You Know Things Have Changed When...

One of the best things I've reviewed was when we were allowed to go to Scarborough Renaissance Festival. Not once, but twice! I interviewed the Public Relations Liaison as well as some pirates. We tried amazing foods. We even went back a second year! This time, dressing up too. And you know what? I never once had a moment of feeling like I couldn't bring the kids along. Know why? Because they have been voted as one of the top family-friendly festivals in all the United States. They are careful and observant. They want to keep it clean and safe for everyone. I, as a mom, truly appreciate their dedication to this. I have two teenage sons and two girls. I don't need to wonder what they are seeing and hearing. This doesn't mean I shelter them and lock them away from the world. No matter where we go, we are bound to come across something inappropriate. But I can limit it. 

Now, to get to my point. I received an email from the PRL I mentioned above. Let me tell you, it was a little shocking to see how specific you have to be these days. There is a show put out by HBO (you know it's probably raunchy if it comes from them) about Renaissance Festivals. This is called a Docu-series. Honestly, reality TV is never about what is real. So.... just gonna leave you with that. This series focuses on the man who has ruled over the Texas Renaissance Festival, near San Antonio, Texas. Basically, he's getting old and wants to find love again, but that means he needs a successor to run the festival when he leaves. 

Scarborough had to send out an assurance notice that this is NOT about them. That this has NOTHING to do with their festival. And that they are still family-friendly. 

PRESS ALERT

Dallas/Fort Worth, TX. (June 3, 2024): Scarborough Renaissance Festival^® is in NO WAY associated with the Texas Renaissance Festival currently being featured in the HBO docuseries “Ren Faire”. 

The culture depicted in this series is NOT the culture found at Scarborough Renaissance Festival^®. We are an organization that takes great pride in producing a family friendly Festival and providing a positive and safe environment for our patrons & participants through professionalism, respect, and inclusion.

Scarborough Renaissance Festival^® has consistently been voted as one of the top family friendly Renaissance Festivals in the country and was recently voted as the #1 Renaissance Festival in the southern United States in the 2023 Renaissance Festival Awards by the Renaissance Festival community.

Our Festival has been featured locally, regionally, and nationally in the Bradshaw Bunch on E!, Carnival Eats on the Cooking Channel, two different Dude Perfect segments, Fandemonium with Adam Richman on the Travel Channel, NBC’s 1^st Look, ResortsandLodges.com, Texas Today, and many others in a manner that is much more reflective of the type of Festival and organization we are.  

 _____________________________________________________________________

 

Scarborough Renaissance Festival^® is interactive fun for the whole family, 16^th Century style! You will discover a 35-acre recreation of a 16^th Century English village celebrating the visit of King Henry VIII and Queen Katherine Parr, their royal court, and guests with a festival of entertainment, artisans, food, magic, and merriment in the “Village of Scarborough”! Visitors enjoy full combat jousting and birds of prey exhibitions, a Mermaid Lagoon, 20+ stages of non-stop Renaissance entertainment and the 125+ member performing company. There is an amazing Artisan’s Marketplace with 200+ shoppes of exquisite crafts and incredible artisan demonstrations along with children’s Knighting Ceremonies, Human Chess Matches, the Grande Parade, fun for kids, Themed Weekends with interactive activities, and so much more.

Located in Waxahachie, Texas, Scarborough Renaissance Festival^® is just 30 minutes south of the downtowns of Dallas and Fort Worth off I-35E and one hour North of Waco. Scarborough Renaissance Festival^® 2025 will run Saturdays, Sundays, and Memorial Day Monday, April 5 – May 26, 2025.

For more information visit www.SRFestival.com or follow us on Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, & Twitter (SRFestival) or on Instagram (theSRFestival).

This wasn't always a thing. Makes me sad that it has become a thing. That good groups have to draw lines from the not-so-good ones in the same business. But I want you all to know, the best festival I've been to so far, is Scarborough. For me. For my family. 

Texas Renaissance Festival Review

The day came and went far too quickly! It felt as though I had spent forever in preparation, only to have it fly by in an instant. My trip at the Texas Renaissance Festival finally happened!

FYI: Kids go free on Sundays! 

The night before, I downloaded the app. TRF has an app! You can look up where and what food options are available, map out the places you want to go, and even set up a schedule of what you want to see while you are there. I picked our top entertainment choices and set up the schedule. You can even have it alert you when the time for your event has come. I also marked "favorite" shoppes we would want to stop in while we were there. There were some issues finding the places we wanted to be at. Thankfully, they have maps hanging at the bathrooms and plenty of cast members that are willing to give directions.You can also purchase a souvenir guide that will include a map and information on everything they have there. Even after leaving, the app sends traffic alerts for those coming and going. One such alert let you know what other highway to take to avoid long traffic lines. The app also lets you know what events are better geared towards kids. 

