Dressed in cloaks, pointed elf ears and armed with foam staves, students gathered in the University Union to attend Late Nite Binghamton’s second annual Renaissance Faire, called “Crown’s Requiem.”

The event took place Saturday, Sept. 13, and featured a variety of medieval and fantasy-themed activities for students to participate in. Joshua Rivera, a senior majoring in geological sciences and an events coordinator for Late Nite, proposed the original idea of hosting a Renaissance Faire.

Event festivities spanned across the ground floor of the Union and into the University Union Undergrounds. The Union classrooms hosted the bulk of the event’s arts and crafts activities, including making flower crowns, decorating tote bags and creating on-theme crafts like custom rings and wands. Attendees personalized their free accessories throughout the night with crystals, metallic charms and quills and ink.

n the Old Union Hall, students played a variety of carnival-style activities and games like mechanical bull riding.

Alyssa Whitehead, the campus activities coordinator, provided insight into the logistics of this semester’s Faire, explaining how students and Late Nite Binghamton staff brought the event to life after the success of the inaugural event last semester.

“I got to help [Rivera], our events coordinator, and our graduate assistant, Ateeq [Rahman ‘25, a first-year graduate student studying computer science],” Whitehead said. “I got to help them both plan this event. It was Josh’s vision — he took a lot of what he had planned for last semester, some of the stuff he didn’t get to do and some of the stuff he wanted to bring back.”

“It was great to work with some of our vendors that help bring stuff like the mechanical bull to campus,” she continued. “But it’s a lot of moving parts, it’s a lot of making sure we’re hitting a lot of different marks with a lot of different crafts, with something exciting — something for everyone.”

More popular activities like medieval warfare and boss fights were held in the Mandela Room, with an assortment of armor and weapons provided for participants to use. Attendees could participate in either of the two and completed quests provided by the Late Nite staff, during which they truly embraced the role-play aspect of the Renaissance Faire.

Next, a costume contest was held, which attracted an excited audience. Cheers were heard from the crowd as contestants played a range of instruments and recited Shakespearean sonnets. Winners were determined by challenging one another to duels, with both parties displaying great sportsmanship throughout the competition, often ending in a friendly embrace.

While attendees made crafts and participated in carnival games and role-play, the Old Union Hall offered a food hall experience, with options like bread rolls, chicken spiedies, grilled vegetables, mini doughnuts and sheet cake. Medieval lyres and hymns played in the background during the festivities.

Downstairs, as karaoke was sung between two rounds of costume contests, attendees were offered Butterbeer and a selection of exotic, specialty mocktails as refreshments.

The festival was a clear success, with the University Union full of attendees participating in Renaissance-themed activities. Dressed in a fur shawl, Rivera shared what the Late Nite Renaissance Faire means to him.

“In the past, we’ve always done Fantasy Night,” Rivera said. “But this was such a perfect opportunity to explore different types of cultures, explore foods, activities — things that people enjoy.”