Saturday, May 25th, unfortunately, a washed-out day for us. While the day started a little overcast with a chance of rain, after we got inside and started walking, it became very dark and it poured. Stages already had entertainers performing and then the lightning started. That immediately drove them off the stage. We rode out the rain inside of the vendor’s shops (thank you Georgia Renaissance Festival for having physical buildings), but after it let up the grounds were a muddy mess. Some of the attendees didn’t seem to care as they sloshed through muddy puddles. We walked around for a bit enjoying the shops, the dueling arena, and checking out the reptile conservatory before calling it an early day and re-trying again tomorrow. Camera gear and mud doesn’t mix very well.

Sunday, May 26th was a perfect festival day! We started off getting there early so we could enjoy gate opening where King Henry VIII welcomed people to the Village of Newcastle. Various entertainers came out to speak and perform to the crowd about their acts. And it was Pirate Invasion weekend so many people dressed up in pirate garb ready to have a phenomenal day. As the gates opened there was a loud cheer and people made their way through the gates to the festival grounds.

The moment you walk into the Festival you are greeted by multiple cast members wishing you a good day. And throughout the day there are opportunities to interact with the cast members as you travel through the festival grounds. You may meet Iggy the Gargoyle who has been a resident of Newcastle for many years. You might encounter Queen Amina and her Court Aminatu. The warrior Queen leader of the Hausa tribe and her court traveled from Western Africa to visit the village of Newcastle. And you might even encounter the Hounds of East Fairhaven with their sweet and lovely hounds. Interacting with the cast of a festival always provides a more immersive experience.

As I said last year, the Georgia Renaissance Festival has a wonderful location. It is large (you will walk a lot to cover the festival) and they have physical buildings for all of their vendors. It provides a more realistic feel to the festival instead of seeing pop-up tents. It is a wonderful atmosphere to enjoy. There are so many different shops from clothing to jewelry to weapons and even gaming dice. One of my favorite stores sells handcrafted stuffed fantasy animals. The problem on the festival grounds is the lack of cellular signal. It’s so weird since there are residential homes right across the streets from the grounds. The Festival does notate on the website and tickets you might not have cell signal inside. This can cause some issues when trying to find your friends who have split from the party.

Much like last year, the food and drink options were incredible for the festival. There were so many different items to choose from including massive turkey legs, giant hot dogs, and my personal favorite the Steak on a Stake! The meatballs on a stake were also quite yummy along with the corn on the cob. Drink options were plentiful between your sodas and waters and so many varieties of IPAs and ciders. One of our favorite non-alcoholic drinks ended up being a cherry slushie. It was so tasty!

One of the truly fun things about the Festival are meeting other attendees, especially those in cosplay. There were so many cool costumes that day and a few people were kind enough to pause for some photos.

But, let’s talk about some of the entertainment we saw at the Festival this year. Several of them were repeats from last year because they were very enjoyable and happened to be back again! First was the Birds of Prey show. Steve Hoddy the founder of Earthquest educated the attendees about birds of prey and showed off his ambassador birds. This included an Arrow Harris hawk, a great horned owl, a peregrine falcon, and an Andean Condor named Storm. His falcon decided he didn’t want to stick around for the show and flew off into the trees and did not return (don’t worry, they’re all chipped and easily tracked). One of the great things he taught people was about the Merlin Bird ID app created by Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology. The app can identify over 400+ different species of birds by their singing calls. Steve highly recommended attendees to download it and go out into their own neighborhoods to see what birds live there. Earthquest is a non-profit organization dedicated to conservation and environmental education. You can check out their site at https://earthquest.org.

Also returning was Cast in Bronze. Charlie St. Cyr-Paul is a Carillonneur who performs music on the only existing mobile carillon. The carillon weighs 4 tons and contains 35 bronze bells ranging in various sizes. The carillon is played like a piano and the keys are pressed using both Charlie’s hands and feet. As he presses the keys, the bells attached to that key will ring. Charlie takes some classical and modern-day music and re-creates them on the carillon. Some of my favorite songs he performed were the Game of Thrones theme song, Hedwig’s Theme from the Harry Potter franchise, and the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song. My daughter and I truly enjoyed his version of the classic “O Fortuna”.

And we couldn’t go without seeing one of our favorite acts in the daredevils of Barely Balanced. The trio of Small, Medium, and Large entertain the fans with their humor and acrobatic performances, feats of strength, and incredible balancing stances. I’ve seen them many times and would never pass an opportunity to see them again. They’re absolute crowd pleasers and the show we attended was packed! Every seat was filled plus the people standing to enjoy the show. Plus, you could also purchase from them their 5E Dungeons & Dragons adventure they created beating up monsters with giant turkey legs at a Renaissance Festival!

