An Interview With Barrie Paulson, VP/Director Darkhorse Entertainment, LLC . Photos by Trent Eades
The Harriman Medieval Faire, nestled in the hills of the scenic town of Harriman, TN brings entertainment, tourism, and historical jollity to Appalachian Tennessee. This week, in honor of their annual Medieval Faire, we spoke with Barrie to discuss their fantastic faire!
Q: Where Did Your Idea to Start a Tennessee Medieval Faire Originate?
Renaissance-type festivals have been popular since 1963 (see below).
Lars and I got started at the Ringling Medieval Fair in Sarasota, FL, in the early 1980s. Lars was going to Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota and was hired to build some sets for the Fair.
I was between college and graduate school in early 1983 when I auditioned for a community theatre play. One of the directors encouraged me to come with him and audition as a chess match fighter and street character.
I did, was hired, and fell in love with the whole thing. The shows have everything that Lars and I love – creative, growth, performance, and management opportunities; sports; martial arts; dance; music; crafts; food; beverages; all day family-fun, outdoors.
Both Lars and I worked our way up to senior management positions (Lars became General Manager of several big shows, and I toured and worked my way up as a professional comedy/stunt performer, choreographer, instructor, and tour director.
After working for other management companies, Lars’ dream was to have his own festival and “build it right from the ground up.” We later got married and had this as a goal someday. We moved (for me back) to TN in 2004 with the idea to start a Renaissance-type festival in east TN.
As historical backup:
In post–World War II America, there was a resurgence of interest in medieval and Renaissance culture. In the 1950s, there was a powerful early music revival, and out of that came folk musician and traditionalist John Langstaff. In 1957, Langstaff held “A Christmas Masque of Traditional Revels” in New York City, and the following year another in Washington, D.C.
In 1963, Los Angeles schoolteacher Phyllis Patterson held a tiny Renaissance fair as a class activity in the backyard of her Laurel Canyon home in the Hollywood Hills. On May 11 and 12 of that year, Patterson and her husband, Ron Patterson, presented the first “Renaissance Pleasure Faire” as a one-weekend fundraiser for radio station KPFK which drew some 8,000 people. The Living History Center designed the fair to resemble an actual spring market fair of the period.[16]
Q: What Inspired the Medieval and Pirate themes?
Lars and I both worked at Medieval Fairs and Renaissance Festivals. They are basically the same thing, just different periods (Medieval 500-1500 and Renaissance 1500-1800).
Some festivals try to present a difference with different types of costumes (Medieval is earlier and costumes are simpler, while Renaissance is later with ornate costumes). And some try to pick well-known main characters from those periods (Robin Hood and King Arthur for Medieval and King Henry 8th and Queen Elizabeth I and Shakespeare for Renaissance).
However, some festivals don’t worry about it.
As historical backup:
- The Middle Ages or Medieval period is from about 500-1500 (fall of Rome in 476 to the rebirth of the Renaissance in the early 14th century)
- Renaissance is the period from about 1500-1800 (14th to 17th century)
- Pirate “Golden Age” is roughly from 1650-1730
Our first festival in Harriman was in October 2014 as the East Tennessee Renaissance Festival.
This small town was looking for a “big idea” to bring in tourists, and the county selected this property as a good fit. We liked the meaning of Renaissance as “rebirth” and creating an economic engine based on special events. However, in early 2015, the Tennessee Renaissance Festival in Nashville had an issue with our festival name.
So, we complied instead of fighting it, and changed our name to the Tennessee Medieval Faire. With Lars and I both starting at the Ringling Medieval Faire, we liked it, and the costumes are easier and less expensive to make.
Lars wanted to try a Halloween show. So we tried a family-friendly (PG) evening event called Boo-Town in Oct 2015. However, there were competing events (G-rated with church and city truck-or-treat or PG13-R scary trails), and it was challenging to light that much acreage. So, it came to me afterward to focus on what we do well – daytime, regional, family-friendly, costumed-themed events.
Many Renaissance-type festivals have themed weekends, and the most popular is Pirate weekend. There aren’t that many pirate festivals in East TN, and our property is on the water (although we haven’t developed down to the water yet).
So, the idea came to me to have a stand-alone TN Pirate Festival as our other themed event. With skulls on pirate flags, we could hint at Halloween without having to compete with Halloween. So, this worked well for us.
