The Powerful Rides

No one really processes that the festival does have rides. The first that come to mind are obviously the camel and elephant rides. However, there are a few manual rides that come as quiet the shock to some.

They all have are powered, usually, by young men who have a decent amount of strength. These men start the rides off slowly at first, to help them gain momentum. With each push and pull, the ride slowly picks up speed until the men no longer need to push them to go faster.

Watching them stop the rides is just as amazing. They will usually either crawl up onto them, or hang from the neck of the others. Using their weight and strength, they are able to slow the ride down until they can safely grab it from the ground.

These are some amazingly simple rides, and if you want to watch them, you can check out the video below!

Make sure to check out a few of the rides at your local festival!

Who Doesn't Love Food?

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

I have decided to broach the delicious topic of: FOOD.


Everyone loves food, and if you say you don't, you're probably lying. It's definitely a love/hate relationship, why is all the unhealthy food the best? Of course the Renaissance Festival is no exception.


Most people know the classic turkey leg. They are huge and surprisingly delicious, and completely worth every penny you pay for them. If you aren't known for eating a lot of food, definitely consider sharing this treat with a friend!

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

My personal favorite would be the bread bowl! When I first went to the festival their weren't as many options, but they have recently added a large variety of choices. A few are: Mac n' Cheese, pasta salad, and artichoke cheese dip. There are many more options, but I'll let you discover this yourself.

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

Each festival has it's own variety of foods. My favorite dessert from my local festival, would have to be apple dumplings. They are super messy, but definitely worth it!

Make sure to walk around all the different food stalls to check them all out. You wouldn't want to buy one item, only to discover that there is another you would've wanted more.

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

 No matter what you get, it will definitely be amazing!

The Hassle Before the Fun

This is for those of you who are planning to dress up or do fun makeup. You have to make sure you have all the items you plan to use beforehand. No one wants to wake up the day before and suddenly realize that you don't have that one piece of makeup you thought you did, or a piece of your costume is broken and now you don't have time to fix it. So be sure to give yourself time!

My family likes to go through our stuff the day before, or on a day that we have nothing going on. First we decide what look we are going for. This year I wanted to try something different than I used to do. So we made sure to Pinterest different ideas for makeup and hair. Since costume pieces are expensive, we decided to try and reuse as much of my old costume as possible. What we came up with was a mixture of new and old pieces.

Photo Credit to Michelle Abendroth

Photo Credit to Jessica Abendroth

 
As you can see in the picture, the majority is actually my old outfit. All I did was shift some pieces around and put a corset on it. Not only that, but my hair and makeup definitely gave the entire look something completely different. This was only accomplished because I looked over what I had beforehand.

We spent the entire day finding make up and pieces to add to my hair. Since we looked at what we had, we were more prepared in the morning than we could've been.

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

The night before, we like to lay everything out so we know where it is in the morning. This makes the beforehand hassle easier to deal with. Below is a video that I created to explain how my mornings look just a little better:

What about the Money?

Many people aren't prepared for the large variety of shops when they enter the Renaissance Festival. There is something there for everyone. Even if you don't want any actual items, the food is just as tempting. You won't even notice it at first, then suddenly, that $20 is no longer in your purse. So let me help you keep your budget on point. 

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

1) Gas. Make sure you included this into your budget. Depending on how far you are from the Festival, you may spend a little more, or less, on gas to get there. Take this into account when looking at your budget.

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

 2) Food. Who doesn't love food? Especially Renaissance food! That large turkey leg or that delicious bread bowl, mmmmm. Then, you definitely will need a drink to accompany your chosen food option. Snacks between meals is also expected, like kettle corn or some type of dessert. Set aside some money just to try all these options! Turkey legs at my local Festival are usually priced around $7, which may seem like a lot, but this treat is worth the price

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

3)  Shopping. Souvenirs? Just for you? Maybe something just for the day! Whichever it is, plan ahead to save money. If you don't do this you will spend more than you expect! My first time, I spent over a $100 before lunch, and I didn't even drive or pay for the ticket!

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

  
4) Tickets. Look through the prices before you go. There is a website where you can purchase tickets before you go. They are usually slightly cheaper if you do this, so look into it! Also, there are some weekends that they have discounts for certain people, like students or soldiers.
  
5) Parking. My local Festival has free parking, but not all do. So keep this factor in mind as well!

Do not panic! This all sounds like it would be expensive, but take into consideration how many times you are planning to attend.There are season tickets if you plan to go enough times that normal tickets would outweigh the price.

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

Plan your budget and most of all, have fun! It's not just about the money, the scenery and people are amazing as well as all the shows! Don't let the cost scare you off, use it to learn more about budgeting!

