There’s a story unfolding at the Scarborough Renaissance Festival that challenges who gets to be seen—and remembered—in “Renaissance” spaces.
Celebrating its 45th season, the Festival, running now through May 25 in a 25-acre village in Waxahachie, Texas, is one of the largest and most popular Renaissance festivals in the country.
Since 2016, performer Sheri Porras has portrayed Queen Chikhamharida, a fictional royal inspired by Nigeria’s Nri Kingdom—the origin of the Igbo people and a culture rooted in peace, spirituality, and refuge for the oppressed. Her performance weaves African storytelling into a setting traditionally centered on European history, expanding the narrative in a way that feels both necessary and overdue.
It’s a compelling intersection of representation, history, and live performance, and a reminder that global stories have always existed alongside the ones we typically spotlight.
