I should probably write a blog post on this, especially since I've been neglecting this blog. The past weekend, I attended the Maryland renaissance festival. The first time I went was a year or two ago and I wanted to go back so I could experience it more thoroughly, as the first time felt like a preview. It's known as one of the best renaissance fairs in the country, so it's nice that I live within a reasonable distance of the location.
You had to buy tickets far in advance to ensure you can attend on your chosen weekend. Last year, I wanted to go but I slacked off on buying a ticket and it was sold out for the season. This year, I made sure to buy a ticket right as they went on sale for the season. I was able to have my choice of preferred weekend and chose Oct 10, towards the end of the season.
The first time I went the other year, it was Labor Day weekend and extremely hot. I recommend attending later in the fall if possible, as the weather will hopefully be more pleasant. The ticket buying process was relatively smooth since I was online to buy them right as they went on sale, so I can't speak to what it's like trying to get tickets later on. Supposedly, they have a small amount of tickets that are released closer to the applicable weekend but I don't know how likely it is to get tickets that way.
Food
There is a pretty wide variety of food options available. It's pretty much fair-type foods and things on a stick, and of course turkey legs. There are a bunch of different food stands that each sell a certain thing or a small selection of things.
Depending on what you want, you might have to stand in multiple different lines. I didn't pay that much attention to food prices for everything since there were so many different things. The lines for food and alcohol can be pretty long but they move fairly quickly.
I ate: french fries for $4 and a funnel cake for $10. I thought the french fries were reasonably priced, I guess, but the funnel cake was overpriced for the amount you got. It was small and flat and not that crispy, so it was kind of disappointing. Turkey legs were $14; my friend ate one but it was kind of tough and chewy. It was a pretty substantial size.
You're allowed to bring in your own food; they don't seem to inspect bags upon entry. Decide for yourself the amount and type of food you think it's practical to bring in. I brought some meat sticks although I wish I had maybe brought a couple other things as well, like maybe some sliced fruit and cookies or something. Try to bring things that are easy to eat, since the seating options might be full with other people.
Lots of people like getting drunk at the renaissance festival and there are ample locations to buy alcohol from. They offer hard cider (Angry Orchard), beer (don't remember which brands) and a couple Linganore wines. Also mead but I'm not really sure what that is.
I don't quite remember the pricing for the alcohol because I didn't feel like drinking alcohol. Beer and cider was cheaper than wine; there were two cup sizes for each option. I think the cheapest option was about $8 and the most expensive was like $16? I can't say if it's a good value or not; it depends on how much you think alcohol will enhance your personal experience of the festival. For me, it's not an integral part of the experience so I was more than fine with abstaining and saving some money in the process.
Entertainment
The only thing I really wanted to see this year was the jousting because I didn't see that in the past. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It was more theatrical jousting as opposed to real jousting, I think. It reminded me of a blend of rodeo and circus theater. The jousting was pretty popular and the viewing area was crowded, so try to get a seat early before it's scheduled to start.
There are a lot of other entertainment performances (music, theater, comedy, circus type tricks) but those didn't interest me as much so I didn't watch those. However, the different stage areas have wooden bleacher-type benches for seating so if you can't find any other open benches, they can be a good option.
Other activities
There's a climbing wall which cost $8 I think and had two difficulty options, easy or medium. There are other types of carnival games too. And a giant slide. I was feeling lethargic so I didn't partake in any of these things.
The more difficult climbing wall was interesting to watch people go on. Apparently, you could win $50 (once per day) if you were able to reach the top. I watched a few guys try it (multiple times) but none of them were able to reach the top. I couldn't tell whether any of them had actual experience with rock climbing just from watching them.
Apparently, climbing shoes are not allowed so one of the guys climbed barefoot, but regular shoes are allowed. So for someone who wants to try it, I'd probably recommend wearing regular shoes with grippy soles, like a trail or approach shoe of some sort, but not a full on climbing shoe. They do provide chalk at ground level but not with a bag you can bring with you while on the wall. I'm not sure if it would be allowed to bring your own chalk bag to use on the wall.
I'm not completely sure how possible it is/was for someone to actually "win" the climbing wall as it appeared to be set pretty difficult. It might not be possible for a shorter person, even one with experience and technical skills in rock climbing, to win since some of the holds looked like they were just too far apart to reach. I prefer trying to climb (for free) on random rock formations that I find on trails and stuff.
If I had the money and physical energy for it, I'd take up rock climbing, but I digress. It is fun.
Shopping
There are a lot of different artisans with storefronts at the festival. MDRF has rules about what vendors can sell at the festival, so the quality of goods for sale is pretty high. Basically it's a lot of artisanal things, like wood furniture, glass(blown) products, jewelry, pottery, musical instruments, clothing (including leather and fur items) and other assorted trinkets and home decor. A full list of vendors can be found on the MDRF website. It seems like the vendors stay pretty consistent from year to year.
A lot of the vendors are fairly pricey but the items are handmade, so just be prepared for that. I'd recommend being more strategic than I was about which artisan stalls you want to visit. Look at the list online first and note which ones are most interesting to you.
I remembered a few from last year that I wanted to check out and maybe actually buy something from, but I could've been more methodical about it. I recommend browsing through all the things you want to look at across different stalls first and then making decisions about what to purchase, or you could easily spend way too much money.
Nowadays I think a lot (if not all?) of the artisan vendors take card payments, but it doesn't hurt to bring at least a few hundred in cash if you want to make purchases. More if you know you're going to do some major purchases. Be prepared and visit an ATM before arriving at the festival. Alcohol sales are cash only though I think.
