Everyone in the Charlotte area should experience the Carolina Renaissance Festival at least once. Or three times (and counting), in the case of my family. The kids can’t get enough of it. It is an oddly captivating experience. Part festival, part artisan marketplace, part amusement park, and all entertaining, it is truly a unique experience. Huzzah!
The festival has a permanent 25 acre home on Poplar Tent Road in Huntersville but is only open on weekends in October and November. Tickets are ridiculously expensive (advance online price of $25 for adults and $15 for kids 5-12) and basically only get you through the door. Many things inside have an additional cost, making it a fairly expensive family outing. Despite this, I think it is worth doing at least once.
The festival grounds are set up as a 16th century European village known as Fairhaven. The village has countless shops where over 140 artisans sell their handmade wares. There are a variety of entertainment options, with 14 stages hosting various performances throughout the day. And the grounds are swarming with costumed villagers and characters straight out of a fairy tale. I am endlessly fascinated by the fact that you really don’t know where the show ends and the guests begin because many of the visitors dress up in costume as well. (Note that some of the costumes are (ahem) adult themed and will possibly give your children more of an eyeful than you are prepared for.)
We barely made it through the front entrance when my youngest spotted Mother Goose, hanging out in a booth available for photo ops. And not the character Mother Goose. An actual goose. This animal-loving kid couldn’t get on the line fast enough. The very calm goose sat on his lap and let him pet her.
As much as he loved this, the real fun started when the bird handler put the cockatoo on JB’s head. His smile says it all.
He could have stayed there all day but there was a line of people waiting, and there was much more to explore beyond the first tent on the fairgrounds. We put our tip in the basket and continued on our way. (But don’t think for a second we could walk by on the way out without stopping again!)
There are many different entertainment options throughout the festival, and they are one of the few things that do not cost additional money. From falconry to acrobats to musical performances, there is always something to watch on the different stages and theaters spread throughout the grounds. We lingered in front of a few performances but didn’t sit down for any full shows. (Make sure to check the schedule of events before watching the shows – those marked “LC” for “loose cannon” contain adult humor.)
But the main attraction is definitely the jousting competition. Held 3 times a day, the matches pit two knights against each other, both in skills competitions and head to head jousting. Fear not, these are not battles to the death! Each event is scored and whoever amasses the most points wins. The outcome may be predetermined but the entertainment level is still high.
The stands fill quickly for this event so you’ll have to grab a seat early. (Bring a hat and sunscreen because the sun was relentless when we were there.) Each side of the arena is assigned to cheer for either the blue knight or the black knight. Cast members are stationed in front of the stands to encourage cheering (and taunt the opponent), and the knights themselves interact directly with the crowd. It’s a fun event and the knights’ skills are quite impressive.
After the jousting competition, we wandered around and checked out the artisan marketplace. The items run the gamut from homemade candles to beautiful glass-blown art and everything in between (including elf ears for sale!). One of the kids’ favorite booths was the miniature catapults because the shop keeper flung marshmallows at passersby. There are a lot of really cool, unique things here and it is definitely worth exploring the many shops. (We brought an adorable ceramic gnome home with us.)
There are a few carnival rides here as well (ranging in price from $2 to $7), although many of them are for younger kids. But the boys’ absolute favorite thing to do at Ren Fest is the Pirate’s Assault Catapult. After getting hooked up to various ropes and harnesses, they jump on the trampoline and launch super high into the air. It is tons of fun but be warned that experiences vary based on the employee manning your trampoline. Some pirate employees enjoy launching kids high in the air and let them really bounce around and enjoy themselves. Others are just phoning it in, barely sending the kids off the ground and watching the clock to stop them the second their time is up. (We had one of each this visit.)
There are carnival games at the festival as well. You can climb Jacob’s ladder, catapult a frog onto a lily pad, or try your hand at archery and axe throwing. Another favorite activity of the boys’ is Vegetable Justice, where for a small fee you can hurl tomatoes at a man while he hurls insults at you. They keep the humor mostly PG, especially when kids are throwing, but they do not shy away from insulting the kids. Mine find it funny but if you are concerned about how your kids will handle it, I recommend listening to him yell at others for a bit first to get a sense of how far he takes it.
All in all, the Carolina Renaissance Festival offers a wide variety of entertainment and is fun for the whole family. There is something for everyone here – games, rides, shops, shows, and entertainment. You’ll probably either love it or find it bizarre (or love it because it is bizarre), but I think either way you will be entertained by it. So take the plunge at least once. Buy the expensive tickets, make the drive to Huntersville, and brave the crowds. I don’t think you will regret it. It is a totally unique experience. Huzzah!
