If you’re anything like me, you’re constantly looking for a great day for your family where there’s something for everyone. I bet you already know all the must-dos: swimming and amusement parks in the summer, hiking and apple picking in the fall. My advice? Don’t forget about the local Renaissance pageant.
It’s a great time for just about everyone, really, whether you’re a fan of tabletop games or a family who likes to play games Lord of the Rings Or just comically huge turkey legs and great people watching. There are also ren faires all over the country. I’m pretty sure it actually works a lot like state and county fairs, with many vendors traveling from place to place throughout the year. (Here’s a map of festivals and fairs across the country and around the world.)
If you need further convincing, here are nine reasons why you should check it out and take your kids. Just be sure to arrive early – modern parking and traffic issues can be horrendous – and bring enough cash (like a lot of other things, money isn’t cheap these days) so you’re not stuck at a counter all day wait.
1. Bring dress-up fun to you and your kids
Kids love costumes, as anyone who has ever tried to talk a child out of wearing costumes to school knows. Carnival is definitely a great opportunity for your kids to spend a few hours wandering around in costume. It’s a bit like Halloween in that lots of other people are in costume too and you basically spend the entire afternoon wandering around a giant theater village. if youParents, enjoy dressing up, there’s no better opportunity than Halloween. If you don’t have anything handy, don’t worry – there are plenty of places to buy them at the show. (We will do this!)
2.Snacks
Our first stop at the show last weekend was a stall selling cinnamon roasted nuts. Before we left I had a big chunk of blooming onions and a bunch of chicken nuggets, if I had had the patience to queue for more I could have continued snacking through the day, I was really sad not to get the scotch eggs and Donut. Of course, we can’t forget the ridiculously large turkey legs. I will note that apparently they had mince pies when my husband was a teenager – they need to bring them back and add more themed items. Maybe a soul cake? Regardless, every show is different, so half the fun is exploring your show and discovering what’s out there and what’s good.
4. Amusement facilities
As we approached the circus, I laughed, listening to a mom explain to her kids that no, there wouldn’t be a roller coaster, and that they really need to understand the spirit of the thing and accept that they don’t have a roller coaster in the world. fact. But that’s not to say there aren’t any rides! My kids especially love something called the “Whirlpool,” which is essentially a human-powered merry-go-round where you sit in a hammock chair. Personally, it takes 48 hours for my head to stop spinning, but the kids love it.
5. This is actually a great introduction to live performance for kids
Ren faires are famous for their equestrian shows which are really fun. But there’s always a plethora of smaller shows. There always seems to be a raptor show, as well as many shows on smaller stages scattered throughout the fair. Not all hotels are kid-friendly, but many are. It’s pretty low-stakes; when my kids get antsy watching Robin Hood fight the Sheriff of Nottingham, it’s easy to get away with it without upsetting anyone.
6. You can’t beat crowd-watching
Within 15 minutes of arriving, my kids were high-fiving a guy in a fursuit who was great with kids and then doing a very charming little jump in the air. That said, your peers are definitely part of the fun of attending the show. These things are a perfect mix of ages, backgrounds and subcultures. You’ll see a bunch of kids wearing costumes bought on Amazon, someone wearing a carefully researched, handmade, historically accurate suit, and then someone wearing Napoleon Dynamite Get up and for some reason all cross paths. Also, wear ACOTA or fourth wing clothing.
The age range of the audience is also very large, with many gray-haired people who participated in the HBO show long before it became a huge success. game of Thrones There are many attendees who may be too young while watching game of Thrones appears for the first time. A few years ago, a kindly old man patiently explained the art of making stained glass to my then 5-year-old. This time, I enjoyed listening because a young man in his 20s quickly interrupted his friend to stop saying something inappropriate in front of my now 7-year-old. (This was unnecessary, of course, as she had been regularly walking around New York City her entire life, overhearing God knows what, but still heart-warming and appreciated.) In my experience, ren faires are not known to children centre, but it is also important that they are child-friendly, treating them as part of the larger community fabric.
Oh, and I heard a cape-clad college kid behind me admit that he’d probably never used an ATM before and wasn’t entirely sure how. Of course, I remember being dragged on errands that involved actual bank tellers. You won’t get this kind of intergenerational WTF moment anywhere!
7. Mead, etc.
I’m not sure if they could call it “ren faire” if they didn’t sell mead in the store. In my experience, Renfels likes to honor the fact that drinking water was downright dangerous for most of human history by selling a lot of beer, mead, and cider. The New York Renaissance Festival even has a pub crawl.
8. Shopping is awesome
The artisans are one of the biggest attractions at these fairs. They all have booths and booths selling whimsical creations. In the age of mass production and Temu, some of the things you can find here are pretty surprising. This is a way to shop where you won’t find anything needbut you’ll find a lot of things you never knew you wanted (and maybe didn’t know existed). If they added a yarn vendor to the New York Mardi Gras, I would be broke. If you really focus, you can probably do most of your Christmas shopping in one day.
9. Nostalgia is top notch
This one’s just for the nerds out there: There’s nothing like the feeling of successfully exposing your kids to the stuff you love when it comes to parenting. I get so excited every time my kids comment on Gandalf. Watch her choose a souvenir necklace holder for a twelve-sided die made of chain mail? priceless.
