As patrons crossed the Morse Park bridge across from the baseball fields Saturday, they were transported into Drogheda, Ireland of 1510.
Saturday was the beginning of the Missouri Renaissance Festival, which concludes today.
Upon entering the renaissance festival, the sights and sounds of that time period were felt. One of the performers walking around and presenting shows throughout the day was Jacqueimo the Jester.
“There are several different aspects to being a jester – usually they grew up with the certain reining king or queen or, in this case here in our wonderful shire this weekend, a duke and duchess,” said Jacqueimo, performed by Matthew Pieffer of Colorado Springs, Colo. “They are not only the court entertainment to keep them laughing and light-hearted, but during the festival times, they were the ones that came out, talked with the different merchants, town folk to find out if taxes were too high, if they were starving or if they were well fed, if things were going good or bad and they were able to take all of that information and go back to the lord or lady of the realm to let them know.
We are also bodyguards and the royal babysitters.”
Pieffer has been involved in renaissance festivals for the past 20 years.
He performed a few times on Saturday and will be back again today at the event.
“I am doing a lot of children’s magic this weekend,” he noted. “(Also) I swallow swords, I put my hands in a perfectly good guillotine, I do juggling and I do comedy.”
Asked how many years he had to prepare to swallow a sword, Pieffer said, “it takes years. (When I swallow a sword), believe it or not, it takes seven different gag reflexes to get past, in order to swallow the particular types of swords. It takes a lot of training.”
Another performer was Suzy Ferrer, Tulsa, Okla., as Khayala, a belly dancer with Desert Winds belly dance troup.
“I am wearing what is called a tiered skirt and a string skirt, which is basically used to flare out when I spin,” Ferrer said. “My character does a solo with scarves, so I often wear scarves and a veil. I love to dress up and that is a big part of what we do.”
Ferrer began belly dancing about two years ago.
“I have been doing other forms of classical dance for almost 20 years, so belly dance is a new experience for me,” she said. “I was looking for a form of exercise, dance that was low-impact, something that was fun, that I could exercise my whole body, and belly dance does that for you. It is good for people who need lower form of stretching and exercising.”
