The Renaissance Festival

"Good Day Fool, you here to audition?" a man dressed as if he just came out of the 1400s asks my father as we wait in a never-ending line. My father, who smartly dons a brightly colored jester's hat, replies, "I already have the part." "Oh, wait 'til yer inside," the Renaissance man jests in his best imitation English accent, "we have world class fools in there!" After 45 minutes in line, it only took us a couple seconds inside the gate to understand exactly what the man had been talking about!

Tail end of our wait in the ticket line

Even the bathrooms are themed!

                                                    

Set in the shadow of the Superstition Mountains, which is a romantic way of saying: "Out in the middle of the desert," and once a year, the Renaissance Festival is held. This year it is held Saturday, Sunday, and Presidents Day from February 12 to April 3. Resembling the state fair in its ability to empty your wallet and the various vendors vying for a taste of cet wallet, it differs in that the entire event is themed in the Renaissance Era.

Scarecrow (Don't worry, he's not real.)

A shocking scarecrow meets us as we enter and the soothing voices of mothers: "Don't worry, he's not real," simultaneously reaches my understanding. The scarecrow is a man, or very very tall woman, dressed in loose clothing with a muslin bag over his head. He is holding out programs... luckily, I have one. He does, pose for a picture, however, and I move on.

Bakery with Cinnamon rolls

A couple feet away past the scarecrow, a wall of sweet, seductive, sticky cinnamon scent makes my mouth water and my head instinctively search for the source. It's the notorious $9 cinnamon rolls. With my wallet as empty as my suddenly-empty stomach, I contemplate begging. Now I know how Jean Val-jean felt when he stole the bread from the bakery. Using an incredible amount of self disciple sponing from someplace unknown to me, I tore myself past that wall, leaving dozens of other people to be sucked in, and successfully entered the loud, raucous, conglomeration of booths, rides, costumes, shows and food that is the Renaissance Festival.

"Lose your child in the maze!" a "fair wench," advertises for the Jester's maze.

A man shoves a wooden sign into the conversation of a passersby. The sign  says "Chocolate" on it (pointing to a chocolate shop) as vendor says "Look! I'm obnoxious!"

Various picnic areas are flanked on either side by food and shops. In one area, a harpist displays her talent and every once in a while stops to explain the history of her harp. In another area, a lady plays a harpsichord and chats with guests.

Countless food stands are entwined with almost as prevalent costume booths. There are many various booths as well... There is a wax hand booth, which preserves your hand in wax. There is a copper rose booth, with the roses scented with essential oils. There is an herbal soap booth, a "write your name on a grain of rice" booth, a scented candle booth- where all the candles smell roughly the same. The "Apothecary" booth draws my attention because of the honey sticks that are cleverly displayed at my eye level. With flavors ranging from mango to peach, sour apple, blackberry, and sour strawberry, I had plenty of options! 

Vendor selling garlands

As I walk by different stages for entertainment, clever and witty phrases momentarily distract me from my wanderings and I am drawn in for a moment or two. With different stages performing shows such as "Wyld Men," or "Gypsy Geoff-the nutso fire juggler"-true to the name. There is always something going on that will be of interest to the individual.

I make my way to the jousting tournament. The bleachers are metal, cold, and packed. A man is selling giant, salted, pretzels on a wooden rack. Each section of the audience has a cheerleader. Ours is wearing green and standing on a bale of hay. Each section is also assigned a knight to cheer for. The crowd is extremely interactive and supportive of our knight, even when he does miss one of the targets. In the end, our knight does win at a round and presents a toddler from the audience with his prize of a garland.

Jousting tournament

My dose of history makes me feel inspired. If not to read Shakespeare, I at least want to dress up in an old gown and princess hat and parade around my house using "thee" and "thou" to a poor unsuspecting husband. In any case, I have a sense that I only saw 1/3 of what the festival has to offer. (I didn't even get to ride the camel or the elephant this time!) But I look forward to an opportunity in the near future.