SNOHOMISH—Along the path amongst fairies, knights, wizards, turkey legs, caramel corn and lemonade, guests of Washington’s Midsummer Renaissance Faire might notice the brightly colored banners carried by patrolling staff members, identifying themselves as the Care Crew Roving Team. What many guests may not realize, however, is that this team of roughly 60 members works largely behind the scenes to help keep the faire afloat.
From delivering ice and water to vendors and performers, to facilitating day-to-day operations, Care Crew serves as the eyes and ears of the faire grounds, watching for medical emergencies, security concerns and anything else that might disrupt the experience for guests or staff.
The team operates around under one motto “See a need, fill a need” supported by three pillars: Steady Preparedness, Compassion in Action, and Community Stewardship.
The team also partners with local EMTs and paramedics to provide onsite medical assistance for emergencies, including cases of heat-related illness.
Care Crew was founded in 2024 by Wandering in Times Productions Executive Producer David Day, with Jesse Porter and Kyle Mayfield serving as its first official leads. The concept was simple in its earliest form: It began with gate management, then expanded to delivering ice and water to performers before evolving into something much larger as new opportunities to make the faire run more smoothly presented themselves.
“The gist of Care Crew is we’re just trying to make the Faire run smoothly. We’re out there making sure people are taken care of. There are a lot of people that get forgotten at Faires. The actors, for example, a lot of the time people don’t think about them needing water. Some vendors and entertainers don’t have a lot of extra hands, so we help them out,” said Porter. “We have a phrase: See a need, fill a need, and that’s what we do in a nutshell.”
Porter joined the Renaissance Faire circuit in 2023 through the Oregon Ren Faire. Like many others, he began as a volunteer before Day asked him to help launch Care Crew a year later.
“What I love about Ren Faire is we genuinely feel like a family here, and that’s what I tried to pour into Care Crew; to become a family-based thing. I thought if I can make Care Crew feel family inclusive, I knew that people, who maybe haven’t felt that before, could feel it and it would just spread,” said Porter.
As Care Crew’s responsibilities grew, Porter needed another lead. He reached out to Jake McGaffin, whom he had met at Oregon’s Ren Faire, to help carry the load.
McGaffin grew up attending Renaissance Faires outside his hometown of Brisbane, Australia. When he met his now-wife, Crystal McGaffin, the two attended the Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire on one of their first dates in 2017.
As the story goes, McGaffin was running Dungeons & Dragons games through Cleric Games at the Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire when Porter approached him.
“Why aren’t you working with us in Care Crew?” Porter asked.
McGaffin’s response, according to him, was simple: “Well, these guys are paying me.”
Porter countered: “What if I told you we may have a position at Care Crew where we could pay you?”
McGaffin said that he loved Care Crew and would love nothing more.
The best way Jake McGaffin can describe Care Crew’s role at the faire is “operational support,” or, more elegantly, “the behind-the-scenes magic that makes things work at Faire.”
“Our slogan, ‘See a Need, Fill a Need’, works so well because in those earlier days when we saw a need we really did fill it in, from stage support, to trash support, to even cleaning up dust bunnies,” said Jake McGaffin.
McGaffin and Porter worked together to establish Care Crew’s roles, functions and responsibilities into a fluid organizational element.
According to McGaffin, Porter brought a culture of “caring” to Care Crew. Once that foundation was established, McGaffin said it was easy to build upon.
McGaffin’s wife, Crystal, in addition to husband and wife Juli Thurman-Lascurain and Bryan Thurman, further helped develop the Care Crew model. Working alongside the McGaffin’s, the Thurmans continued to help formulate and redefine the department’s system.
“Care Crew is a group of faire enthusiasts that are here to support guests and help the faire, but we’re also supporting operations and making sure that we’re giving support to the vendors, answering people’s questions, and just genuinely helping them throughout the day,” said Crystal McGaffin.
For Bryan Thurman, the importance of that kind of support was something he experienced firsthand long before joining Care Crew.
