Hear ye! Hear ye! Come one, come all! Assemble (in)outside Houston Hall!
Calling all students, staff, and faculty of the University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia's general citizenry.
At 12:00 noon a mystery King and Queen of Folly doth bestow their blessings upon this day, Penn's first Feast of Fools. 'Tis a festival of madcaps, tricksters, food, games, prizes, and assorted performance foolery!
Closing event, 4:30pm
Larry Hass, Award-winning teacher and master magician
The Pleasures of Magic and Foolery
Proudly presenting...
Amorphous Jugglers
Front Row Theatre Company and Belligerent ThespiansFaculty One-Minute Lectures
Penn Singers
Pennsylvania Six-5000
The Persistent Fabulists
Simply Chaos
Society for Creative Anachronism
Underground Shakespeare
Prof. Emily Wilson's class performing from Aristophanes' Clouds
Plus...
School of Design Face Painters
Mimes from Hotel Olbigado
Philadelphia's own Mummers
Free showing of STRUT!, the movie
Some Historye...
The Feast of Fools has a long and important history as a day of license and buffoonery, when the arch-believer—the fool, the jester, the trickster, the punster, and the powerless—takes over and imposes his or her particular logic on events.
In medieval times, a Lord of Misrule, or King of Fools called people to disorder. Cross dressing, bawdy songs, gambling in sacred places, and other assorted acts of wantonness were the rule of the day.
Throughout history, in literature, in mythology, in art, and in fact, the figure of the trickster, the jester, the fool, and the clown has been the mirror of humanity, reflecting the subtle and not-so-subtle dangers of what happens when we take ourselves too seriously.
