Renaissance Festival
Joseph Starkloff
The annual Arizona Renaissance Festival started its 23rd year to a crowd on Feb. 12. For some attendees, the fair commenced with a long line and an even longer wait to enter the festivities.
Nancy Mason and daughter Samantha said the fair poorly planned the opening admittance.
“The lines this morning were absolutely…horrendous…We waited almost an hour just to get in,” Nancy said.
Beyond that, they said their time at the fair was pleasurable.
“It’s an escape from reality,” Samantha said.
The festival features over 200 artisan shops and displays, several carnival style rides wth a medieval flair, food stands that range from turkey legs and pizza to beer and lemonade, and shows that vary from pyrotechnic acrobatics to adult oriented comedy.
Dave Keemon, who has attended four or five times per season for the last seven years, said the fair continues to improve.
“It never disappoints. Every year it gets…better and better. Anyone who comes here apprehensive will leave knowing they had a good time,” Keemon said.
One of the largest draws of the fair is the evening joust to the death. During this death match knights joust, sword fight, and eventually theatrically kill each other.
John Harris, 29, said the joust was his favorite part of the fair.
“The shows were neat. I really like the fire whip at the end of the (joust),” Harris said.
He also mentioned the crowd being littered with renaissance design and attire.
“…They have a whole lot of interesting things (and) people dressing up,” Harris said.
Some of the shows attendees mentioned as must see, were The Ded Bob Show, a comedic puppet show, Tartanic, a musical group that modernizes music with bagpipes and snare drums, Barely Balanced, a comedic trio that incorporated fire stunts with acrobatics, and Clan Tynker, a family that performs a variety of ‘old world’ style entertainment.
Nancy, Samantha, Harris, and Keemon said they felt the festival was worth the price of admission.
The festival, open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. till April 3, ranges from $10 to $20 per ticket.
