Texas Renaissance Festival

Last week we went to the Texas Renaissance Festival.


I'd been before about thirteen years ago but my wife had never been. She was unsure when I suggested it but undeterred, I went ahead and bought two discount tickets through work.


The tickets were good for any day of the festival which runs every weekend for eight weeks through October and November.


We got there around 10am and and followed the long line of people making their way to the entrance. Despite the crowds arriving with us, there were no lines to get in.


We had a bit of a walk round and laughed at the various people dressed up, not all of them employed by the festival.


We arrived at one of the many stages just as a show was about to start. We had no idea what the show was other than it was called Sound & Fury. It turned out to be three blokes who were going to perform a non-family friendly version of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.


The show was definitely not suitable for kids but we enjoyed it.


Afterwards, we had a bit of walk round the park and gardens to see what else was going on before heading to the Jousting show. This was a good show that featured four Knights of the Realm competing to become Champion of Champions. Our Knight, Sir Thomas was victorious in the end but the highlight of the show was the French Knight's horse who decided he wasn't going to play along and trotted along merrily instead of charging at full speed like the other horses. Well, that's the French for you I suppose. Everything he did was in slow motion, including the Knight being knocked off the horse which only added to the humour.


Here are some photos:

The weather was perfect for walking around outside.

There were rides for the kids for a small additional cost, as well as elephant and camel rides.

I had a go at axe throwing and we both tried throwing Chinese stars. My axe throwing needs some practice but I did manage to win a prize at the Chinese Stars. The prize? A coupon for a free kiss from any willing man, woman or beast. The guy happily advised that there was a bearded lady who was offering a 2-for-1 special.

We left around 2pm and the line of cars still heading in to the festival was crazy. The tailbacks through Magnolia, Texas must've been three or four miles.

The Texas Renaissance Festival is worth a visit if you've never been before, but I would definitely recommend getting there in the morning.