Prep before you go!

Then came having everything laid out. I was going to be getting up at 5 AM and waking the kids at 5:20. The plan was to leave by 5:45 to get there in time for the opening ceremony. Talk about being down to the wire! My husband had to work the night before, so we had to plan it all out in minute detail. Which brings me to another part in planning that I didn't consider. If you want a hotel for any of these weekends, don't wait until the week of to book. THEY WERE ALL FULL! So we were definitely driving back home after the event. Which was actually for the best. My husband was going to be too tired for too long a day. If we had gotten a hotel, he would've wanted a nap in the early afternoon and come back for a couple more hours before calling it a day. So it worked out. But, if you were really wanting to stay close or make it a longer trip, book in advanced. WAY advanced! I had the diaper bag packed to the brim. I had waters for everyone in the fridge. Since each person is only allowed to bring in 1 unopened water bottle, I had these in the fridge. I got out our amazing cooler, that I have mentioned before in a review, and threw more waters in the freezer. Plan was to have them in the cooler in the van so that when we went out, they would be waiting and thawed enough to start drinking. I also set out breakfast. We are not big on eating that early in the morning. So I grabbed snacks that will be easy to eat when we are ready. Not the healthiest, but for something like this - worth it. I packed each of the older kids a snack bag. They can share, trade, and snack on the variety I gave them to and from the event. And everything in the bag would be fine in the car while we were inside the TRF. 

We didn't leave right when we planned to. Despite waking the kids earlier than I thought I would, they were slow in getting dressed.

So we left a little after 6. And the drive there was mostly in thick fog.

Soooo we got there about 9:20. Missed the opening and cannon fire. But as you will hear in my interview with someone at the Festival, the fog gives a certain mystery and hypes you up as you come in. The Texas Renaissance Festival has a magical feel about it. You are basically going back in time to a village of the Renaissance. 

After checking in and getting our passes, I did a quick interview with Travis Bryant. This guy gets the word out about an amazing experience you can have at the Texas Renaissance Festival only. It was great meeting him and working with him to make our trip possible. I apologize ahead of time, the video was broken into two.  

Going through the gate, the guys all got kissed by the pirate wench. Lucky for her, my attention was elsewhere... 

Once we parted ways, we checked out our first show - Birds of Prey. This was a wonderfully, engaging show. Educational as well.

They had vultures, hawks, and owls that flew among the guests, did tricks, and showed us what they are really capable of. Our whole family enjoyed the sight.

There were a couple moments when the birds showed who really ruled the roost by not obeying their trainers commands.  
After the show, my kids were crying for food. My little vultures... So we went hunting. Oh the smells! I can't tell you how badly I wanted to order lots of things. They had foods from all over the world. We requested 2 orders of potatoes - these were potato slices, fried to a crisp. Delicious! No one should ever be without their famous turkey legs.

My oldest said he didn't want that, so we compromised. We bought 1 turkey leg and 1 steak on a stick.

It didn't seem like enough, so I told them to endure a little more fun and we would eat again. (It was just soooo good!) 
We went to see the Pirates of the Pride of Bedlam next. Talk about a rockin' good show! We were all enjoying their rowdy tunes.
Even our baby pirate was happy. We had some random pirates hand out gold doubloons to the kiddos and some shoppe owners were giving away free Frankincense and Myrrh. My son got a piece of a bismuth crystal. For those of you who aren't familiar, it is a fragile metal crystal that is grown.
We saw many fascinating characters. My younger son loved this one:

I saw 2 awesome versions of Depp characters.

They had a parade and a version of a haunted house you could walk through. The haunted house was an additional fee. The family-friendly version was a 3D show.

We finished our day with an interview with the Captain and his First Mate of the Pirates of the Pride of Bedlam.

I'm sorry if you are unable to hear much, as it was at a very noisy time in the area. He is very lively, very friendly and offered some great insight to the Texas Renaissance Festival.
We missed the Joust and the fireworks this time. But I do hope that a future trip may afford these wondrous sights as I'm told they are truly magnificent.

