Yesterday was the Carolina Renaissance Festival. I’ve never been and I sort of expected the normal fall/state festival. Lots of tents of food, maybe a few stages with different shows. Well, boy was I wrong. This thing was like a mini amusement park. Not necessarily roller coasters but all the buildings were permanent and it was so much larger than I thought, winding back into the woods with food vendors, stores to buy the Renaissance related items, small rides, stages and even a little arena for some jousting. This was the common view:
Lots ‘o people! What should have taken us no more than 45 minutes to get to, took us THREE HOURS to get to this thing. You have to go out to the middle of nowhere outside of Charlotte to get to it and there is this two-lane road that was 6 miles between the interstate and the festival that took us 2.5 hours to get down! That’s literally going 2 miles an hour. And that’s about what we did. But it was one of those things where you’ve gone 1 hour and then 2 and you keep saying maybe it will get better and you really don’t want to REALLY waste your time by turning around and going home.
We managed to get in 45 minutes before it originally was supposed to close and then they extended the time an hour just because so many people were trying to get in. So yes, it took twice as long to get there as it did to be there. But it was quite the experience. The first thing that wowed us was this:
Because yes, that’s a person, not a statue. And performers would randomly show up along the path and a crowd would gather like for these two…uh, not sure what to call that…guys that stand on each other in weird positions.
But of course, we were pretty much there for the food. The almighty turkey leg.
We also had some sweet potato fries and Heather got some pesto pasta salad that was pretty yummy.
We also let the kids do one activity. Hello, budget! Emma picked the jumpy thing that she did back at the beach this summer. She went SUPER high and the guy twisted her rope right at the end so she would do a flip.
And Lexi picked this huge rocking horse. And no, it wasn’t motorized, the ladies working it had to rock it for us!
But REALLY what we were there for is to see all the pretty costumes. The environment is like none other I have ever seen. Workers are all dressed up but festival goers can also come in their own costumes or rent ones there. And the really kinda weird part is they LOVE having their pictures taken. Scott walked around and just started snapping pictures and many obliged with a pose.
All the workers were so nice to the kids.
This one reminded me of Belle from Beauty and the Beast!
Even the ducks had costumes on!
We’re assuming King and Queen?
Weirdest one definitely went to this guy:
So Scott was in a really silly mood on our way out and walked by this guy and said, “My wife wants a picture with you.” So I played along and this guy went for this posed that cracked me up. Can you tell?
We were a few yards away and Lexi says, “Daddy!” and swatted him on the butt. That’s the way to take up for Mommy, baby!
All in all, a trip that is certainly not worth 3 hours of travel for but definitely worth experiencing!
Jaynee says
We’ve never been either, but plan on going in the next week or two so that we can finally say we’ve done it. It looks like a lot of fun and not nearly like the freak show I was imagining. *lol*
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Richelle says
We went a few years ago and I thought the whole thing was so strange. Their PR dept wanted to advertise on my blog last year and I said no. I didn’t want to send my readers to something I didn’t like and know I will never return. Would you go back?
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Amy says
Yes, it was VERY strange but I think worth the trip to see. I would really like to have seen the jousting. As far as going back, I really don’t think it’s worth the effort to get there and CERTAINLY not worth the $80 of tickets. We had free tickets so it was worth checking out at least once.
Jane says
I’ve never been to a renaissance festival, but there is a big one every year about an hour away. I’ve always wanted to check it out. Great photos!!
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Amy says
I think it’s something to check out at least once. Thanks!
Heather says
I believe I said this to mom right before we left “alright, I’m on weird people overload”….weird but interesting, not to mention my turkey leg was so worth it!
Mary @ Giving Up on Perfect says
Ohhhhh, this makes me regret not going to our Ren Fest this year. We had coupons and everything, but just didn’t get there. Looks like you all had so much fun!
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Lauren says
I’m sorry the traffic was so bad for you! The lines are usually long on the roads, but last year they didn’t seem to have any trouble. When I go, I usually get there in the morning, maybe an hour after they open. The traffic usually isn’t so bad then.
Hopefully, if you go this year, you’ll have better luck!