Sizzle Sights: Texas Renaissance Festival School Days

October arrives as possibly the single most welcomed month in a Texan’s calendar. Weary of soaring temperatures and the tease of rain, painfully aware that other parts of the country are enjoying this thing they call autumn, we finally reach our oasis – a time of open windows, cool breezes, and gloriously temperate days. Time to revel in the great outdoors!

There are plenty of excellent trails to explore, of course, but I thought I’d share an alternative outing, one from the annals of our October family history. This one requires a bit of forethought, since by November’s end, the opportunity to don your billowing garb and shepherd young squires and damsels through a merry piece of the past has, well, passed. I speak of the Texas Renaissance Festival, held two and a half hours from Austin in tiny Plantersville.

“Really? The Renaissance Festival?” friends inquired nervously upon hearing of our plans, aware of the Festival’s reputation for being, uh, not quite G-rated. But here’s the secret: On two days each year, the Festival opens its gates specifically for school groups and homeschoolers! Accordingly, the shows tend to be appropriate for kids ages five and older. This year the dates are Oct. 27 and 28 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.—time to seriously consider “homeschooling your child for the day. (Unless you already homeschool your child, in which case you’re really without excuse.)

It is possible to make the round trip drive to Plantersville in one day, but our method of staying the night before our outing at a nearby hotel worked decidedly in our favor in terms of beating the peak crowd times at the Festival entrance. A word to the wise: Wear layers! We went from chattering teeth to sunny comfort in the space of two hours.

Because I am both lovingly ambitious and certifiably insane, I had decided to indulge my daughters in homemade costumes of dubious construction. They held together for maybe twenty minutes once we entered the fairgrounds. But I need not have fretted: The Festival is awash with costume shops. It is, from certain vantage points, a 500-year-old shopping mall designed to dazzle the eye of fancy dress lovers of all ages. Exercising tremendous restraint, we settled for two princess hats, with a handmade wooden sword for the boy.

Each of our children chose one ride or activity (the giant swing, the archery gallery, the carousel) that cost extra. They also enjoyed some “medieval” luncheon treats, thanks to our prepurchased meal tickets. They took juggling lessons from a strolling entertainer, and watched a blacksmith, falconer and glass blower demonstrate their arts.

Our group’s unanimous favorite, however, had to be the joust. Into the arena rode knights in shining armor on their dapper steeds, galloping toward each other with lances poised. The children were on the edges of their stadium seats until one opponent gracefully plunged from his horse into dusty mortality and the other raised his lance in triumph. Encore!

Last year the Festival also introduced an Early Music Festival and a children’s Theatre Arts Festival. The Early Music Festival invites young musicians and vocalists to compete in a Renaissance setting, while the Theatre Arts Festival encourages kids in middle and high school to perform a monologue (or soliloquy), group scene or an entire play for cheering crowds. There is no cost to enter either contest (although children must purchase a School Days admission ticket), and prizes are awarded by King Henry VIII to those kids (or groups, for those who perform plays) with the highest score.
After you go, don’t be surprised if your kids’ only parting concern is the same as mind: “How soon can we come back?”