One of the crowd-pleasers returning was the Italian band Rota Temporis. The drum band had the crowd completely amped up and rocking the stage. Rota Temporis is loud and then get louder. You can hear them playing from the joust field, which is on the other side of the festival grounds! They truly are a fun band to watch and I suspect they’ll be back next season.

One of the new acts for the Georgia Renaissance Festival this season was The Reelin’ Rogues. I had the opportunity to see them at another Renaissance Festival. The trio performs a variety of Celtic music singing songs of Irish history and folklore. They are very energetic and the three are very talented musicians. It’s amazing how beautiful their music using only a guitar drums and a flute or bagpipe. They’re one of my favorite acts and the crowd also enjoyed their performances.

The staple of every Renaissance Festival is the Joust. The troupe working the Georgia Renaissance Festival is known as DeBracey Productions. They ran three shows a day as part of their storyline. I’ve seen them multiple times and they always provided some different aspects to the joust including a lot of trick riding between four knights. This show I saw only had two knights performing. The story was good though I miss seeing the cast I’ve seen in the past. I will say DeBracey Productions does put on entertaining shows and this year if you were in the front row you had the chance of getting sprayed with joust blood!

Another new act this year was the belly dancers of Boom Boom Shake. I’ve seen them before at our local Renaissance Faire and they’re so much fun. Their music is great and both women are very talented belly dancers. The crowd enjoyed their performances and I suspect we will see them back at the Georgia Renaissance Festival next season.

One of the fun and surprising acts for me was Juggling Geoff. His show is what you expect of him juggling various things and even balancing a stack of items. But, it was his interaction with kids was great. And the fact he got them to get a spinning plate line where they started passing the plates down to each other was fantastic. You could see his facial expression showing his enjoyment. I really enjoyed his show and was glad I got to see it.

Our visit to the Georgia Renaissance Festival will filled with fun and lots of laughs. I truly love this festival and look forward to returning next season when they celebrate their 40th Anniversary! I’m sure it will be a special season.

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Themed Weekends

Every festival has their own flair for themed weekends and Georgia Renaissance Festival has some special and fun themes coming this season.

April 13-14: Romance Weekend: Chivalry and courtship reign supreme! Get your vows renewed at the Celebration Garden at 4:30 PM each day!

April 20-21: Pet Friendly Weekend: Bring your fur baby to the festival! Dogs and cats on leashes are welcome. Please note the Registration Form that must be filled out before entering the grounds. You can find the form at Pet Friendly Weekend Info | Georgia Renaissance Festival (garenfest.com).

April 27-28: Highland Fling Weekend: Grab your kilt, bagpipes, and drums! And check out the Bonnie Knees and mashed potato eating contests.

May 4-5: Time Traveler/Cosplay Weekend: Come show off your best cosplays or Time Traveler renditions at the costume contest each day!

May 11-12: Viking & Barbarian Weekend: Invaders taking over the village of Newcastle to compete for the Best Beard contest at 2 PM each day.

May 18-19: Wizarding Weekend: Are you ready to represent your wizard school? Check out the broom race at the joust field each day at 3:30 PM! Race is open to kids 12 and under.

May 25-27: Pirate Invasion Weekend: ARRRRRR! Pirates and scallywags all abound to the Village of Newcastle! Don’t miss the Pirate Sea Leg Races at 3:30 PM each day. Also, the festival is open on Memorial Day!

June 1-2: Flights of Fantasy Weekend: Keep your eyes out for magical creatures around the festival! Also it’s the last weekend so go enjoy one last huzzah before the festival season ends!

Head on over to their website for more details HERE.

Tickets

All tickets are good for one day. Pricing for the festival are listed below:

Adults (13 and older):

• Online Price: $26.95-$28.95*
• Gate Price: $30.55

Children (6-12 years old):

• Online Price: $13.95-$15.95*
• Gate Price: $16.56

Children under 5 are free!

Season Pass

• Online Price: $175
• Gate Price: N/A (Season passes must be purchased online)

*Online ticket prices increase during premium purchasing days – Friday through Sunday.

You can purchase your tickets HERE. Also there is no fee for parking!

Please note parking is free at the festival!

Entertainment

The Georgia Renaissance Festival has a huge list of entertainers to see over your festival weekend. Here is a highlight of some of entertainers you can see:

Birds of Prey: Come learn about all various birds of prey with live flights during their performance. It’s truly educational and fun.

Rota Temporis: The highly energic Italian musicians are back at the Georgia Renaissance Festival! If you’ve never seen them perform, make some time. They are fun, loud, and you’ll be dancing along with them before you know it.

Cast In Bronze: Check out the only mobile carillon in the world as you hear Charlie St. Cyr-Paul perform his take on modern day and classic songs. It’s truly an amazing performance.

