Upcoming Magpie Renaissance Faire supports veterans and local artisans

Hear ye, hear ye! The Magpie Renaissance Faire is returning to the Gallatin Valley for its third year.

From Sept. 13 to 14, Rivers Hollow — a patch of land off Frontage Road between Belgrade and Manhattan — will be transformed into an immersive world of fantasy and history with live performances, food, music and handmade artisan goods. But, for organizer Natasha Bivens, the fair is not just a festival — it's the actualization of a mother and daughter’s dream.

Bivens and her daughter founded The Magpie Foundation in 2021 with the hope of helping veterans in Montana. After Biven’s husband retired from the Navy, she was shocked by the lack of support available to their family and decided to start a foundation to bridge some of that gap. The fair is the foundation's yearly fundraiser for this veteran project.

“The idea is we want to help veterans to help [other] veterans,” Bivens said. “We find a veteran-owned business and we hire him to go out and talk to our vet that we picked, and then they work together to get a plan, and we fund it.”

Last year, proceeds from the Renaissance fair provided Vietnam veterans with firewood for the winter, cut and delivered by a local veteran-owned company S&D Firewood.

Bivens said she chose to host a Renaissance fair for their fundraiser as a unique and fun opportunity for the community to come together in support of veterans.

“We'll have all these weird, cool activities that people can do,” she said. “It's not just, come and spend your money — it's come hang out all day and wear a costume. We use the money for veterans. We don't combine with any other agencies, we don't have any corporate sponsors, we source everything ourselves and everyone's a volunteer.”

“That's what sets us apart from the other Renaissance fairs, is that we do all the work ourselves,” she said.

The fair will feature a selection of performances and demonstrations by vendors. The Sunz of Odin — a theater troupe and fighters’ guild that travels to Renaissance fairs around Montana — will be attending with their blades sharpened and drawn.

“It's essentially historical mixed martial arts with safe foam replicas of fantasy weapons,” said Desiree Queeno, a performer in the troupe. “They've got glaives, short swords, daggers, bucklers and great weapons and they know how to fight.”

The Sunz of Odin provides guests the opportunity to undergo a brief training before they choose their weapon and opponent for a duel. Queeno has been a member for three years. She acts as “Queen Ivy of the Dryads,” resurrecting fallen guests after their fights with the Sunz.

In addition to the Sunz of Odin performance, therewill be a blacksmithing demonstration, axe throwing, feats of strength, archery and more for guests to witness and take part in. The fair will also feature a variety of Renaissance and medieval-inspired food options, with local mead, beer and cider on tap.

Vendors for the Renaissance fair were hand-selected for the event, and were required to have handmade at least 60 percent of their merchandise. Bivens said she made it a priority to have unique and locally sourced items at their fair. As a result, most of the 36 vendors are from Montana.

Admission to the Magpie Renaissance Faire is $20 for adults, $10 for children eight-17 and free for veterans, seniors over 65 and children seven and under. Costumes aren’t required for guests, although they are strongly recommended.

“Seeing that there's so much creativity that you're surrounded by, it's almost overwhelming,” Queeno said. “A Renaissance festival feels magical. It's there one day and it's gone the next. It’s kind of like, the fae spirited it there and then away again.”

To learn more about the Magpie Renaissance Faire, visit its website https://www.magpierenaissancefaire.org/.