THE PLEASURE'S ALL YOURS RENAISSANCE REVELERS TAKE YOU BACK TO QUEEN ELIZABETH'S ERA.

Byline: - Staff Writers

Michael Robles, 24, and Cassie Townsend, 28, attended a language workshop to brush up on their Elizabethan English.

The reason the pair dropped their usual slang to sound like they're in ``A Midsummer's Night Dream'' is to take part in the 43rd annual Renaissance Pleasure Faire and Artisans Market, which made its debut in Irwindale this weekend after 15 years in Devore.

Robles is playing a peasant/monger at the faire, a re-creation of a day in the Elizabethan English country that runs until May 22.

A peasant/monger, explains Robles, tries to sell ``items that really nobody wants.'' You might find him at the faire trying to sell you rotten sausage or a cow's tongue.

Townsend plays a May reueller and serves the May queen, the fertile virgin who will lead the maypole dance. ``(A May reueller) is like the cheerleader best friend of the Queen of the May,'' she says.

Townsend and Robles, who both hail from Valley Village, are part of a staff of an estimated 1,000 at the fair, many of them dressed up as knights and ladies, wenches and jousters, madcap comics and one as her royal majesty Queen Elizabeth I.

And of course many of the visitors get into the spirit of the Faire with their own Renaissance costumes, complete with accessories and props. But even if you're trying to look authentic by not wearing sunglasses, sunscreen is still a good idea.

A day at the Faire can mean cheering on heroic knights, learning to juggle, chatting with William Shakespeare, haggling with a fishwife, or joining a parade to the busy countryside.

Morning antics start with the opening of the town gates and end with the farewell to the queen at the end of the day.

Anyone with the urge to yell ``God save the Queen!'' won't want to miss all of the pageantry that accompanies Her Royal Highness when she arrives at 1:30 p.m. each day at the main gate. Faire streets and stages feature swashbuckling heroes, merry minstrels, daredevils, belly dancers, jugglers and colorful characters who can be seen performing throughout the day.

There are three action-packed but comedic joust shows each day, Piggiwiggins - midsummer faeries - weave magical mischief, and a springtime parade happens at 11:45 a.m. daily.

New attractions have been added this season as well.

They include ``The Washing Well Wenches,'' a comical group of misinformed women looking to make themselves attractive to the opposite sex through the sultry lure of laundry.

An animal act of panthers and chimpanzees has also been added.

Children's activities include a story-time theater in which they can role-play and listen to tales from storyteller Michael Wordsmythe.

Before 1 p.m., children can train and march with the queen's military and join the show at the queen's royal joust at St. Michael's military encampment.

For the shopper in everyone, hundreds of artisans and craftspeople sell authentic-looking period articles from jewelry to handmade furniture, handcrafted candles, masks, incense, glass and ethnic art.

Hand-milled soaps and oils are made fresh on-site.

About 50 live demonstrations of everything from paper milling to body sculpting are planned each day. And for the mystically minded, there's palm reading and fortunetelling.

Vendors also demonstrate glass blowing, coin striking, wood-turning and weaving.

Revelers can feast on homemade gourmet food such as shepherd's pye, fish and chips, toad-in-a-hole, turkey legs and sausage bangers; and guzzle down hearty English and domestic ales, wines and hard ciders infused with pear, raspberry and apple.

THE 43RD RENAISSANCE PLEASURE FAIRE AND ARTISANS MARKET

Where: Santa Fe Dam Recreational Area, 15501 E. Arrow Highway, Irwindale.

When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; through May 22.

Tickets: $22 adults, $12 children 5-11; free under 5; $19.50 military, students and seniors 62 and older. Tickets available at the box office during days of operations. Parking is $7 per vehicle. [phone], Ext. 238.

Directions: From the Foothill (210) Freeway, take Irwindale Avenue south to Arrow Highway. Turn right onto Arrow Highway and right onto Azusa Canyon Road into the dam. All traffic must approach the faire from the east.

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(1 -- 2) Whether you desire an audience with the queen, or maybe just to meet your knight in shining armor, below right, it can happen at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire & Artisans Market in Irwindale, through May 22.