After a 2-year hiatus caused by the pandemic, Bellefonte High School’s annual trip to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire returned this year. Lords, ladies, and lieges involved in Drama, Chorale, and art classes traveled to the faire on Wednesday, October 5. 

Attendants were “cordially invited to the Wedding of the Daughter of Lady Mayor Delores Ann Penburthy to the Son of Abraham and Eva Froman, the Sausage King and Queen of the Shire,” as stated on the advertisement for the trip. 

Acts throughout the day followed this theme, with an interruption of the couple’s union due to the theft of the marriage seal which led to the finale of the day – a joust, battle, and eventual wedding scene. 

This year, BAHS Chorale performed the piece “In These Delightful Pleasant Groves,” a common English madrigal. The group prepared for their performance through weekly rehearsals before school in the month leading up to the competition. 

Senior Cecilia Stanton describes the process of preparation for the event as a member of chorale. 

“I went to the chorale practices and also practiced my part on my own so that I would be prepared for the performance, which I think paid off in the end,” she said. 

Senior Noah Aberegg attended the faire for his fourth time, but his first with chorale. He believes that the group was successful, despite some challenges. 

“The weather played a serious part in our performance. Singing outside in the wind and rain is very difficult since it is harder to hear each other and for the audience to hear us. But we pushed through that and performed well,” he said. 

Cecilia agrees. 

“Even though we didn’t place in the top three, we earned high scores from all the judges…I think that both the chorale and the people doing the scene did a great job,” she said. 

She thinks that the group excelled not only because of their talent, but because of the ways in which they worked together. 

“I think that in both cases the groups worked well together as a cohesive unit, and because most of us are friends we had some chemistry already that I think helped with our stage performances,” she said. 

In addition to the Chorale performance, the Drama Club performed a scene from Shakespeare’s Othello. Senior Abby Weiser managed the performance as the Drama Club stage manager. 

“I think that both choir and drama did fantastic. They [chorale] had brilliant singing voices and the drama department had superior acting skills,” she said. 

One aspect of the Renaissance Faire seems to be that there is something different for everyone to enjoy. Noah was interested in the scenes put on by the faire actors. 

“My favorite part of the trip was getting to see the joust at the end and the battle filled with lots of explosions,” he said.

Abby agrees that it was a highlight of the day.  

“This is my first time going to the Ren Faire with Bellefonte and I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but it was an overall amazing experience. By far my favorite part of any Ren Faire is the ultimate joust at the end. It is such a dramatic show to go see,” she said. 

For Cecilia, the best part of the trip was experiencing it with her friends. 

“My favorite part of the trip was spending time with my friends exploring the Ren Faire and the different shows and attractions that were there,” she said. 

Senior Emma Homan played the clown in Drama’s performance, but they took their experience at the Faire anything but comedically. 

“It was like walking into a completely different world. I got called a creature of the forest by one of the actors because of my outfit and I’ve never felt cooler in my life. I’ll definitely be going again when I can,” they said.