Georgia Renaissance Festival remains a big hit
Only three weeks left to enjoy the Georgia Renaissance Festival
By Brad McEwen
FAIRBURN — For those intrepid souls that make the trek to tiny Fairburn each spring to enjoy the myriad sights and sounds of the annual Georgia Renaissance Festival, the journey is made with excitement and wonder as they are transported to a magical world where fairies dance to the lilting sounds of minstrel music, kings and queens lord over the realm, and great warriors and champions battle to the death for honor and glory.
For roughly three months of each of the past 31 years, the sleepy Southern town just south of the hustle and bustle of Atlanta has come alive as an average of 200,000 visitors arrive on the 32-acre Renaissance theme park to experience what life might have been like in a bygone era.
With a combination of outdoor theater, circus-style entertainment and a wide variety of activities for all ages, including rides for the children, more than 300 street performers and costumed characters, and 10 stages featuring more than 150 daily performances, the festival has something for everyone.
Although the festival is rooted in the prevailing culture of 16th century Europe, the festival also embraces a bit of the fantastical as visitors will no doubt encounter gargoyles, fairies, satyrs, wizards and even a cartoon character or two, frolicking with pirates, knights, peasants, vikings, lords and ladies.
“Anything goes here, which is why we love it,” said Larry Chastain, a college student who drove down to the festival with his two buddies a few weekends ago. “You see all kinds of wild stuff. But mostly just people have a good time.”
Indeed, the general atmosphere of free expression and unbridled enjoyment seems to be the thing that has the biggest impact on attendees.
Lia Kaplan, a child psychologist from the Atlanta area, said she wasn’t sure what to expect when her boyfriend invited her to join him for his annual tradition of visiting the festival.
“I was hesitant to attend the Renaissance Festival since I don’t have a specific interest,” said Kaplan. “I was pleasantly surprised.”
One of the things that grabbed Kaplan’s attention was the variety of different demonstrations and acts taking place, many of which required a great deal of skill, such as one of the festival’s new attractions for 2016, The Wheel of Death.
Standing over 30-feet tall the Wheel of Death is a huge metal ring that performer Icabod Wainwright uses to perform death-defying tricks, while simultaneously entertaining the crowd with his unique brand of humor.
“I really liked the wheel walker,” said Kaplan. “I appreciated his showmanship and athleticism.”
George Schneider, who was making his second trip to the festival, was also impressed by Wainwright, as well as the other performers who wowed audiences throughout the day, which included comedy routines like the “Washing Well Wenches,” “Hey Nunnie, Nunnie,” “The Ded Bob Sho,” and the “Tortuga Twins,” as well as musical acts like “Dancing Hammers,” and “The Harper and the Minstrel,” to name a few.
Schneider said he was particularly impressed with the horseback riding skills exhibited during the Equus Maximus Extreme Joust Show, which runs at different times throughout each day.
“I mean, I know it’s show and the sword fighting isn’t real, but that doesn’t take away from it at all,” said Schneider. “The people riding horses obviously have a lot of skill and they know what they’re doing. It’s very entertaining and fun to watch.”
Eight-year-old Annette Davison agreed, describing the show, especially the part when the two combatants raced while standing atop two horses at once, as “awesome.”
“The joust was my favorite,” Davison said. “That and the fairies.”
Indeed, fairies are a common sight throughout the Renaissance Festival as they can be seen roaming the grounds and dancing with adults and children alike to the sounds of minstrel music, or manning the various clothing stores and booths that sell things like elf ears, necklaces, and garlands.
In fact, many of the fairies, as well as a great many of the knights, wizards, pirates, warriors and other medieval and fantastical characters one encounters throughout the 32-acre grounds, are not even festival employees, but rather festival-goers who purchased various garments and other accoutrements from the 150-plus vendors and artisans in the village marketplace and dressed up in costume.
It’s that wide-open spirit or adventure and embracing things fantastical and playful that seems to be the greatest appeal of the Georgia Renaissance Festival. At all times, both children and adults get the chance to enjoy some make-believe and indulge a part of themselves they don’t always get to do in their average daily lives.
Robin Moon, director of marketing for the festival, said the role-playing aspect is one of many unique things about the event.
The festival’s uniqueness, Moons said, is really the main draw of the Renaissance Festival and a big part of the reason its popularity has continued to be strong through the years, especially with the many repeat attendees.
“I think they tend to return because they realize it’s such an unusual festival,” said Moon. “A lot of festivals are tent festivals, and they are all wonderful events, but everything looks the same. We have all these 150 vendors in quaint little shops. We (also) have very unique food that you can’t get anywhere else. Then we have that unique circus-style entertainment and comedy, that you don’t find at other festivals. It’s all in one place in a very unique village that you can’t find anywhere else. It’s a different kind of theme park.”
Moon also mentioned that the festival seems to instill a good mood in most attendees and that through the first part of this year’s run, the crowds have been large and attendees have been very positive about their experience.
“We just at the half way point of the season and the first half has been astounding; we’ve had a very, very good response,” said Moon. “We’re seeing quite a few new people and they seem to be impressed. We’ve gotten very few negative comments from people.”
That positive vibe was felt by Kaplan as well, who said she was immediately taken aback by how much fun the other festival goers seemed to be having, and how even a bit of inclement weather couldn’t dampen their spirits.
“Another thing I noticed was how friendly all of the employees and attendees were,” said Kaplan. “Even when it rained, people were having so much fun that I don’t think I heard even one complaint. Everyone just huddled together and waited it out. I would definitely go again.”
One attendee, who said he will certainly visit again, mainly because of the general feeling of acceptance and freedom he feels when he is there, is Atlanta’s Vince Greco, who attends the festival regularly.
Greco said that while he definitely has an interest in medieval and renaissance culture, as well as in costume (or cos)-play, what really attracts him to the festival is the “realness” of the performers, employees, and attendees.
“Some could accuse Americans of being fake, at the very leased biased,” said Greco. “The people at Ren Fest are some of the most genuine people in the world. I’ve been four years in a row and not encountered a single incident of negativity all day long. The best people in this country are at cons and fests.”
While there are certainly other conventions and festivals throughout the year all over the country that encourage fantasy role playing and cosplay, folks around the Southeast interested in taking a trip back to a far gone and fantastical time only have a few weeks left to attend the annual Georgia Renaissance Festival.
The festival continues this weekend with Pirate’s Weekend, the last of its themed weekends. The weekend will feature most of the usual activities present at the festival, as well as special costume contests and “Walk the Plank Trivia.”
Visitors will get three days to visit the festival grounds the following weekend when the Georgia Renaissance Festival is open Saturday, Sunday and Memorial Day.
The final weekend of the season will take place June 4-5, and after that Fairburn will cease to be the mecca of mirth and merriment — until the festival returns in April.
To learn more about the Georgia Renaissance Festival or to get directions to Fairburn, visit www.garenfest.com.
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