In fairness, this does sound like a pretty authentic ‘British’ experience, supply shortages et al.
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Someone who hasn’t read much of his oeuvre. 
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The nature of managing large lines of cars is often completely miserable, no matter how you organize it. On paper it might seem like a good idea, and you figure it must be similar to managing large lines of people… but it’s outrageously worse. This image comes to mind…
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Although the British came dangerously close to recognizing the Confederacy and even supporting it. They may have gotten rid of their own slaves, but the mills in Manchester needed the cotton American slaves produced. Fortunately, they ended up not supporting the Confederacy and instead encouraged the development of the Egyptian cotton industry. Which wasn’t entirely unproblematic – colonialism and all, but still a better option.
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British and European support for the rebellion was never that close. The closest the UK ever got to intervention was a (swiftly dropped) proposal to mediate, that was never actually brought up for discussion or a vote, and a panicked reinforcement of Canada after a diplomatic incident.
Ironically, the supposed importance of “King Cotton” was of less importance to Europe than the North’s exports of grain. With the UK relying on food imports, there was more concern for the impact a war would have on the supply of bread, than not having a war would on the supply of cotton.
Also, any British division between supporting the United States or the insurrectionists is only a matter of elite opinion- Popular opinion was clearly on the side of the north and Abolition, even in the areas most impacted by the shortage of cotton.
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Diplomatic support, sure. But the British were still perfectly happy to do business with the slavers throughout the war. The majority of the cotton that was sold by the C.S.A. to fund the war effort went to the British.
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That sounds really unsafe on top of everything else. Also, the people working there are presumably just breathing car exhaust the whole time?
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On the other hand, the British anarchists, socialists and communists were happy to side with the Union.
https://www.marxists.org/history/international/iwma/documents/1864/lincoln-letter.htm
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I’m a long-time attendee at RenFaires, starting with the first. (Support Pacifica radio!) But Dickens Faires? We once suffered the walk-through version inside the Cow Palace. It was bloody awful. A drive-through may smell better but would lack even minimal charm. No thanks.
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