The Louisiana Renaissance Festival is held every weekend beginning the first weekend in November and continuing for 6 weeks. It is held just outside the city of Hammond, on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain! You can even pre-purchase your tickets on the website (I recommend this as the ticket line can get long at times).
My family was fortunate to receive passes courtesy of Rick Hight, of the festival, to attend the festival this past weekend.
Hubby and I have gone before with friends, but we have never taken our daughter! To say she was excited to dress like a pirate (wearing her Wiggles Captain Feathersword Hat,natch) is an understatement! And yes, that IS hubby in the pirate costume- cute no?
And before you ask, I was the pirate wench. I simplified my costume this year- no heaving bossoms when you have a 2 year old in tow! HA HA HA
There is PLENTY of parking and we love that there are port-a-lets by the parking lots- great for when arriving and leaving (don't worry-there's lots more on site as well)!
The mood is set right from the start when you arrive! You enter a castle wall to enter the grounds and are met by happy and very likeable staff members!
As you can see darling daughter was enchanted upon entering and after receiving a "dragon stone" (aka green polished rock) from our greater, she was in 7th heaven already, and quote "in need of a purse of her OWN to hold it"....yeah she's got our number already.....SIGH................
The property is 10 ACRES- yes you heard me right- 10 acres- so make sure you have some COMFY shoes, cause you'll be doing ALOT of walking! The site is called the Village of Albright, and it surrounds a gorgeous pond (aka Lake) in the middle with live entertainment, strolling members of the 'village' (in costume), educational sites and over 100 vendors-- you can definitely find something to keep you occupied!
They have a Ren Fest Souvenoir Station set up upon entering for all the souvenoirs you need-this is the 10th year anniversary! The poster is great! Additionally they have a shop, where you can buy or RENT costumes for the day, right when you enter. How super is that? You can change your mind and dress up if you want to! Dressing up is a great way to use those Halloween costumes again- get your money's worth out of them! You don't have to "dress" to enjoy the Fest, but it makes it alot more fun!
The second vendor we stopped at was Anna/Gypsy Jewlery with her superb bellydancing chains, belts, bracelets, anklets, earrings and scarfs. As you can see, darling daughter was instantly entranced by her wares. We ADORED her, and she was very generous in giving daughter a lovely tinkling anklet to wear, so we would always know where she was (as she was so excited she kept skipping about!). We came back and bought numerous items for next year for both of us from her! ALL the vendors were very friendly and helpful, so ASK if you have any questions, they're happy to help you!
I think the thing I love the MOST from Ren Fairs, especially this one, is the sense of family- everyone is there to have a good time, and most have their children with them. Adults embrace children and eagerly play pretend with them. Kids LOVE it as all the adults are playing pretend along with THEM. Everyone is on their best behavior, and it seems like you meet nothing but new friends. Or as darling daughter found, peek-a-boo partners! The other thing that strikes you is the COLOR- everywhere you turn you are met by bright swatches of color- you just can NOT take a bad pix here!
The Fest has numerous live performers throughout the Village. make sure you check the schedule on their website for times, to make sure what time to arrive, as not all shows perform all day long (ie the jousting) (They do provide you with a schedule when you arrive as well) We ended up missing the jousting due to getting sidetracked by the Hobgoblin Hills Puppet show, not once but TWICE (yes, daughter was glued to it like a tv)! Darling daughter was also entranced by Vince Conaway (right) and his hammer dulcimer music, while we were eating lunch on the green surrounding the lake. {Warning re eating on site- BRING CASH- you will probably need $10 per person minimum for lunch. Add extra $10 per person, for more drinks and snacks during the day, plus additional $20-30, for any rides (ie $5 to ride a Jousting War Horse (aka Percheron). they do have atms on site if you need more cash! Most of the vendors accept credit cards however. } They also have Living History exhibits, featuring glassblowing, blacksmithing, candle making (which daughter liked), cooking and period games (daughter became entranced with Bocce (it's free, FYI)....oh oh, another game needed for the yard!).
The festival is like a full fledged historical Halloween party for adults! Everybody feels free to pretend and be foolish if they want to! Though as one performer said "act like you want to, no one will say anything. And if you DO see someone you know from your 'other' life, do not worry, as they will probably be pretending they didn't see you, as they don't want anyone to know they come here either". Well yes, grown men do not want to admit they ENJOY playing dress up in tights-it's not macho- but you have to admire the guys that go all out!Like the queen's secretary to the left!
