It was mostly peaceful as wizards, pirates, Vikings and plenty more reprising cultural and fantasy figures over a millennia rode a coach bus through the scenic Santa Fe countryside to the tune of light medieval horns.
The peace among the swashbucklers and warriors persisted even after one man uttered an incantation of fighting words.
"Fireball!" exclaimed Taishon Hallmark, 31, a self-described "wizard by practice," who sat next to a knight on the bus.
"You just got to flex it sometimes," added Hallmark, who referred to himself as "the elf formerly known as Prince," once he dismounted the bus for the event.
Thousands like Hallmark, reprising fantasy and historical figures or just enjoying the show, descended upon El Rancho de Las Golondrinas on Saturday for the 17th annual Santa Fe Renaissance Faire, set to wrap up festivities on Sunday. The jovial event is a touchstone for transplants and locals who have frequented Renaissance fairs, an opportunity to introduce new friends to the whimsy, and an opportunity to engage with history, even with all the fantasy elements.
" It's not really Renaissance-themed, but we're having a good time. That's all that matters," laughed Shallen Montoya, 48.
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Kate Sawyer entertains the crowd with fairy bubbles Saturday during the annual Santa Fe Renaissance Faire at El Rancho de las Golondrinas.
And it might be a good thing, too, noted Samantha Vazquez, 25, another in the group, who remarked on " how nasty" the time period was, including bouts of the Black Plague -- though the group noted the disease had returned to New Mexico when a Valencia man was infected in August.
The two newcomers to Renaissance fairs were brought by Jaren Delfin, 41, who with her silver-tipped elven ears remarked on how she originally got interested in Renaissance fairs after playing a dungeon master in the tabletop fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons.
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Members of the Renaissance Faire court, performers and vendors parade through the grounds at El Rancho de las Golondrinas greeting fairgoers Saturday during the annual Santa Fe Renaissance Faire.
"What the dungeon master does is they help guide the story so it's not total in complete chaos," said Delfin.
" That's why she's leading us on our adventures," said a laughing Montoya.
Experience playing Dungeons and Dragons was a common thread for many attendees, including among an Albuquerque couple who owes their relationship to Renaissance fairs.
Emily Rach and Sam Schonfeld had both participated in renaissance fairs as a kid. Rach is from Texas, Schonfeld from California.
For Rach, it incited a love of traditional Renaissance-era dances like contra and English country dancing.
And Schonfeld, hundreds of miles away, found the same love for the dances when his mother's interest in the art form drove his family to attend fairs.
" We met contra dancing but really connected English country dancing," said Rach.
Across all those they've attended though, Santa Fe's is the most "whimsical," said Schonfeld. "Especially with all the pirates and fairies and stuff," he added.
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Fairgoers stop to peek from the Lost Boy's hideout Saturday during the annual Santa Fe Renaissance Faire at El Rancho de las Golondrinas.
Los Alamos couple Christine and Jason Benkoski came originally from Maryland, noting the Santa Fe event is less crowded and overpriced.
"It's easier to enjoy yourself here," said Christine Benkoski. "It's just the right level."
"The kids think it's totally normal to just like dress up in costumes and go out for the day. It's kind of Halloweenish," added Jason Benkoski, who said he was this year reprising his role as "pathetic fairy dad," pointing to the wings on his back.
Once at the venue, attendees enjoyed the fixings standard to Renaissance events: turkey legs, musical performances and eccentric characters playing out roles like fire-breathers, stilt performers, sword fighters and oracles.
A woman who identified herself only as Calpyso, goddess of the sea, set up playing cards to read the fortunes of passersby.
"I'm also trying to find my husband," she added. "I've been with Davy Jones, Jack Sparrow and Odysseus. It has not been good for me."
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Michael Lee, left, who plays the villainous Korvis in the Order of Epona jousting troupe, dives out of the way as Rosario, played by Josh Cordova, takes a swipe at him during the jousting performance Saturday.
Aside from the fantasy element, which included a costumed "Royal Court of the Kingdom of Golondrinas," there were also real testaments to history, including jousting, blacksmithing and dyemaking demonstrations -- all on the grounds of El Rancho de las Golondrinas, considered a living museum of the historic Camino Real depicting the Spanish Colonial, Mexican and territorial periods of the state.
" Not only is it just an excellent place for a bunch of nerds to get together and just feel like themselves for a while ... it's knowledge and practices and lessons -- disciplines that deserve to survive," said Teddy Becker, a 25-year old dressed as a pirate.
Becker pointed to the demonstrations and vendor crafts that are otherwise produced mechanically, an important vestige of the past given "unreliable systems like the electricity grid," she said.
Becker was joined by boyfriend Anthony Pegler, 31, chief mechanical officer of Santa Fe's Sky Railway, who donned the leather attire of action hero Indiana Jones -- a painstakingly screen-accurate portrayal, he noted, complete with a specific hat and jacket made by the same man who crafted Harrison Ford's for Raiders of the Lost Ark.
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Crystal "Fidgits" Hoetzl entertains fairgoers with her fire-eating act on Saturday during the annual Santa Fe Renaissance Faire at El Rancho de las Golondrinas.
" I have not been called by my name all day. They say Dr. Jones," said Pegler, who called the event "a break from reality where you can kind of leave your other skin behind. You're someone else for a day. You don't think about bills."
Despite the broad mix of fantasy elements, he noted an increase in the number of costumed participants in the few years he's attended and agreed with Becker about the historical importance of preservation.
" Instead of it just being in a display case in a cabinet, it's tangible," he said, adding a quote from Indiana Jones: "If you want to be a good archaeologist, you've got to get out of the library."