Georgia Renaissance Festival Review

If you live in North Georgia or Eastern Alabama, you should do your best to visit the Georgia Renaissance Festival this Spring! It's a family-friendly event that you will really enjoy!  Located off I-85 a few minutes south of Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, it's a daytrip destination that will delight young, old and all ages in between!

We took the kids down to Fairburn for the Festival a week ago Saturday, which was the opening day for this year's Festival.  It was packed by 11:15 when we got there!  Luckily, there is plenty of free parking available. 

Once you enter the village, you'll feel as if you've been transported back in time! Be on the lookout for pirates, wenches, wizards,  knights, fair maidens, monks, kings and queens.  We haven't been to the Georgia Renaissance Festival since David was 3, so he was staring at everything and everyone ~ it was all fascinating to him!

We grabbed a map inside the entrance and first tried out the Tortuga Twins show, but it was a little too grown-up for David, so we followed the map and headed straight to The Mud Show with Filthy Rotten Scoundrels.  If you've got kids, this is probably going to be one of your favorite shows of the whole day! 

The performers take turns doing stunts and telling tales, then jumping into the blackest mud you'll ever see.  After each round, the audience picks their favorite.  I won't spoil it for you, but the grand finale is hysterical! 

So fun!!  After the shows at the Festival, the performers have a hat for you to leave a tip in if you enjoyed it, so show them some love if you had a great time!  After The Mud Show ended, we browsed through some really neat stores.  They have shops featuring musical instruments, crystals, leather goods, perfumes, candles,  jewelry, pottery, handmade bath products, and  more. There is something for everyone!  David checked out a sword & shield, but finally chose a handmade leather journal.  Katie bought a gorgeous crystal bracelet, and Randy got a journal too!  We spent a lot of time exploring the shops that line the village streets.  David and Randy went in the maze, too. After they made it through to the other side,  David exited via the slide, while his Dad chose the steps!  There is also a new haunted house to check out this year if you're feeling brave!

Next we caught the end of the Tartanic show - they do an amazing bagpipe version of Amazing Grace!  Wish we had seen the whole show! By then it was time for lunch.  The Renaissance Festival has a huge selection of food to choose from!  We picked Chicken Caesar Calzones (me & K), Pepperoni Calzone plus fried pickles (R), cheese bread (D).   These were followed with ginger beer (R), coffee smoothie (R), and shaved ice (the rest of us!).  They also have ribbon fries, turkey legs, grilled corn, funnel cakes, and a lot more! The tables fill up quickly, but they have tables for you to stand at, which we did until a table opened up.  It was really great people watching from there!

Guess what we found next?  A petting zoo!  They have a sanitizing station, but after having the animals eat from our hands, I was glad I had some wipes in my purse! : ) (Kind of a germ freak, I admit it!)

You can even catch a sheepdog demonstration beside the petting zoo a few times a day - check the schedule for times!

This gorgeous creature is a Scottish Highlands cow ~ beautiful!

We also found time for some games:

 

and a few of these too...

As our day at the Festival came to a close, we checked out some of the Belly Dancers  ~ how do they do that?! Beautiful dancing, lovely costumes, exotic music = lots of fun!

Then we walked over to the The Royal Pavilion where the Fairy Court was in residence.  I wasn't sure if David would like it, but he did! There were five or six other kids there talking with the Fairy Queen and her fairy friend.  They played games like freeze tag, and had story time.  Definitely worth checking out!

So after all this, do you see what I am talking about? It's fun at the Renaissance Festival! Fun for adults AND kids!! There is a Kid's Kingdom playground, games, crafts, activities, plus face painting, hair braiding and much, much more for the little (and tween/teen) kids in your life! This is a unique experience they'll never forget!

There is SO much to see, so many shows to check out, non-stop entertainment at 10+ stages,  plus there is  a jousting arena with three Royal Jousts daily.  Then there are the many characters wandering the streets of the village in costume, the rides, the food - it's really tough to fit everything into one day! We live about 1 1/2 hours from the festival site, so we'll only go once this season, but we could easily have filled a second day with more activities & shows!  We'll definitely be going back to the Renaissance Festival next year!




Check out the Georgia Renaissance Festival's Facebook page, or subscribe to their email newsletter on their website.  Follow them on Twitter, too!

Hours are 10:30 am - 6 pm Saturdays & Sundays through June 5 (including Memorial Day Monday)
Directions are found here.   Now get your tickets and head to the Festival this weekend!! 

Disclosure: I was given two adult passes to the Renaissance Festival to attend so we could review the festival. We purchased additional tickets for the kids. The free passes did not influence my review in any way, the comments and opinions expressed in this review are completely honest and 100% my own!