We had a blast and I am going to break down the festival into THREE posts (ok four if you include Wordless Wednesday yesterday!) , as there was SO much I wanted to tell you about and show you, and it's late late as I am writing this and I need sleep! So check back tomorrow for another entry in the LA Renaissance festival saga!
Disclosure: While I was given free passes to the Ren Fest by Rick Hight, I was NOT compensated in any way, by them, or any other company, to provide a positive review!
My family was fortunate to receive passes courtesy of Rick Hight, of the festival, to attend the festival this past weekend.Hubby and I have gone before with friends, but we have never taken our daughter! To say she was excited to dress like a pirate (wearing her Wiggles Captain Feathersword Hat,natch) is an understatement! And yes, that IS hubby in the pirate costume- cute no?
And before you ask, I was the pirate wench. I simplified my costume this year- no heaving bossoms when you have a 2 year old in tow! HA HA HA
There is PLENTY of parking and we love that there are port-a-lets by the parking lots- great for when arriving and leaving (don't worry-there's lots more on site as well)!
The mood is set right from the start when you arrive! You enter a castle wall to enter the grounds and are met by happy and very likeable staff members! As you can see darling daughter was enchanted upon entering and after receiving a "dragon stone" (aka green polished rock) from our greater, she was in 7th heaven already, and quote "in need of a purse of her OWN to hold it"....yeah she's got our number already.....SIGH................
The second vendor we stopped at was Anna/Gypsy Jewlery with her superb bellydancing chains, belts, bracelets, anklets, earrings and scarfs. As you can see, darling daughter was instantly entranced by her wares. We ADORED her, and she was very generous in giving daughter a lovely tinkling anklet to wear, so we would always know where she was (as she was so excited she kept skipping about!). We came back and bought numerous items for next year for both of us from her! ALL the vendors were very friendly and helpful, so ASK if you have any questions, they're happy to help you!
I think the thing I love the MOST from Ren Fairs, especially this one, is the sense of family- everyone is there to have a good time, and most have their children with them. Adults embrace children and eagerly play pretend with them. Kids LOVE it as all the adults are playing pretend along with THEM. Everyone is on their best behavior, and it seems like you meet nothing but new friends. Or as darling daughter found, peek-a-boo partners! The other thing that strikes you is the COLOR- everywhere you turn you are met by bright swatches of color- you just can NOT take a bad pix here!
The Fest has numerous live performers throughout the Village. make sure you check the schedule on their website for times, to make sure what time to arrive, as not all shows perform all day long (ie the jousting) (They do provide you with a schedule when you arrive as well) We ended up missing the jousting due to getting sidetracked by the Hobgoblin Hills Puppet show, not once but TWICE (yes, daughter was glued to it like a tv)! Darling daughter was also entranced by Vince Conaway (right) and his hammer dulcimer music, while we were eating lunch on the green surrounding the lake. {Warning re eating on site- BRING CASH- you will probably need $10 per person minimum for lunch. Add extra $10 per person, for more drinks and snacks during the day, plus additional $20-30, for any rides (ie $5 to ride a Jousting War Horse (aka Percheron). they do have atms on site if you need more cash! Most of the vendors accept credit cards however. } They also have Living History exhibits, featuring glassblowing, blacksmithing, candle making (which daughter liked), cooking and period games (daughter became entranced with Bocce (it's free, FYI)....oh oh, another game needed for the yard!). 
The festival is like a full fledged historical Halloween party for adults! Everybody feels free to pretend and be foolish if they want to! Though as one performer said "act like you want to, no one will say anything. And if you DO see someone you know from your 'other' life, do not worry, as they will probably be pretending they didn't see you, as they don't want anyone to know they come here either". Well yes, grown men do not want to admit they ENJOY playing dress up in tights-it's not macho- but you have to admire the guys that go all out!Like the queen's secretary to the left!We had a blast and I am going to break down the festival into THREE posts (ok four if you include Wordless Wednesday yesterday!) , as there was SO much I wanted to tell you about and show you, and it's late late as I am writing this and I need sleep! So check back tomorrow for another entry in the LA Renaissance festival saga!
Disclosure: While I was given free passes to the Ren Fest by Rick Hight, I was NOT compensated in any way, by them, or any other company, to provide a positive review!