DISCLAIMER:
I cannot speak at all of the MAIN Renaissance festival held by the same group that throws this as I have not attended, but PLEASE BE AWARE that this is an entirely seperate much smaller event that I believe is held at a seperate venue (as I don't believe a joust would be possible on the hilly ground this event was held on)
MAIN REVIEW:
Not worth what you pay.
While not UN-pleasant, this event charges full renn faire prices for what is a $8 day show at best. Do yourself a favor and make the longer drive to the Nashville renn faire. We drove 3 hours to check out this "summer twilight faire" and were severely underwhelmed. We became aware at this event that the "summer twilight" faire is not the "main" renn faire that occurs in November, but something that originated as a fundraiser. Review breakdown as follows.
Location/Immersion: 1/10
The festival itself takes place on a field directly adjacent to a community center, but doesn't even take up half the field. At no point in time do you not have a full view of the community center and modern buildings. Of course one can't expect a castle at every renn faire, but the only immersive section that felt medieval was the lord's tent and even that had a fully visible "cast rest area" immediately behind it, plastic chairs and personal effects everywhere. No effort seemed made to conceal the space.
We were personally drawn in by Facebook ads and pictures of the "lord and lady" of the faire in a medieval setting, however upon arrival you will quickly see that the "lord's tent" is the only period inspired piece on the premises. The stocks in some of the Facebook photos were not even out.
Features: 2/10
Of the attractions at the "twilight faire" the most interesting was the blacksmith. There was a gentleman working the forge and selling small items. There was also a sword swallower/fire Eater gentlemen who was there as well who was quite impressive, but ended the show loudly telling people they could tip on venmo so while understandable, the little immersion we were holding onto was lost.
There are no pamphlets or schedules or anything describing when events are taking place, and upon asking at the tent workers were also unaware. We finally figured out where a quiz we were interesting in was starting, only for the head person running it to not show up until the end.
The best part of the show is seeing other attendees costumes.
Vendors: 1/10
The blacksmith was interesting but outside of some original art the vendors were severely lacking. There aren't many and not a single person was selling swords, a Renaissance staple and something we came looking to buy. 3d printed dragons and some tumblers with pictures in them are the best things you'll find outside of artists. Also every tent was a generic walmart pop up that made the space feel more like a flea market.
Food: 0/10
Easily the worst part of the show. You get a couple of very loud food trucks. There's a wetzel's pretzels and some other truck vendors. Not a turkey leg or anything in sight, but if you want a beer in that Renaissance fair tradition, you can get an ice cold Busch lite from a guy in sunglasses under a bright blue pop up tent with a cooler.
Safety: 0/10
No one checks swords. Personally I didn't feel threatened but it is something to take note of.
That makes for a total score of 4 out of 50 possible points, or 0.4 stars out of 5.
Overall, this event is not bad for a pop up day show and would provide a lot of entertainment especially for small children, but it's not worth what...
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