Thurman recalls attending a Renaissance Faire in Northern California when he began to overheat, unbeknownst to him at the time. A staff member pulled him into a shaded tent and handed him a beverage, asking if it tasted salty or sweet.
Bryan replied, “Sweet.”
The staff member responded, according to Thurman: “You’re clearly dehydrated; that’s pickle juice, it should not be sweet. You’re going to wait here for a bit, you’re going to cool down, then you are going to be well and go enjoy the rest of your day.”
“That was the moment that told me: these are really good people. Here’s this guy who half an hour ago I saw him, in character, hawking at people but at the same time he was keeping an eye out for some random sixteen-year-old who was red in the face and clearly overheating,” said Bryan Thurman. “I don’t know if he was a medical professional, all I know is he was a performer with a big heart.”
Juli Thurman-Lascurain’s story began with a Groupon when the Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire was still held in Bonney Lake. The Groupon included camping and she thought it would be a great way to keep her two sons entertained.
That one visit, like many others’ Renaissance Faire initiation stories, quickly grew into an annual family tradition. She, along with several friends, would attend, camp and spend the weekend immersed in the faire.
“Each year the kids would learn sword crafts, or make hilts, or practice swordplay in the boffer pits. It became the vacation we took every year,” said Juli Thurman.
Much like the McGaffins, Juli and Bryan attended the Ren Faire together on their first date, and the rest is history.
That same year Bryan reached out to the faire to volunteer as a parking attendant. A year after that, the faire contacted him and asked if he wanted to join Care Crew.
In 2026 Juli stepped into the Care Crew Coordinator position as Jesse moved into another department at faire. She worked with the McGaffins, and Bryan Thuran to implement the core values, create a staff handbook and video trainings to support the now team of 60 staff.
For the Thurmans, Care Crew is ultimately about taking care of the people responsible for creating the experience that guests come to know and love.
“Most people know Ren Faire to be magical. It’s people like me going as a guest every year, after year, after year, because my kids would light up and it was magical and it was a vacation. What we do, as Care Crew, is we take care of the magic makers,” said Juli Thurman. “We have an entire team of people making sure that people have what they need to make magic happen day after day. We are all out here in a field, it’s hot, there’s all kinds of things that people have to combat while they’re out here making magic and if we can make sure to mitigate the easy ones, and ensure there’s community, and trust, and water, then we are doing our part to make sure people have the best day they can possibly have.”
That sense of community and responsibility extends beyond the faire grounds and into the Thurmans’ personal lives.
The couple founded the Lost Goat Inn in the cast and crew camping area, where they regularly provide free meals for cast members, live entertainment and a safe space for people to congregate, make friends and spend time together in a shared third place.
The idea stemmed from watching a performer hobble back to his tent one year after a long, hard day working in the sun. He opened a bag of Pop-Tarts, ate them and fell asleep, only to repeat the process day after day.
“Our thought process was: We can nourish people better than that,” said Bryan Thurman. “And they’ll perform better if they’re well nourished.”
Juli Thurman added that she believes Care Crew should exist at Renaissance Faires across the country.
For Bryan and Juli, what keeps them returning to the Ren Faire year after year, dating back to that initial first date, is the reaction they see on the faces of newcomers.
“I’ve seen sixty-year-olds start to believe in magic again after seeing people act, and behave in unexpected, but delightful ways,” said Bryan Thurman.
For Juli Thurman, the Ren Faire provides one opportunity each year to step away from the normalcy of everyday life, as much of the Ren Faire staff have full-time jobs during the rest of the year.
“Out here we’re all doing this together and that magic happens behind the scenes just as much as it does out front in front of guests. I love the people that we meet out here, I love the people that we help and support, that help and support us…I’m ultimately here for the people,” said Juli Thurman.
Outside of Renaissance Faire season, Juli and Bryan continue to nurture that community. They host regular game nights, holiday parties and other events at their home in Everett for their Ren Faire friends and family.
For them, the work of Care Crew is about more than ice, water, logistics or emergency response. It’s about taking care of the people who make the magic possible. And sometimes, the most important work at a Renaissance Faire happens where the guests never see it.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
