Houndsmen, royalty and pirates, although common components of medieval fairy tales, may seem out of place in real life.

That is, unless one’s at the Des Moines Renaissance Faire.

“We’re all a little nuts here,” says Lady Cecily Fenwick, nanny to the royal children of the medieval renaissance court.

The Faire made a comeback this year at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, where everything from belly dancers, real jousting and turkey drumsticks could be found. The Faire had taken a break for the past two years, but came back this year because of the upcoming opening of a permanent renaissance castle at Sleepy Hollow Sports in September.

Most people that participate in weekend medieval festivals traveling around the country find themselves back at normal day jobs during the rest of the week.

Lady Cecily Fenwick, otherwise known as Ann Garvey, a Des Moines resident, is a member of the royal court that travels around to various Renaissance festivals throughout the year, in addition to the Des Moines Renaissance Faire.

“My favorite part about Renaissance festivals is getting dressed up and being eccentric, being what I don’t normally get to be,” Garvey says. “During the week, I work with the Des Moines School system. Kids are pretty surprised when they see their teacher here.”

Other court members look forward to being outside on the weekend because of their indoor desk jobs.

“I’m a computer analyst during the week. Took off my computer geek badge to come here this weekend,” says Des Moines resident Jim Curtis, who goes by the title of royal houndsman Seamus O’Malley.

Computers seem to be a popular career choice for many of the people involved in the Faire.

“A lot of us are into computers here. It’s just like Star Trek, only older,” says Des Moines resident, Allen Huffman, who goes by the character name Captain J.P. Boyd, Legendary Pirate.

All the workers and volunteers All the volunteers involved in the Faire dress up in full Renaissance outfits to complete their characters and make things more realistic.

“I swore I would never wear tights or a kilt. It took me about six years to get into the tights,” Huffman says. “Real men probably don’t wear tights, and with these legs, I was afraid to go out in them.”

Although there are many modernly dressed people attending the Faire, some patrons come dressed in their medieval finest.

“A lot of the people you see dressed up paid at the gate. They are just dressed up to go play, like dressing up to go see Star Wars,” Huffman says.

Some people involved begin participating in the medieval faires because they are merchants looking to sell Renaissance goods.

“I began because I’m a belly dancer, and I got tired of having limited options to shop at. There wasn’t anyone selling belly dancing things when I started,” says merchant Valerie Thiessen, resident of Rock Island, Ill.

Other patrons began participating in faires as a family bonding activity.

“I actually got dragged here by my husband,” says merchant Jen Moran, an Indianola resident. “I began going to them as well. I actually make my own clothes for them and everything.”

Although the Faire isn’t entirely historically accurate, the main goal is for the patrons to have fun.

“Sure, we sell corndogs, and sure we sell turkey legs and turkeys weren’t even found in medieval England,” Huffman says. “It’s not about history, it’s about the illusion of history. Its just about taking the better parts of history and having fun with them,.”

The people that journey from faire to faire together seem to have developed a bond that makes the traveling worthwhile.

“My favorite part is seeing all the other vendors every few weekends. Our kids all play together, and it’s like a reunion,” Moran says.