Dallas / Fort Worth and Me

Forgive me for putting my discussion of Cinco de Mayo off for a full week after the event, folks; I meant no disrespect. As it happens, there was a family emergency, and I was called out of town last week after I’d begin writing this entry. But now I’m back, so let the party continue!

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 Before we return to our regularly scheduled program, folks, I wanted to point out that May is chockfull of exciting events to attend — so many, in fact, that I expect to be writing about them well into June (which is also an eventful month).  While the various Cinco de Mayo celebrations and Richardson’s Cottonwood Arts Festival are over, there’s still lots to do.

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Once more into the breach, dear friends, and I’ll be done with my report on Ye Olde Scarborough Renaissance Festival. While the bulk of this particular entry will be devoted to photos (primarily from the Grande Parade), there are a few more things I’d like to point out.

One thing you’ll need to check out is the glassmaking exhibit, which (much to my irritation) I was unable to get any decent pictures of.  This blurry image of the glassblower rolling a molten blob of glass is about the best I could do. The pictures of everything else — including the roaring furnaces — didn’t really come out.

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When I last left you, Gentle Reader, I hadn’t finished talking about the wonders of Scarborough Faire — the yearly Renaissance Festival currently underway outside of Waxahachie, which is about 25 miles south of DFW. This is a great festival to visit. It’s a lot cheaper, admittance-wise, than most amusement parks, and it’s at least as much fun. Especially if you like such things as turtle races and falconry demonstration shows.

Speaking of falconry, the Royal Falconer was giving quite the demonstration about the time we walked in, and I was most impressed.

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Are you going to Scarborough Faire?

No, Paul and Art, I already did. On April 20, I had the opportunity to visit my very first Renaissance Festival — in this case Scarborough Faire, a great big festival located on permanent grounds just outside of Waxahachie, Texas.

Now, back when I was a lad, “the Renaissance Festival” meant the Texas Renaissance Festival, the one that’s been held down south in Plantersville since ‘74. I never got to go to that one, and I never even knew that Scarborough existed until a few years ago. Turns out that it’s the North Texas answer to the RenFaire I grew up with. This one’s been going on since 1981, and is set in the year 1533, during the reign of England’s King Henry VIII. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, this is he with his queen-of-the-moment.

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As a native Texan, I have nothing but the greatest of respect for Hispanic culture. It’s one of the roots of Texas society, after all, and in a wider sense American society as well — and it’s easy to see that it’s becoming an even more important part of our society, as the Hispanic population becomes increasingly larger and more vibrant. For that reason, I’ve tried to include as many Hispanic festivals and celebrations as I can find in this year’s list of Metroplex events, though heaven knows I’ll never be able to attend every one. I will, however, make an attempt to attend a representative cross-section.

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Downtown Ft. Worth has many things to recommend it, but one of the most majestic is the beautiful Bass Performance Hall.

Located in historic Sundance Square, just across the street from the famous Flying Saucer Pub, the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall Complex (as it’s officially known) takes up the entire block bound by Calhoun, Commerce, 4th and 5th streets. It’s described in its literature as “the crowning jewel of a city which boasts the nation’s third largest cultural district,” and yes, it definitely is that. Poor Dallas; compared to Ft. Worth, the Big D’s pretty much a cultural backwater, and the existence of the Bass — which would not be out of place in New York or the Continent, incidentally — just makes it all the more obvious.

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Welcome back, cats and kittens! Last time I told you about the Li’l New Oprys, as I call them, that you can find in various towns around our fair state — including both Garland and Wylie, proud junior members of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. One thing that I didn’t mention, however, is that from April to October of every year (and sometimes earlier or later, if it’s warm enough), bluegrass pickers gather in the Garland town square just outside the Opry at 7 PM every Saturday evening for what’s informally known as “Pickin’ on the Square.”

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