Living a faery’s tale

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  • Amanda Johnson, in costume as Amethyst, waves to the crowd during the 2019 Dairy Festival Parade.
    Amanda Johnson, in costume as Amethyst, waves to the crowd during the 2019 Dairy Festival Parade.
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Renaissance Faire

Amanda Johnson of Dike says she visited her first Renaissance festival about 20 years ago and has been a fan ever since. She and her son James Hasten are new cast members who will be performing at Shadow Renaissance Festival next weekend.

“I’m super excited to be a part of Shadow Renaissance Festival. They did an amazing job last year, and this year will be even better,” Johnson said.

Johnson will be portraying a faery named Amethyst while Hasten will be Aeros, a dragon able to shift into human form.

Amethyst has quite the background. Her mother was a low-ranking faery who had an affair with a faery prince and became pregnant. The faery queen was outraged and ordered the lower faery’s execution, sending the expectant mother running for her life. Amethyst’s mother met up with a female dragon waiting for her eggs to hatch and begged the dragon to help her save her child. The dragon took the unborn baby and placed it into the egg with Aeros where dragon magic and faery magic somehow merged before the pair hatched. Amethyst was raised by Aeros’s mother, and they consider themselves to be brother and sister.

For those that may not know, the word “fairy” and “faery” can be used for describing the fantastical creature, but some argue that “faery” can mean a mischievous spirit according to an article on Difference Between.

Johnson has an incredible costume made by dressmaker Dakota Zales of My Favorite Dress Shop in Montgomery, Texas. Costumes, she says, are the most expensive part of being a faery – or any other type of Ren faire cast member. Obviously the better the quality and the more ornate the costume is, the more it costs. Higher quality dresses can cost several hundred dollars.

Then there are the wings – the pièce de résistance of Johnson’s costume. Hers are made from a thicker type of cellophane and must be handled with care. A quick browse of the Etsy website showed listings for faery wings ranging from $25 to over $100, depending on how elaborate they are.

“These actually weren’t the wings I wanted,” Johnson said. “The ones I wanted were bigger and I would’ve had to wear a harness, which just didn’t work with the corset part of my costume.”

“I have a sports car, so it’s going to be interesting trying to transport my wings and James’s dragon wings,” Johnson said.

This is the first year for both Johnson and Hasten to be on cast and the second year of the Renaissance fair.

“I’m super excited to be a part of Shadow Renaissance Festival. The directors did an amazing job putting everything together last year, and this year will be even better,” Johnson said.

Johnson said one of the surprising things she’s discovered is that her costume is kind of freeing.

“I tend to be a bit shy in real life, but when I’m Amethyst, that just goes away,” she said. “As Amethyst, I don’t speak, but I’m still able to communicate and draw people in who may be a little detached or reluctant to get into it. I love it!”

Shadow Renaissance Festival will be held 1-9 p.m. Friday, July 26; 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Saturday, July 27; and 1-6 p.m. Sunday, July 28 at the Hopkins County Regional Civic Center and arena, 1200 West Houston Street in Sulphur Springs, Texas. Individual tickets and ticket packages can be purchased at the gate or online at www.shadowrenfest.com. Proceeds go toward Shadow Ranch Therapy Center in Hopkins County.

For more information, please visit the Shadow Renaissance Festival website or their “Book of Face” page at www.facebook.com/shadowrenfest.