The University News

Issue date: 9/11/06 Section: Culture

Media Credit: Jessie Burche The Renaissance Festival features artists playing period music each weekend through October.

Media Credit: Jessie Burche

One of the best events in Kansas City comes to town this time of year: the Renaissance Festival. Nowhere else can you get turkey legs and jewelry, see a joust and speak to royalty. Everything at the Renaissance Festival is in jest, and if you're looking for a place to have fun and semi-wholesome entertainment, you have to check out the festival.

The Renaissance Festival is a great way to revive yourself. The Renaissance was about a rebirth, after all. Madrigals and instrumental period pieces drift across the festival grounds. You can share in the festivities by joking with the actors or, heck, even dressing up like an actor and pretending to have an English accent.

The Renaissance Festival is celebrating its 30th year and the return of Queen Elizabeth I. If you didn't go last weekend, there are still five more you can attend. Sept. 16-17 you can buy one ticket get one free if you bring five cans of food. Sept. 30-Oct. 1 there is an archery tournament that anyone can join. Also, on the last two weekends of the festival, Oct. 7-9 and Oct. 14-15, there are discount coupons available at www.visitkc.com. With tickets at only $15, it's not a horrible sacrifice to make for an entire day of entertainment.

For $9 you can sip tea with the queen at 2 p.m. daily at the High Tea Room and feel very old and English.

There are many free shows you can wander in and out of. Fencing is always fun to watch, as well as the fire-swallower. There are many bawdy maidens for the men to look at and the women to laugh with. However, the best event of the day is the parade. It's free to watch, too. All the actors line up and dance or stroll their way around the fair.

The Renaissance Festival is about more than ticket prices and themes. It's a chance to leave your predictable everyday life and attend an event where everyone is a friend. For me and many others, it's a chance to be a complete dork for a few days a year. It's a chance to indulge in a fantasy world where chivalry is incredibly present, and the royalty mingle with us common folk. The festival also creates a chance to relax and get rid of the stress the beginning of the school year brings. So be you. Be a renaissance geek like me or just an average Joe looking for a good time. Either way, you must check out the Renaissance Festival.

jburche@unews.com

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