April 6 is the first day of the 56th season of the Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire. Running until May 19 at the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale, California, it is the oldest of at least 62 similar festivals coast to coast. While most of these “Renfaires” are set in Elizabethan times, some are set in other eras – Medieval, Viking or Pirate. But they all feature actors portraying period characters, with various stages offering more or less authentic song, dance and patter, and innumerable craftspeople selling all sorts of relevant things. And food! Often there is a mounted tournament.