Every year in October and November, the Texas Renaissance Festival takes place in Todd Mission, Texas.
I’ve been several times and I always enjoy myself.
There’s many things to see and do. The food is good, there’s attractions for the children and a lot of shows with very talented people performing.
This article is about my trips to the festival.
You get a feel for the place right at the gate where the ticket takers are in costumes and also the accents.
When you walk in, there’s a guy ready to take your photo.
Then you see this guy! If you don’t feel like you’ve gone back in time now, you never will.
The grounds are great and always well kept and clean.
You’ll start to see people in their European dress.
Here’s a map that comes in the programs. The Texas Renaissance Festival is very big.
The King comes out to greet everyone.
They have a different King every year.
He takes a seat and the performers entertain him and the crowd.
I always like to go to the festival on Pirates Day and Halloween. More people are in costumes on those two days.
Spelling Renaissance can be tough for some. Just remember, it has one ‘n’ with an ‘ai’ and two s’.
The kids always love to get their faces painted.
There are a large amount of shops at the festival selling all types of things. Here you see some of the hats for sale.
They have some really nice merchandise.
If you’re into dressing up, you can find all the things you need here, but bring your credit card with the big credit limit, lol.
This leather pouch is $85.
I like seeing all of the guns from a different period of time. They don’t fire, but they still look cool.
There’s cutlasses and swords of all types.
If you’re in the mood for a pretzel, you can stop this guy and get one.
They have a booth that you can dress up and have your picture taken.
I did it. I asked one of the girls that was working there to pose with me.
You’ll see lots of people dressed for the part of a Renaissance Festival.
Many are quite attractive.
You can get some great photos with the characters that are walking around.
I bet it gets hot in these costumes.
The ladies can purchase dresses from the time period.
I enjoy walking through the property and ‘people watching’.
These people came dressed for Pirate Day.
There’s live music at many venues around the festival.
I love the drinkware.
These were really nice.
I was going to come back and buy some before I left, but I forgot.
This is a good looking couple.
Again, you see all of the colorful hats that are offered.
I met so many people when I’m walking around photographing them. I really enjoy it.
The food is really good all over the property.
Here’s the first little girl I saw selling headdresses of flowers for the ladies.
These guys look ready for battle.
Here’s another group playing to the crowd watching them.
They have attractions for the kids too.
I thought that this family looked cute all dressed to theme.
This was another cute family sporting their pirate wear.
Here’s another attractive young lady that I met.
I thought this stuff was really neat. It’s made of leather and I bet it’s pretty expensive.
I wouldn’t wear it, but there’s a lot of guys that do.
Here’s the menu board for just one area of the festival.
These two guys were playing to a patio of people as the ate and drank.
The Texas Renaissance Festival is the nation’s largest, most acclaimed Renaissance Theme Park.
All I can say about this guy is that he looks very flamboyant.
This little kid is trying to catch one of those toy fish in the water.
I love seeing the women in their dresses from that period of time.
This musical group had a dancer in front of them entertaining the crowd.
A lot of people dress up and I like seeing them in their outfits.
These people probably rented the blue outfits, but the lady in the hat looks fantastic in her get up.
I always have the ‘Steak on a Stick’ when I’m at the festival.
Here’s a conquistador, I think.
It’s cool to see people standing around just mingling while wearing these great clothes.
Each year, over 600,000 people attend the festival.
The theme park is situated on about 60 acres of land, located 50 miles northwest of Houston, Texas.
There are over 200 daily performances on over 25 stages throughout the village.
This lady had on a really nice outfit.
The festival has over 400 shoppes, featuring some of the finest work by artists, craftsmen, artisans and merchants, as well as live demonstrations by craftspeople.
These two young ladies were happy to pose for a photo.
If you like seeing women in sexy gear, then this is the place for you.
Here’s another couple that look ready for battle.
I thought this family looked good for Pirate Day.
Someone stole her hat, so she wrote a note about it and stuck it on her head instead. I thought that was funny.
This woman has on a full outfit and was having a good time at the festival.
Here’s the second cute little girl I saw selling headdresses of flowers for the ladies to wear.
They teach you have to use the magic crystal ball at the festival.
The Texas Renaissance Festival opened in 1974 with just three stages and 15 acres of what was once an old strip – mining site.
I think this guy had the best thing on. He looks great.
The festival’s founder, George Coulam, built the festival from humble beginnings with a handful of vendors showcasing their wares on blankets under the trees, a small group of performers offering improv-style entertainment and a dedicated group of patrons who wanted to spend the afternoons in another world.
This guy looks like he’s ready for some S & M action.
This looks like a painter from that era, aside from the blue in his beard.
You’ll always see some Captain Jack Sparrow’s on Pirate Day.
They looked good in their costumes.
Today, the festival has grown into an incredible dream world spanning nearly 60 acres, featuring eight-themed villages lined with close to 400 unique shoppes and a cast of thousands entertaining patrons from all over the world!
Right inside the front gates, they put on a big dance.
It’s fun to watch them dancing in their dresses and costumes.
I saw some more weapons at another shop I entered.
