I figured I should give a brief introduction about my faire experience.  I grew up in The Woodlands, TX (a rather unfortunate thing as I really hate the state).  My dad took me to my first faire, The Texas Renaissance Festival, when I was still in a stroller.  We went every year from then on out.  I would look forward to it all year.  I'd still have to say that it's my favorite faire, and I've been to quite a few.  

When I graduated high school I moved to Rhode Island and started visiting the faires in the New England area.  King Richard's Faire and the Maine Faire were the ones that I frequented most often.  It wasn't until I moved to California in 2005 that I became a participant.  I started out with the Hobby Hoss Guild, but I felt the desire to commit acts of piracy so I also joined up with the Black Gryphons.  Mainly, I just participate in the Gold Coast faires in Escondido and Ojai, but I love to visit other faires as well.