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September Issue 2004
Escape Your Daily Cares at the 11th Annual Renaissance Festival in Charlotte, NC
The Carolina Renaissance Festival in Mecklenburg County, just outside of Charlotte, NC, continues its eleven year tradition of raucous medieval revelry with the Oct. 2, 2004, opening of its annual autumn season, with all the fun, majesty and excitement audiences have come to expect. This unique escape for families, friends and couples offers nine stages of comical entertainment, a full combat joust, over 100 storybook shops with handmade treasures, purveyors of great food and drink, traditional music, games and rides. Held in the forest and meadows of north Mecklenburg County, the celebration continues for seven weekends through Nov. 14, 2004.
The festival stages are not the only venue of non-stop entertainment. This is one of the most interactive entertainment shows ever created with amusements and antics ongoing all around you. You can sit back and watch, or you can become a part of the action, surrounded by over 300 costumed characters roaming the festival grounds. The lanes of the 16 century village are full of peasants singing sea-faring songs and street entertainers surprising you with tall tales and tricks, each with a role to play.
The Renaissance Festival is an opportunity to transcend time and shop in a medieval-style marketplace full of crafts and handmade goods that you typically would not find at the mall. Skilled crafters demonstrate the art of weaving and glass blowing. The crafts market offers an opportunity to put together a personal gift by creating a perfume just for you or your friend, or picking up some unique jewelry. The festival is also perfect place to shop for a new Halloween costume or to pick up a funky hat, a garland, a sword or prop to complement your current costume.
A day at the festival is not complete without sampling the fancy fare. The smell of fresh baked pastries and cinnamon almonds waft through the air. Tickle your taste buds with fresh chocolates or gnaw on a spicy sheet of jerky. Be prepared to have a hearty meal including one of the festival favorites, steak on a stake, a giant roasted turkey leg or some fish and chips. Then wash it all down with a swig of ale or mead.
This event boasts a consistent tradition of improving and adding attractions each year. Over the past decade the festival has introduced new market shops each year and long running shows like the comedy antics of swordsmen Don Juan and his servant Miguel, the wacky tales of The Tortuga Twins - three unrelated guys, and attractions such as the World's Largest Rocking Horse, tomato tossing at Vegetable Justice and the Pirate's Assault Catapult, a human sling shot ride.
This fall the festival introduces "The Ded Bob Sho", a lively and very talkative skeleton puppet assisted by his dummy Smudge. Bob is very much the caustic comedy character of the Renaissance Festival world, turning his audience into "Bob Zombies".
The King's Kitchens expand the already grand festival feast with the addition of Gourmet Brats and Ales served in the new Woodlands Outdoor Beer Garden. You can relax under the trees; kick back comfortably with music in the air, enjoying fresh grilled brats and finely crafted beers from the region's own Carolina Blonde Brewery.
Fairhaven village is a popular destination for visitors looking to escape and play. The entire production is designed with one idea in mind, to bring good cheer to your day. And this is one of the best places to bring family and friends. You can now purchase tickets in advance, look for festival special events, and see who will be performing at the festival by visiting our new Carolina Renassiance Festival website at (www.renfestinfo.com).
The Festival is located on Hwy. 73 at Poplar Tent Road (between 1-77 and 1-85) north of Charlotte between Concord and Huntersville, NC. The Festival runs from 10am until 5:30pm every day, rain or shine. Advance Discount Tickets are $14 for adults, $5 for kids ages 5-12, available at Harris Teeter Stores region wide. Children under 5 are always free. Tickets purchased at the gate are $1 more. Senior discount tickets (60 and over) are $13 at the gate. Parking is free.
For more event info,
call toll free at 877/896-5544, or at (www.renfestinfo.com) created
by Respun Interactive.
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.