DeBracey Productions: The Georgia Renaissance Festival joust is hosted by DeBracey Productions. Their stunt riding, sword fighting, and story-filled shows will have you hooked and asking for more. Check them out three times a day.

Iggy the Gargoyle: It’s a decade of Iggy! Come visit the festival’s fan-favorite gargoyle!

The Puppies of Penzance: Do you like puppies? Do you like pirates? Then you will love this show! Come check out puppies in pirate outfits doing fun tricks!

This is just a small sampling of the entertainers. You can find the full list the the Festival’s website HERE.

Food and Drink

All great Renaissance Festivals have solid food offerings and this one also delivers. Georgia Renaissance Festival is filled with food and drink vendors to keep you stuffed and hydrated. And of course, a large plethora of adult drinks including cider, mead, beer, and so much more. You can find full details HERE.

Shopping

It can’t be a Renaissance Festival without seeing artisans selling their crafts! Everything from jewelry to clothing to armor and so much more. Georgia Renaissance Festival boasts over 100 artisans for your shopping pleasure. You can see the Festival’s artistans page HERE.

I attended the Georgia Renaissance Festival last year and had a phenomenal time. You can find my review HERE. If you live in Georgia or close to travel to the Georgia Reniassance Festival, go! I promise you’ll have an amazing time and will not regret it!

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Celebrating their 32nd Anniversary, the Florida Renaissance Festival returns to Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach, FL. I was invited to attend this festival in 2023 and had the absolute best time. You can see that review at my other site, The Photo Pit, HERE. Their season is already in full swing and I highly recommend checking out the festival before they wrap up. The address the festival resides at is 401 S. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442. The festival runs from 10 AM ET to sunset.

Themed Weekends

The Florida Renaissance Festival like most Renaissance Festivals, has a special theme each weekend. Those remaining weekends are listed below:

March 9-10: Weekend VI Scoundrels of the High Seas – The Pirates Be Coming…

March 16-17: Weekend VII Shamrocks & Shillelaghs – A Leprechaun’s Shenanigans!

March 23-24: Weekend VIII Into The Woods – A Fairytale Finale!

Each of these weekends has something special going on. Head on over to their website for more details HERE.

Tickets

All tickets are good for one day. Pricing for the festival are listed below (taxes and fees are included, any processing fees are not):

Adults – $32

Children (12 and older) – $14

Children under 5 are free!

Please note parking is free at the festival. If you wish to pay for VIP parking the cost is $25 per vehicle. I will say, if you plan on arriving about an hour early, you’ll likely get a parking close to the gate. If you plan on arriving at gate opening or later in the day, be prepared to WALK. The parking lot area is massive and is a hike. VIP parking will put you right at the gate. You can purchase your tickets HERE.

Entertainment

The Florida Renaissance Festival has a huge list of entertainers to see over your festival weekend. Here is a highlight of some of entertainment you can see:

Jacques Ze Whipper: Returning only for the month of March, the French-ish whip trick artist is back! His YouTube videos get millions of hits and his stages are always packed to the hilt with good reason. Check out this comedy and whip trick performance!

Knightwings – Birds of Prey: Come learn about all various birds of prey with live flights during their performance. You’ll also have the opportunity to see the performers before and after the show. It’s truly educational and fun.

Rota Temporis: The highly energic Italian musicians are back in full force to entertain the masses yet again! If you’ve never seen them perform, make some time. They are fun, loud, and you’ll be dancing along with them before you know it.

Cast In Bronze: Check out the only mobile carillon in the world as you hear Charlie St. Cyr-Paul perform his take on modern day and classic songs. It’s truly an amazing performance.

DeBracey Productions: The Florida Renaissance Festival joust is hosted by DeBracey Productions. Their stunt riding, sword fighting, and story filled shows will have you hooked and asking for more. Check them out three times a day.

This is just a small sampling of the entertainers. You can find the full list the the Festival’s website HERE.

Food and Drink

All great Renaissance Festivals have solid food offerings and this one also delivers. Florida Renaissance Festival is filled with food and drink vendors to keep you stuffed and hydrated. And of course, a large plethora of adult drinks including cider, mead, beer, and so much more. You can find full details HERE.

Shopping

It can’t be a Renaissance Festival without seeing artisans selling their crafts! Everything from jewelry to clothing to armor and so much more. Florida Renaissance Festival boasts over 100 artisans for your shopping pleasure. You can see the Festival’s artistans page HERE.

The Florida Renaissance Festival is an amazing experience and I truly enjoy attending this festival. With only three more weekends left to go, find the time to attend and see for yourself! For more info, see their website at Florida Renaissance Festival (ren-fest.com).

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