Utah Renaissance Festival

Well the long anticipated day had come. I heard about this festival last June, just after it was held last year. Being a fan of Blackmore's Night, Lord of the Rings, and having visited Europe last year, I thought it would be a fantastic festival to visit.

I took the kids thinking they might enjoy it too. Nevermind that it cost $6 per kid (over 3) to get in, and $12 for adults. For my family, this wasn't a cheap admission price. I was hoping they would have pony rides in there. There were thank goodness. $2 for a two minute ride. Oliver loved petting the little goats too. There were tons of vendors selling trinkets (fake knives, bows and arrows, fancy renaissance wear and jewelry. I only had $60 and it seemed that each trinket cost about half that. There was no way I could afford to get something for everybody.

Jacob saw some "Flower sticks" that he tried and he fell in love with them. They wanted $40 for them. No way was I going to pay that. Jacob pouted the entire time after that. Which almost ruined the rest of the afternoon for me. I was really tired of it and tried my best to ignore his attitude.

There were a few places where they were playing games (Tug of war on a block). Jacob and Austin went at it with each other. While the other kids colored some pictures with a princess. There were a few performers.

One performer that was especially impressive to me was Marty Smith, who playing an instrument that was a bunch of wires stretched out that looked like he was playing a marimba, but it was just wires. I looked it up and it's called a Hammered Dulfimer. He was very very good at it. He was selling CD's, but again, I didn't have much cash available to purchase. I couldn't find where to buy one online. But here is a video of this guy.

We waited around for the jousting that was supposed to happen at 4:30, but they stalled and stalled with all sorts of stuff, and finally got around to it 5:30 and by this time I was cranky with Jacob's attitude and the other kids getting filthy in the dirt and throwing stuff at each other.

When I got home I went to Home Depot, bought some PVC and those floating noodle things you take in the pool and made swords. They wanted $20 each at the festival and I made 6 of them for about $30. So I saved a ton.

To be honest I was a little disappointed with the visit. Considering that the entire trip cost me around $100, I felt a little robbed. The experience was good, but not enough to feel that the price was worth it. If I go again, it'll just be a few of us and not the entire fam.