What it's like going to KC Ren Fest
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It's big and it's meaty. Photo: Travis Meier/Axios
There's only one place in Kansas City where you can sip mead and wield a turkey leg while watching jousters, jesters and jugglers.
Why it matters: The KC Renaissance Festival has been around for 50 seasons as one of the Midwest's premier events for make-believe and post-medieval revelry.
Context: Ye ol' party began in 1977 thanks to the Kansas City Art Institute. It has since grown from 8,500 attendees to more than 200,000 each year, and is now owned by Minneapolis-based Mid-America Festivals.
- It's now open for seven themed weekends through Oct. 18. This weekend is its fourth, featuring worldwide cultures and a massive wedding with more than 30 couples on the joust field. Tickets are $28.
What they're saying: "Everyone is truly welcome, regardless of who they are, who they want to be," marketing coordinator Cammy Whalen tells Axios.
- She says the Royal Exhibition Hall in the Wildewood area has a rotating selection of relics and maps celebrating 50 seasons.
If you go: You will inevitably get lost. Even people with honed map skills struggle to get their bearings (not at all speaking from experience).
- Getting there, map apps will probably take you to the biggest parking lot on the north side, which is the Queen's Gate, not the King's Gate. From there, good luck.
- Come with cash. Some booths take cards but many don't, and the ATM lines are long and slow.
What to try: If you want to feel like you're in "Game of Thrones," there's an area near the jousting field where you can shoot arrows, throw axes and perform other various noble feats. Prices vary.
- Shows at the 25 stages around the park have a mix of entertaining skits, music and magic, and feature traveling performers.
- Contests range from root beer chugging to best costume, and some are weekend-specific, like the kilt-heavy keg toss during Celtic Celebration.
- Stop by Booth 651 near the Queen's Gate, where volunteer blacksmiths, weavers and armor makers work in real time. The group, the Institute for Historic and Educational Arts, built many of the metal gates around the grounds.
What to skip: The turkey leg is good for the bit, but not for the bite. It's full of tendons and sinew, it's very pink inside, it'll leave you covered in grease and it costs $13.
💭 Abbey's thought bubble: My favorite part was the jousting. It's WWE on horseback. Two knights trash-talk and hit each other with sticks, and the crowd picks sides. Repeat.
- Bring mead and enough energy to scream for 30 minutes.
💭 Travis' thought bubble: I love this quote from The Pitch in 1982: "as the hot and humid weather becomes cold and damp, The Festival is more than escapism; it's masochism."
- It's worth it for the people watching alone.
What we're watching: The new Chiefs stadium is anticipated to go near the festival grounds, raising questions about the fair's future.
- Whalen says they only know what's been made public, but they're excited for their new potential neighbors and "continuing our long-standing working relationship" with local governments.