Tag: fair

For a few years now, David has been talking about the Arizona Renaissance Festival (but mainly about the turkey legs you can buy there). From what I understood, it was like a medieval convention out in the desert where people dressed up in period costume, drank, ate, and watched fire twirling.

I was half right – out in the middle of the desert there is a small city built for the festival – dozens and dozens of full size buildings, stables, jousting arenas, pavilions, carts, stages – and everything is Renaissance themed.

There are actors, jugglers, entertainers, food sellers with pretzels on sticks. There were knights on horses, you could buy a flag to support your knight, and then the winners signed autographs afterwards.

There was raspberry mead, British food, owls, hawks, and musicians. Fire twirlers on stilts, hypnotists, peasants, royalty, and stores filled with everything you would expect of a buzzing Renaissance town centre.

I tried on dresses, ate turkey legs, and watched all the people in amazing costumes.

This time in two days I will be in snowy Portland – it’s really amazing that the middle of winter in Phoenix is so full of sun and warmth, when only a few hours north there is snow and sub-zero temperatures.