Let's Talk Hair

So many options for people who are going to dress up. Hair color, wigs, ornamental pieces, and also peacock feathers…

I have organized a small list of techniques people use to style their hair below:

1)    All Natural.

Hey, your hair might be perfect for your character! Long blonde, curly brunette, short red, frizzy, straight. All these different types can work for any costume; you just have to be confident with it.

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

This picture shows how I used to do my hair at one point. This was just my natural hair curled and pinned back to show innocence.

2)    Wigs.

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

I know plenty of people don’t feel confident using their hair, or just don’t want to mess with it. This is where a wig can be handy! My grandma has super short blonde hair, so she purchased a long blonde wig for her Viking costume. So why can’t you buy a short purple wig, or a long, curly wig?

3)    Extensions.

These have multiple uses, making your hair thicker as well as longer. I use these pieces to help my hair have more body and represent my character’s personality better. You can also spray some of these pieces with hair color if you wish for a multitude of colors, I know I enjoy this look in my hair personally.

4)    Hair Color

Renaissance is usually close to Halloween, so it is easy to find hair spray to color your hair. This is only temporary and washes out easily afterwards. You can use this to help make your character have an even more vivid personality, if this is what your looking for.

5)    Ornaments.

What are you trying to become? How does your costume show this? Ornamental pieces in your hair are great ways to do this. One lady actually accented her costume by making a huge headpiece out of peacock feathers. Crowns, leaves, feathers, metal bits, or other such pieces are great to express yourself even more.

Photo Credit to Jessica Abendroth

Photo Credit to Jessica Abendroth

In the pictures shown, I have had someone help place different items throughout my hair. You can even see a bird’s nest to help show that I am a friend to nature. If you look hard enough you can also see green and red peeking out from the bottom. Or you may even notice that the majority of this hair is made up of a multitude of extensions.

Have fun with this process, I find that using your hair in the right way can make or break a costume.

I Can't Do Makeup

If you want to dress up and go all out, then why shouldn't you also do makeup? It is expected that not everyone is a makeup gurus. I completely understand your problem, so here are a few tips on whhat to do: 

    1)   Practice.

Everyone says to just practice as much as you can until you can get it, but most don't actually do this. Pull a picture up of roughly what you're looking for. You do not need to stick exactly to this picture every time! For those of us who aren't makeup gurus, we shouldn't expect our makeup to be the same every single time.

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

    2)  Help!

It is not a bad thing to ask for help from someone else. I, personally, ask my mom to help with mine every time. However, if you have a friend who would like to help you that would work great. Sometime its easier for someone else who can't do makeup, to do it on someone else. Practice on each other!

 Video Credit to Samantha Abendroth

      3)  You're a Natural!

If you are amazing at makeup, then this is for you! Makeup gurus should attempt to be helpful if your friends need some help. Encourage them to keep practicing, but don't refuse to help if they are actually trying. everyone wants your skills! So please be generous and share your talent with the world!

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

Remember that no one actually knows when you mess up your makeup. The mistakes you see are most likely unnoticeable to others, especially since each person at the festival has a unique makeup style!

Have fun and remember to look towards the completed picture!

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

Should I Go All Out?

Many people question if it would really be fun to go all out. That is truly up to your comfort level, but I am going to say a few things about it first.

Dressing up isn’t just for you, it’s for also for everyone else there. All these people enjoy looking at the different atmosphere that the Renaissance Festival brings with it. When you dress up, you are deciding to become a part of this atmosphere, meaning people will stare.

People will approach you for pictures, which means you might want to have an understanding of your character.

Some decide to go with the serious pictures. They will take all pictures with a straight face, and then move on. Others will look gruffer, or violent. Holding weapons and donning a look of toughness during photo ops.

Photo Credit to Samantha Abendroth

Then there are people like me. We want to seem friendly and whimsical. I enjoy the chance to talk with small children when they walk past just to see how happy they are. A family even told me that I had just made their daughters day. She had come just to meet an elf, so I was overjoyed to take a picture, and introduce her to the bird in my hair named Tweety.

One side note; when you stop for food or drinks on the way home or there, be prepared for people to give you weird looks.

Don’t feel awkward, own your creativity and confidence to do this!

Hello! My name is Sammi and I have created this blog to give anyone who has questions about the Renaissance Festival, a chance to get them answered!

I started going to the festival about four years ago, and couldn't stop going back. Since then I have created an outfit, forced friends along, and learned to keep a budget. These are a few things I will be happy to share with you! There will also be a few stories along the way to share some events that go on over the course of the festival.

Photo by Samantha Abendroth

Don't be shy and join me in our wonderful medieval times adventure!