There is a Renaissance Festival today and tomorrow at the St. Paul Newman Center in Fresno. Its a fairly LARGE event and its FREE! The Newman Center is located at 1572 E Barstow. Its on the north side of the street between Millbrook and Cedar - YOU CAN'T MISS IT.
There is something for everyone and you wont be disappointed. There are live performers from the Guild of St. Augustine. The musicians I heard were EXCELLENT. There was a guy there playing an unusual stringed instrument that I have never seen before and he was fabulous. There were the jousters but the guys at this festival were totally serious and dedicated to their mock warfare. They were suited for battle with armor designed to take the blow and I can assure they were NOT pulling their punches. I took MANY pictures of the event and reviewed them and couldn't find a single one that I felt accurately depicted how brutal these guys get - BUT - one of the jousters let me take a picture of him after he took off his helmet:
One of the events features is the Queens Court which is played by actors in period costumes and they're a hoot to watch because they are so serious about what they are doing. The Queen and company were kind enough to let me take some pictures. Here is one of several that I took:
For the children there are puppet shows, story telling, arts and crafts, etc.
There are several food vendors and the Mediterrainian chicken we ate was fantastic. I was there with my youngest son from 1:00 to 5:00 and the time just flew by. This was one event I truly enjoyed. There is another Faire coming up on November 8th and 9th at Kearny Park (details on the link provided) but that one will cost you $7.00 admission and this one is free.
Happy Weekend!
© Randy "Lazarus" McAtee
559-301-1647