Then with Covid in 2020, we ramped up twice only to have to cancel twice. So, I asked our Facebook fans what show they would like when. 77% said to have the Pirate Fest May because pirates go with water/boating and have lighter costumes. While Medieval seems more like fall with fires and heavy costumes. So, we switched the order in 2021, and it worked great.
Also, we’ve tried to find a “sweet spot” to play with so many other events in spring and fall.
For example, there is a Highland Games in Maryville in May. The Georgia Renaissance Festival is from April-June. The Tennessee Renaissance Festival is the month of May. The KY Ren Fest and W VA Ren Fest are in early June. Then in the fall, because of Talk Like a Pirate Day on Sept 19, there are lots of Pirate Fests in coastal cities in Sept and Oct. So, even though some Renaissance festivals have a pirate-themed weekend, having our Pirate Fest in May and the Medieval Faire in October gives us a place to play.
Q: How Was This Year Different Than The Past 7?
Every show and year, we work to put on the best show we can. This past year, we switched the order of the shows (as I mentioned above), with the Pirate Fest the last two weekends in May, including Memorial Day, and the Medieval Faire the first three weekends in October.
This actually gave the Pirate Fest one more day and the Medieval Faire one less day because of Memorial Day. (Pirate Fest went from 2 weekends with four days to 2 weekends with five days, and our Medieval Faire went from 3 weekends with seven days to 3 weekends with six days). If Columbus or Indigenous Day were observed in TN, we would have a Monday festival day in October. But this day used to be on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
We also have new stage acts, street characters, games and activities, and vendors each year. Many are the same, but we also like to have something new. Also, sometimes people’s schedules change, and they can’t be in a show. So I work with the concept that “loss is gain,” meaning that a seeming loss means a gain for someone to have an opportunity.
So with the Pirate Fest in May 2021, we had the theme of historical pirate Captain Jean Lafitte in Barataria, south of New Orleans, at the end of the War of 1812. We also expanded our “Trail of Doom” with more actors and haunted displays with our Pirate Fest. We also presented a “Christmas Carol” theme of possible redemption for a mutinous pirate captain and a spoiled socialite. This went over really well.
Lars now writes our scripts, and we both enjoyed seeing happy patrons leaving the trail.
Based on years of exit surveys, patrons also asked for more activities. So, we decided to turn 2 of the 7 stage areas – where we were paying for entertainment – into activity areas – where patrons were paying for activities, which worked well. The activities were a fight-the knight game and mermaid photo ops for the pirate fest for the first time this year.
Then for the Medieval Faire, we had fairies for the first time doing hair-braiding and telling fairy tales, a new fencing game, and we added an escape room adventure based on Harry Potter’s potions exam. We also added a knight with real armor and a dragon photo op at the front.
One of my favorite things is being a talent scout and developing talent. We audition and train our local street character each week for three months before our festival. We work on the scenario, characters, costumes, accents, dialect, stage combat, improv, patron interactions, etc. As we see talent, then we find a way to showcase it.
We have Pirate School (Pirate), so we added Sherwood School to this Medieval Faire. Because of Covid, an improv troupe from Knoxville had to bow out. So, we added an improv stage show called “Throw Me a Line,” based on the TV show, “Whose Line is it Anyway,” which led to full belly laughs from the audience.
One great new thing that occurred this year was that our average daily attendance doubled from 2019! People came from at least 30 states and over half of the counties in Tennessee! People are ready to be outside and have fun. And, it’s taken building awareness over the past seven years of our family-friendly shows in Harriman to finally break through. It’s such a great feeling!
Q: What Part Of Medieval Life Resonates The Most With You Today?
We present a theatrical interpretation of history, focusing on entertainment. So, as a performer, the theatrical part is my favorite. But I also love the high-quality functional costume items from the Medieval period, such as leather doublets, pouches, boots, bracers, gloves; hooded capes of different lengths; wooden bowls; drinking vessels made from clay, horn, metal; metal weapons, shields, armor; cotton and linen costumes for spring, and wool costumes for cold and rainy weather.
We also present a romanticized interpretation of history, focusing on the “Age of Chivalry” with Robin Hood and King Arthur for the Medieval Faire and “Golden Age of Piracy” where there are “good” pirates and “bad” redcoats.
