Renaissance Faire visit. Photo by Zaydee Sanchez.
Out-of-context historical fun
Even though Abraham Lincoln and Mario Antonette aren’t historical figures from the Renaissance, the trio wanted to have a little bit of fun. Photo by Danielle Chiriguayo/KCRW.
Much like at Comic Con, some Renaissance Faire-goers take creative liberty with their outfits. Pals Chris, Felipe, and Claudia decided to embody their favorite historical figures.
Meet Abraham Lincoln, Leonardo da Vinci, and Marie Antoinette — ye old fast food style.
Making up for lost time
Leyla Abbass Ali (L) and her boyfriend Joseph Wilheim (R) dressed up as Fiona and Shrek, ogre characters from the 2001 animated classic “Shrek.” Photo by Zaydee Sanchez.
Soon-to-be-engaged couple Leyla Abbass Ali and Joseph Wilheim also took an unorthodox approach to their Renaissance Faire look. They opted to dress up as ogres — specifically, as Fiona and Shrek, from the seminal, Dreamworks animated classic “Shrek.”
The duo, who traveled to Irwindale from Santa Barbara, had originally bought their costumes and makeup for Halloween 2022. But then they got sick and couldn’t join in the fun, so they’re hitting the Faire as an opportunity for a second chance.
This year marks Ali’s first Faire since she was 6 years old.
“Everyone's wonderful. It's been the most fun day,” she says. “It started even before we got here. Let me tell you — we stayed at a hotel nearby, like 15 minutes away, and realized that we were gonna have to go down and get an Uber and be Shrek and Fiona in an Uber on a random Saturday, not Halloween.
“And I was like, ‘Okay, what's the driver gonna think?’ And he was so sweet. He was so excited. He just said, ‘This made my day. Can I get your picture? It's gonna make my girlfriend's day. I'm so excited to see you guys.’”
When photographed, this subject was as silent as death. Photo by Zaydee Sanchez.
Isabel “Izzy” Jeffries (L) embraces her inner frog, while Scott Daugherty (R) dons a reconfigured version of his Link costume, the main character from “The Legend of Zelda” series. Photo by Zaydee Sanchez.