A smaller number of stalls offer services like face painting or hair braiding. The face painting is probably mainly for kids, and the hair braiding is for those who don't know how to do it on their own. Personally, I would never pay money for hair braiding as that's something I can do on my own decently enough. Some of the really elaborate styles might not be possible for me to do on my own, but I know how to do mildly elaborate braided hairstyles myself. The most elaborate braided styles start at $125 (!!!; not sure about pricing for simpler styles). It makes me wonder how many people actually choose to pay money to have their hair braided.
Shopping: clothing
My primary objective with shopping was to purchase some kind of clothing item that isn't readily available (to buy in person) outside of the renaissance festival. I wanted to buy a bodice of some sort since I've been too lazy to sew one myself, even though I probably could if I tried. I also justified it by figuring that if I bought one, I could use it to trace and draft my own pattern to make another one myself.
There are a few vendors at MDRF that sell bodices and/or corsets: Moresca clothing, Bullseye clothing, Qheart3 and Noblesse Oblige. Each one offers slightly different styles and their price ranges vary too. I remembered one vendor from last year by their approximate location and the setup of the stall. This is the one I ended up buying a bodice from.
Many of the vendors do not really have an online presence, so it's hard to find good photographic examples of their clothing. Someday, I would like to go back and thoroughly compare the offerings across these vendors for this blog.
Noblesse Oblige is the most expensive from what I remember. The stays were fully boned, waist length and had fancy fabrics. They were around the $350 mark. There were also costumes like very intricate, elaborate full length dresses that were a bit over $1000 or so. Just so people can be aware of how much these things can cost. If you have some sewing expertise I would probably recommend trying to sew your own clothing for the renaissance festival.
Moresca, from their website, appears to have a bodice that is about $200. It has side lacing and is fully boned in the front and back. The straps also attach to the front with ties. They have other styles as well but I didn't pay that much attention to the different ones while at the festival.
Qheart3, from what I remember, had more things along the lines of overdresses that laced up in the front. They were kind of similar to this dress from Holy Clothing. I don't remember the pricing.
There's also Threads of Time which I don't remember looking at. From online, it appears that their clothing leans more Celtic-inspired.
The only place where I actually tried something on was Bullseye, as this is the vendor I remembered seeing in the past. They also had the most reasonable pricing from what I could tell. Although they have a large stall and sell a wide range of clothing items, I was primarily looking for a bodice.
They have a full length and half length bodice option, as well as ones that are reversible. Half length was $115 and full length was $130 (I think). Reversible was more expensive but I don't remember the exact price.
The bodices lace up only in the front and have non-adjustable straps. There is some boning along the eyelets in front but not throughout the whole bodice. They offer a wide range of sizes and colors/fabrics, going from size 2 (maybe even 0?) to at least 26. Their sign on the storefront isn't very obvious and they also don't put any branded label inside their clothing.
The selection in half-length bodices in my size was somewhat small compared to other sizes or full length bodices. I tried on the size 6 half length which fit pretty well in both the chest and the shoulders/armholes. I also tried on the full length in size 6 but it was uncomfortable in the armholes, like it was cutting in even though it was the same size. I didn't really have the time or space to thoroughly analyze the fit and why the full length one was cutting in around the armholes.
Size 8 was too big and I did not try size 4 as I was happy with the fit of size 6. If I lost some weight (I've gotten a little chubby over the last couple years... getting old!!), size 4 might be a better fit, or I could try altering the bodice I bought, or sewing a new one.
The half length bodices basically just cover the chest area; the full length comes down another couple inches to the waist, although this could vary somewhat depending on your proportions. The construction is pretty simple: eyelets at the front center to lace it up with some boning on these edges, non-adjustable straps, a back piece. There are two deeper darts on the front (one on each side) for shaping and two shallower darts on the back as well. I think it would be pretty easy to draft your own bodice pattern by tracing from one of these.
The fabric options appeared to be various things you'd find as upholstery or decor fabrics. Some had patterns and others were solid, some were like velour and others were jacquard (?). I didn't look at the reversible bodices but the regular ones were just a single layer of fabric, not lined. I chose a solid color since it will match better with other parts of the outfit.
The bodice feels well made although perhaps mildly overpriced; I think $80 - $90 would be more reasonable for the type I bought. Some of the other artisans selling bodices had more complex designs or included more boning. However, the laces for some of these looked really flimsy, like it was literally just basic ribbon that you'd tie on a gift. I would have expected some kind of cord or twill tape so that it'll be stronger. The lacing cords that come with a Bullseye bodice appeared to be round shoelaces I think.
At some point I want to try sewing my own bodice, which should be made easier by having an actual one I could trace and draft a pattern from. I might try to use a different, thinner fabric like a shirting fabric but do two layers and possibly an additional inner layer for extra structure?
As far as other clothing goes, I don't plan on buying any from the renaissance festival. Peasant style blouses can be easily found in regular stores and sewing basic skirts is also really easy. Maybe next year I'll dress up... other advice regarding the clothing is that it is very dusty at the festival grounds. If you want to wear a skirt or dress, if it's too long it'll drag on the ground and get filthy around the hem. You also might trip on it as the ground can be very uneven and steep in some places.
In conclusion
Personally I'm satisfied with going only once per year, although apparently there are people who attend on multiple weekends each year. It can get somewhat pricey when you factor in the admission cost, food and beverage (if applicable), plus any items you want to buy.
