Georgia Renaissance Festival

Fun for everyone involved. We took a couple and there were laughter and smiles on everyone's faces as we passed them. The issue I had was that there was a person selling jerky and handling money with the same hand, no gloves. All I saw was germs and nope did not get any jerky. The infamous turkey leg was good and worth the money. Lots of attractions for all ages.

First off let me say that I'm quite a fan of theme parks but do not really see the appeal of coming here since virtually everything you encounter is just one "medieval" sales pitch after another. Because you pay an admission fee to enter the gates I would expect most of what's inside to be free but with the exception of a few shows and walking around and looking at the scenery everything else here has a price attached to it so visiting this historically inaccurate kingdom can add up quickly if you're not a very frugal person.



We went on a Saturday with a chance of rain and there weren't too many people here so if you're not a fan of people watching or lines I would definitely recommend coming on a cloudy albeit muddy day. Parking was free, surprisingly, and we took advantage of a buy one get one free admission offer but after you enter the real spending begins. I say this because most of the festival consists of shops selling overpriced and usually medieval-themed jewelry, clothes, dinnerware, weapons, and other things most people don't really need.



In addition to shopping there is also a good selection of things to eat, such as $4 scoops of fried ice cream with a nearly inedible coating, plain-tasting $7 turkey legs served out of a plastic cooler, and $3 bottles of water. There are also a few attractions which you have to pay for such as the $4 for ten arrows archery shooting, $3 haunted house, $2 carnival games, a children's maze, and a few small rides and contraptions which are not worth forking over the money to partake in.



There were a few actually free shows to watch, however, such as the cool Wheel of Death, a comedy show with actors who play in mud, a bird show, a trio of singing women, a bizarre religious nun show, and their somewhat lackluster but worthwhile effort of a joust show. If you look around you may find a few other free entertainers about as well, such as a relaxing harp player that was in a gazebo that was also occupied by the "queen" at one point during the day.



If you are really into medieval culture and don't mind paying to enter somewhere to pay for things then you will probably enjoy your time here, but even if you don't you might still enjoy a trip here once or twice. I much rather pay for everything upfront at a theme park, however, that way I'm free to enjoy my day in a much more refined environment and don't have to worry about paying for everything or tipping peasants during a lesson in renaissance capitalism.