Much Ado About Sebastopol an escape for a good cause

Strolling minstrels and pirates, magicians and fairies and even Queen Elizabeth and her court mingled together in Sebastopol’s Ives Park on Sunday during the sixth annual Much Ado About Sebastopol Renaissance festival.

Mild temperatures made it comfortable for the actors wearing velvet pantaloons, tights, corsets and petticoats, as they portrayed an imaginary Tudor village in the English countryside called Fenford and celebrated the end of harvest.

“God save the Queen!” yelled the crowd, as the character of Queen Elizabeth arrived at the Fenford Theatre stage at 12:30 p.m.

“God save the good people of Fenford!” the queen replied, before being showered by gifts and a surprise appearance by “William Shakespeare,” a playwright of some note from London.

The whimsical day had a serious purpose - raising money for the Sebastopol Educational Foundation, a nonprofit that funds enrichment programs at both Park Side and Brook Haven K-8 schools. Last year, the festival raised $47,000.

“Our main focus is education through an interactive, historical experience,” said Kristie Cannady, director of the event, which also included kids’ games and crafts, a tavern, food booths and vendors of various “goods and wares.”

One of the more popular vendors was Margaret Bloom’s Little Dragon’s Toy Shoppe, which was doing a brisk business selling wooden shields and swords, plus quivers, bows and rubber-tipped arrows.

“I’m big on using your imagination,” Bloom said. “Creativity is lost in the computer world. With archery, kids are making up their own games.”

Nearby, Park Side kindergarten teacher Julie Aiello helped kids design, paint and decorate their own wooden shields.

“I’ve been here every year,” she said. “It mainly supports our field trips, so we can get a bus and tickets.”

Across the way, children enjoyed a rare encounter with several falcons and an owl, normally used by Airstrike Bird Control of Paso Robles to keep bird populations down in vineyards.

“Back then, these birds were used to hunt instead of guns because they had no guns,” falcon specialist Kenley Christensen said. “The dog would point at the quarry, and the bird would catch it for you.”

Manning Ye Olde Photo Booth was Ali vonEhrenkrook, who was dressing folks in all kinds of period costumes and selling Renaissance garb, from corsets to floral garlands.

“It’s one of the smartest fundraisers that any school could do,” said vonEhrenkrook. “It’s an enormous amount of work, but it’s amazing.”

An army of 400 volunteers help put on the two-day event, with about half handling logistics like parking and the others dressing up to play roles. A $2,000 grant from the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau helped market the event.

Although this year’s event had to compete with the popular Wings over Wine Country Air Show at the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport, Cannady said attendance was good on Saturday and that things were picking up on Sunday. She estimated the weekend attendance would total between 2,500 and 3,000, down slightly from last year.

“I’ve met people from Southern California and they haven’t missed us in four years,” Cannady said.

In the Pip’n’Vine Tavern, Leisa Lambert of Sebastopol was enjoying lunch before trying a sampler of mead, a beverage made from honey.

“I like the dressing up and the camaraderie,” she said. “Everybody’s happy and in a good mood. It’s not your Safeway kind of day.”

Staff writer Diane Peterson can be reached at 521-5287 or diane.peterson@pressdemocrat.com.