We also appreciate and present a group of people who enjoy working together and creating a sense of community for the common good. I have a sign over the door of our actor studio that says, “Enter as strangers, leave as friends.”
I like to exchange Friends for Family. All members have to audition, be cast, and choose to work together to create great shows. Lars and I don’t have children, so we joke that we hire and fire our kids.
I also view what I do as undercover missionary work without using polarizing words and just live the principles of Light and Love, “against such there is no law.”
Q: Is This a Celebration of Your Heritage, and If so, Do These Festivals Help You Feel More in Tune with Your Heritage?
Most definitely! My mother’s heritage is Anderson, which is Scots-Irish, and many Scots-Irish moved to Appalachia. Their folk music became mountain music, and their dancing developed into styles such as clogging. I love to dance! Many of the songs we all enjoy are Scottish, such as “Over the Sea to Skye,” which is the theme song for the popular series, Outlander. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF0ZYnvFXRk&list=OLAK5uy_nyOcQVG3ogCfcMXNlTXuIkcgVHJOv_iyg
Also, I researched my aunt’s memoirs (when our shows were canceled in 2020). I discovered a song from our family in Scotland called the “Loch Tay Boat Song.” It is about unrequited love and has site-specific lyrics. It’s very beautiful. These are the types of songs we have at our festival, although we focus on the upbeat ones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGxG03VlazE
Through my father, our Blankenship family are direct descendants of Tennessee’s first governor, General John Sevier (through his first wife and one of their daughters). I believe he’s my 9th generation grandfather. Also, Lars and I are said to be 1/16 Native (Lars is part Lakota Sioux, and I’m part Cherokee), so we enjoy being outdoors and communing with nature and animals.
My late father was a college instructor, minister for the armed services, and tomato plant manager. He encouraged education, spiritual growth, strong character, and hard work. My mom is an artist and encouraged creativity.
Their influence, plus my heritage, education, and experience, definitely the Appalachian tradition is an outgrowth of the Medieval and Renaissance culture. People from Europe, especially England, Scotland, and Ireland moved to American, and many moved to the Appalachian Mountains in the 18th century https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachia
Lars was raised in the midwest, where there is a strong sense of hard work and humility. Lars’ artistic ability and strong vision of creating a family-friendly environment, where people can come and escape, laugh, and feel uplifted, he doesn’t focus on himself but always says, “The show is the boss.”
Lars and I are all about building bridges that unite us, which makes me feel that I come by all my festival interests “honestly.”
Q: Do You Feel Like Appalachian Tradition Has Been Informed Or Influenced By Medieval Culture?
Well, the Appalachian tradition is an outgrowth of the Medieval and Renaissance culture. People from Europe, especially England, Scotland, and Ireland moved to American, and many moved to the Appalachian Mountains.
European migration into Appalachia began in the 18th century. As lands in eastern Pennsylvania, the Tidewater region of Virginia, and the Carolinas filled up, immigrants began pushing further and further westward into the Appalachian Mountains.
A relatively large proportion of the early backcountry immigrants were Ulster Scots—later known as “Scotch-Irish,” a group mainly originating from southern Scotland and northern England, many of whom had settled in Ulster Ireland before migrating to America[18][19][20][21] — who were seeking cheaper land and freedom from Quaker leaders, many of whom considered the Scotch-Irish “savages.”
Others included Germans from the Palatinate region and English settlers from the Anglo-Scottish border country. Between 1730 and 1763, immigrants trickled into western Pennsylvania, the Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia, and western Maryland.
Thomas Walker’s discovery of the Cumberland Gap in 1750 and the end of the French and Indian War in 1763 lured settlers deeper into the mountains, namely to upper east Tennessee, northwestern North Carolina, upstate South Carolina, and central Kentucky.
The mountains are actually part of the same range, called the Central Pangean Mountains, which connected North America, Greenland, Iceland Scotland, Ireland, Norway, England, and northwestern Africa before the earth separated. I love that we really all are connected to each other and our past Medieval culture.
And we can choose to recreate it in an uplifting and engaging way to delight people of all ages and backgrounds. Lars and I are all about building bridges that unite us.
https://vividmaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Central-Pangean-Mountains.jpg