Also, both interviews led me to believe that Arsene is someone you positively MUST see at least once while you are there. I hope you got to enjoy the sights through my experience, but that you are planning your own trip in the future. If you are here in Texas, they have many weekends yet. We suggest you plan to bring shopping coinage. The artisans here do a splendid job with handcrafting just about anything your heart could desire. My sons are now proud owners of a hearty double-sided wooden axe. 

What did you find most fascinating?

Planning the Day at Texas Renaissance Festival

If you know me, you know I plan ahead as much as possible. Especially for any convention-type event. I always want to maximize our fun and know what to expect. When you have 4 little ones in tow, you need the extra insight.
My kids are just as excited as I am about dressing as pirates and going to the Texas Renaissance Festival. So far, we have pieced together all but one costume. My oldest son is still in need of a shirt. I'm tweaking and adding as I need to. I'm putting all our costumes together by person and putting them into a centralized location. I want it to be easy to get dressed and head out.
In addition, I'm preparing a list of the things we know we need to do and try. I've had some great suggestions from the folks at TRF. So I checked the events listings and decided on what we would most definitely want to hit. I'm making a list.
First things first - Be there early enough to meet the King and Queen at the front gate when it opens at 9AM. The King and Queen are actually around there at 8:45 to mingle with us common folks. Then they have cannon fire!
I was told the joust was an awesome sight that we must witness. 

I know that we also wanted to see/try to School of Sword, the Executioners (a friend told me they were amazing and fun), Birds of Prey and Cast in Bronze. My husband wants to look for a wooden sword. His family went to a Renaissance Festival when he was a kid and his best memory was of getting a wooden sword. 
 
I look at rules for events. First thing I need to know - can I bring my stroller? Rather not have to carry the 11 month old around (she gets heavy). Good news! Yes, I can. And the paths are hard packed. Another main point to know are where do you park and what (if anything) do you pay. They have free general parking. I'm very happy about that. There are other options like handicapped, motor home, motorcycle, valet, and preferred parking as well. 

Then comes the budget. I know we will have to bring money for food. You can only bring in 1 unopened water bottle per person. I will be able to bring in baby foods for the baby too. Thankfully, they have the lowest and highest prices listed on their website. $2 - $12 and drinks start at $3. 

Foods to try: Turkey Legs, they have 2 new flavors this year:

• Honey Baked Turkey Leg by Renaissance Catering Shoppes #11, #50, #408, #414
• Bourbon Molasses Turkey Leg by Matt Basse at Sherwood Forest Foods, Shoppe #89
  And an empanada from La Fiesta area. 

We also had to decide if we wanted to stay overnight or attempt the drive home. It's a few hours away from where we live. So we will factor in whether my husband works the night before and if we have the energy to make the drive back and unload or if we want to get a hotel room. They do have camp grounds for those of you who have campers.

 

Another thing I'm hoping to do is to interview someone while there. One of the characters. And here is where I'd like YOUR input! What question would you include in your interview? Remember, we are talking pirates here! Leave me a comment below! 

Texas Renaissance Festival anyone?!

I can't tell you how often I've heard people I know talking about this amazing thing called the Texas Renaissance Festival. It happens once a year. People of all ages, races and backgrounds are attracted to it. Be it for the booze, the festivities, or the chance to go back to the renaissance age - there is something for everyone. 

I've been wanting to go for the past few years. So much so, that I even added it to my bucket list. Thanks to my association with US Family Guide, I may just get to finally go this year! 

If you like to have unique family fun, I suggest you take a look at what they have to offer. 

The Texas Renaissance Festival is the nation's largest and most acclaimed Renaissance themed event. Established in 1974, the event attracts over half a million visitors each year to its 55-acre New Market Village and Fields of New Market Campgrounds in Todd Mission, Texas. This immersive experience features world renowned live entertainment, works by master artists and craftspeople, award winning food and drink, hand-powered rides and games, and over 100 interactive characters during its nine themed weekends from September 30 through November 26, 2017. For more information, please visit www.texrenfest.com.

Each weekend, a different theme comes to life across the 55-acre festival grounds including:

Oktoberfest (September 30 & October 1)
1001 Dreams (October 7 & 8)
Pirate Adventure (October 14 & 15)
Roman Bacchanal (October 21 & 22)
All Hallows' Eve (October 28 & 29)
Barbarian Invasion (November 4 & 5)
Heroes and Villains (November 11 & 12)
Highland Fling (November 18 & 19)
Celtic Christmas (November 24, 25, & 26)

Texas Renaissance Festival! Kids 12 and Under Admitted Free Every Sunday!
Use this link to check it out!