there are lots of fun groups all over the world where people dress up and play with practice swords in one way or another...
The Society for Creative Anachronisms
the largest and most established group of medievali-ish re-enactors around..thier events are materially rich in pavillions and costumes, they offer a variety of styles and types of combat-play. This is a historically based society..your character can be from anywhere or when on earth from the fall of the roman empire to about 1600 (a lot of people do stretch that upper limit) but for those of you interested primarily in fantasy (Elves, Fey ,Tolkien etc) and Roleplay this is probably not your group..if you want to find like minded literate enthusiasts who've READ most of the fantasy literature and a lot of history too and if you like EITHER (or both) making cool stuff or fighting (or archery etc) give this group a try..They can be kind of spotty on outreach, but this is more an introspective than a 'snob' thing for the most part..in your area, somewhere, there is a chapter/group/household of the SCA that (when you find them) will welcome you with open arms. the downside is that being a very large and old organization the SCA can be VERY beaurocratic (dont show up and expect to fight that day.. there are authorizations and equipment inspections etc etc). Also those few members inclined to take themselves, organizational politics, or thier onw brand of 'historicity" too seriously can make themselves very visible.
as the name implies THESE people do elves and fey and tolkinien beasties by the score they are very small, but give very good small events for people who like roleplay and costume. seriolsy this is a roleplay group FIRST and a swordplay group second...
Teeny and (materially) poor compared to the SCA but much larger than HFS, Amtgard is a very young crowd (mostly teens and twenties) and seems to be more of a "live action D&D" sort of crowd. There are some fun and friendly groups here, and theyre very informal..show up and join in sort of people. I'd have to say theres a high "drama" content (in the "Jerry Springer" sense of it) with some amtagards and the politicing seems particularly visible at times BUT they have fun events
For all others click here for a REALLY extensive lists of Live Action Role-play groups and resouces