TN Renaissance Festival

For helping some of our friends move, Lee and I received a pair of extra tickets to the Tennessee Renaissance Festival.  I had always wanted to go, but wasn't sure that the $20 price tag was worth it.  

With the free tickets, Lee and I headed out right after church to attend the festival.  When we arrived, I literally couldn't stop laughing for 15 minutes.  Some costumes were very well coordinated, others were not.  Some people made sure to stay in character, others did not.  The people made it quite an interesting place to visit.  If you are one that enjoys people-watching, this is absolutely the place to go.  Lee and I started our exploring and stopped at the first show we came to.

The show was a comedy show performed by two "wenches".  The crowd was certainly entertained and I believe they participated more than at any show I have attended before.  They loved it!  The show was funny, a bit gross (what can you expect from wenches?), but I believe my favorite part was watching the crowd.

After the show, we continued to survey the area.  I was surprised that the festival wasn't solely renaissance.  It was more of a fantasy festival.  There were fairies and all kinds of mythical creatures running around.  Half of the booths set up were for magical and dragon items.  There were also games set up with a renaissance theme.  They were pretty comical.

The main thing we wanted to see at the festival was the jousting.  The jousting, however, didn't start for an hour or so, so after we found where the match would be held, we went and found something else to do.

There was a tent with eagles and other awesome birds for a show that would be going on later. Seeing the majestic  birds up close was amazing.  We moved on and stopped at a Robin Hood show.  It was a family-friendly show, but it was entertaining.  I couldn't hardly focus though because there was a girl sitting not too far from us who had a spider on her hat.  For the longest time, Lee and I stared at it because we couldn't tell if it was real or if it was part of the costume.  We eventually found out it was real.  It was a granddaddy long legs, so it wasn't dangerous, but when it started crawling all over her, I about jumped out of my seat.  She never even noticed it.

  After the show, we went back to the location of the jousting tournament and watched the live chess game.  It was well scripted and rehearsed with the sword fights at each move.  Our friends, who decided to come to the festival later than us, met up with us during the chess match.

The ladies went and saved seats for the tournament while the guys went to find food.  Once we were all back together, the tournament started soon after.  I guess because I'm used to movies, I was expecting someone to get knocked off the horse during this game, but fortunately for them, no one did.  

I think the joust would have been quite entertaining for kids, as the poles broke if anyone hit anything, but Lee and I wanted some real action.  It was worth the entry fee though.  Once the show was over, we walked around a bit more with our friends before heading out.  For the price we paid for the tickets, it was quite an interesting and fun experience.  I'm not sure I would pay full price to attend again.  I would certainly go back if I got discounted or free tickets again.