What is not to love about Renaissance Festival?? Ok - maybe the prices geez. We went on opening weekend and luckily the adults got a bo-go from the paper so we only paid $20 together but the kids under 12 were $10 a piece.
The traffic in is stinky so be patient, you will be directed by nice folks on where to park. Get there as soon as the gates open and you will have an easier time.
The shows are hilarious (you get a map of the grounds and show times when you walk in the door). The actors and volunteers are delightful so keep some singles for their little tip mugs.
I love getting the beer (usually $4-$5 dollars per glass...after noon on sunday sales only!) and just wandering aimlessly. You MUST get a Scotch Egg if you go!!! They are $3 bucks and it is just one egg - hardboiled, peeled and packed with sausage and deep-fried YUM!!! I load mine with hot sauce and mustard. The steak on a stick at $7 bucks is a bit bland - i had to put hot sauce on mine. Weird - skip it. But the sausage on a stick is FANTASTIC and almost tastes buttery or something - super spicy and delish.
Wandering around is fun because you can people-watch. We love to park our buns and just watch people and comment on the outfits. WOW there are some interesting outfits. Some of them are so good that they could just be regular consumers but if they carried a tip mug I definitely would have spared a buck for their ingenuity.
Just a fantastic afternoon of family fun! Love going every year!