Completely by accident, we found ourselves in Salon de Provence on the weekend of their big Renaissance Faire. This was a grand affair that took over the entire city and featured the participation of many in the city. It went on for three days, two of which had huge parades on the main street in town.
In addition to a play put on by the local fencing club, shown here, there were a number of roaming musical groups, one with a fantastic bent, and wide array of booths showing everything from stone carving to fabric dying to blacksmithing.
We were there for one of the parade nights. In addition to officially selected/appointed characters like the Queen (this event commemorates the visit of the real Queen in the 1600's or so), and the organized participation of local groups (fencing club, dance groups, equestrian groups, etc) it seemed like anyone who wanted could join the "townsfolk" part of the parade. We had wanted to leave before it began because we were all tired, but the parade assembly blocked the parking garage and we couldn't get the car out anyway.
