The Kansas City Renaissance Festival, or Ren Fest for short, is a two-month festival in Kansas City Kansas to relive the fashion, food, events, and overall culture of 15th century England. While on my two visits on October 5th and 6th, I realized that the life of a person during the English Renaissance is drastically different from modern life. True to the era, there are no roads at Ren Fest, no paving of any sort except the parking lot. Dirt roads and bumpy paths characterize the Festival grounds, and if it rains, you get muddy like I did, nothing you can do about it, just like in the 1600s. The people are dressed in all sorts of time-appropriate clothing, from beggars and peasants, to pirates and princesses. The royalty of the Festival is dressed very ornately, including the famed King Henry VIII. Clothing shops sell period clothes to the visitors, and I bought a wrap that has fake coins on it, so I could jingle with my “wealth” as I walked. There are artisan booths all over the festival, my favorites being the blown glass and medallion ones. Artists use modern day blowtorches to mold the delicate glass into horses, roses, and dragons of all shapes and colors, while the medallion makers use a weight to impress an image on a bronze disc to take home with you. Food is the main thing that isn’t exactly period, because of modern food handling laws. Despite this setback, the food is still similar to the entrees of the day, including potatoes and huge turkey legs.
I had a great time over my Ren Fest Weekend, visiting with my dad on Saturday and my boyfriend and his family on Sunday. I liked how the Festival organizers went to great lengths to make sure as much of the attraction is true the Renaissance as possible. I was fitted for a corset sort of garment, which was an interesting and literally breathtaking experience. Whoever designed those things really doesn’t want you to breathe. The Festival was very authentic, the people who were working there spoke in as much Middle English as was understandable, and it was overall a very enjoyable experience.
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