We picked up our new old van yesterday. It’s big, roomy and has comfy seats! We were invited to attend the Mike the Knight show at the Renaissance Fair in Kenosha, Wisconsin for this past weekend’s shows, so we decided our first family outing in nearly 10 months would be to the Renaissance Fair. We have never been to a Renaissance Fair and were expecting something more like Medieval Times shows, rather than a fair taking place outside.

This is how my husband parked “the beast” at the hotel we stopped at to find the nearest Walgreens (Walgreens offers discounted Renaissance Fair tickets.)

The fair was very crowded and busy. Tons of people. Dusty streets, much like it would have been in the 15th century. There were little shops lining the medieval streets selling their wares. It had a air of stepping back in time. There was lots of sights to see, but due to arriving at 5pm for a 5:30pm show, we didn’t take much time to stop and look at things due to not wanting to miss the Mike the Knight show.

We arrived at The Globe Stage with nearly 15 minutes to spare. Our children sat nicely anticipating the show starting, but the younger crew did not understand what we were waiting for. There was not a huge crowd for a kids show, but we just put it off to it being one of the last shows (we later realized that there was a Joust going on at the same time which attracted a huge crowd).

The show began with an Elf coming on stage and reading a Mike the Knight story book. The Elf did not have a mic on and she/he was very hard to hear even with us sitting in the fourth row! The story took about five minutes, after which the doors of the stage opened and out stepped Mike the Knight. Our six year old questioned, “That’s a person dressed up in Mike the Knight?” We said yes.

Then the children were invited to line up to meet and greet the tall stuffed figure. None of ours wanted to. The sat quietly at our sides and still refused to go up after a couple of fair workers tried to persuade them to go up to the stage. The worker handing out the CD/DVD and coloring book was nice enough to give our children
each one even though they didn’t go up to meet Mike.

Our Impressions of Mike the Knight

That appeared to be the extent of the show. 10 minutes long and very lame. We were disappointed to be honest. This is the what we drove an hour to see. We sure hope other Renaissance Fairs are doing something different! We expected Mike the Knight to at least act out one of his stories or something. Not just stand there wave, shake hands and high five the kids.

The Fair’s Redemption

What redeemed the fair for us was the jousting match, which we only caught part of because we were at that “other” show. It was cool and all the children said that was their favorite part.

After the joust, we attended a How to Use Weapons show. It was humorous and we stayed until it was nearly over, but our little ones were asking to go home! It was starting to get late for them.

We took our time walking back through the fair, letting the children’s (or ours!) curiosity guide us. Our oldest daughter was in writer’s mode thinking and creating as she took in all the people, the costumes, sights and sounds.

It was also really interesting to note that all the rides offered at the fair were not mechanical as in gas powered or electric. They were powered by the muscles of people. That was one of the best things to witness – the historical accuracy of the rides. Of course they all cost money too.

We thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon/evening out as a whole family. It was wonderful to just do something together away from work and home. Our four year old woke up this morning asking, “Are we going on another trip, mommy?” I think that about says it all right there. Eating out, getting ice cream and going to the playground afterwards all made it an even better experience for our children.

New Yorkers

Those in New York or traveling in NY state this month, Mike the Knight and the Renaissance Fair will be your area the weekend August 18-19! Check out the details here.

Faith and Family Reviews received the four tickets to the Renaissance Fair in exchange for a feature. While we consider it a privilege to receive tickets, products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the event or product.