This was their sexy mannequin in the front of their store.
I met these two people at Comicpalooza in Houston in 2015.
Here’s some more young ladies dressed for the occasion.
I think that wearing the chain armor on my head would bother me.
This person is always at the festival.
I thought these two young ladies were cute.
The kids love playing on all of the attractions.
And they can ride ponies too.
These two look so serious.
These four people were decked out in pirate gear for the day.
Hundreds of thousands of patrons journey through the Royal Gates each season to experience the merriment and magic of the New Market Village by interacting with jugglers, minstrels and fortunetellers while exploring the variety of hand-crafted works of pottery, sculpted metal, woodcarvings, jewelry and other unique treasures found throughout the realm.
You can take a horse and carriage ride if you like.
Here’s another attractive young lady that I met.
Everybody has fun at the festival.
At 12 noon everyday, they have a parade where all of the people in costume and all of the workers march on by. I always try to videotape it for my YouTube Channel.
You get to see everybody that’s working the festival that day.
And you can get some great photos too.
Magical gardens, festive games, hands-on demonstrations and colorful costumed characters enhance the atmosphere while continuous entertainment takes place on more than 25 stages around the grounds.
The TRF, the largest Renaissance themed festival in the nation, continues to grow, from just 33,000 patrons opening year to a record-setting 606,694 patrons in attendance in 2012!
True to its mission, the TRF provides an adventure-filled escape back in time where one can delight in the pleasures of a simpler age.
The sights and sounds of the festival are reflective of the period which inspired its’ inception.
This lady always rides this huge horse around.
I thought this young lady looked like a goddess being driven around. Her white dress, blonde hair, cute face and being on her chariot all played into me thinking that.
These two girls went all out in their outfits and looked great.
The kids can try to climb this wacky ladder. It’s impossible, but they love trying.
You can test your strength by trying to ring the bell at the top using this mallet. I tried one year and failed miserably, so I won’t try again, lol.
Here’s another cutie that was working one of the food stands.
I bought some fried alligator from her. It was good.
Many don’t know the difference between a pirate and a privateer.
They both raid ships and steal all of the belongings and booty.
But the privateer is doing it for some King and has a Letter of Mark to prove it.
He has to share with the King and the King loves having a privateer on the high seas that is raiding the ships of his enemies.
Here’s the third little girl I met that was selling headdresses.
Now this guy looked like a pirate.
Hundreds of pines and other native trees and landscaping have been carefully designed and planted around the grounds and beside shoppes, which also stay true to the architectural styles of the Renaissance period, from their turrets to their deeply pitched roofs.
I bet these guys get hot in their outfits.
Entertainers, shopkeepers and staff are dressed in 16th century attire and speak the tongue of lords, ladies, paupers and wenches, all of which creates a truly authentic atmosphere.
Here’s someone taking a carriage ride that I mentioned earlier.
In 2005, the festival also opened the Royal gates during the week to welcome thousands of students for the inaugural School Days event.
The School Days program, designed as age-appropriate, educational and entertaining, has seen tremendous success in a short time.
Students are invited not only to attend, but to immerse themselves by participating in contests.
The School Days program welcomed more than 46,000 students in 2014, and continues to expand its reach to students, offering them a rare chance to see history come alive at the festival!
This was another cute couple that I photographed.
I love this ladies’ hat.
This guy looks like he’s got it made.
This is the first time I saw a lady wearing an eye patch.
I bet it’s hard to drink with that thing on your face.
In one area, you can throw ninja stars…
knives…
And hatchets.
There’s a petting zoo for the kids.
They love seeing the little pygmy goats.
You can ride an elephant if you want.
This cute little girl was riding a llama. Her dad should have taken a photo.
It would’ve been one that he would love forever.
I did this maze and hated it. I’ll never do it again. It ate up too much of my time and I eventually had to have help to find my way out, lol.
At least from the top of the maze tower I had a nice view of the grounds.
You can see wandering musicians around the festival too.
In another area, you can try your luck at shooting a bow and arrow.
These dresses were from a shop called BOSS WENCH.
I could never put on full body paint like this. Imagine how hard it is to get it all off, especially your back.
I usually get to the festival when it opens and stay all day long, although I’ve never stayed for the evening fireworks show.
This girl was spunky.
You can tell she was having fun.
At the festival, you can learn many things. You can learn about pottery, facepainting, the art of blacksmithing, candle carving, glass blowing, quill writing and much much more.
You can get married at TRF and also renew your vows.
If you’re in the mood, you can have your fortune told by a Tarot Card reader.
There’s a costume contest and a broadcast journalism contest for high school students at TRF.
This fox costume was cool.
I think this photo is from a day when I went on Halloween.
This one too. I liked her costume and her sign.
Pretty funny.
This guy was holding court with his friends.
These dudes were walking around singing to the people in different areas of the festival.
I ran into more shops with weapons for sale.
All sorts of knives.
Here’s the guy with the great costume again.
I think he wins, hands down.
I gave him a few bucks and interviewed him for my YouTube video from the festival.
This girl was one of the cutest that I saw.
I thought it was funny for them to be chatting away normally, but wearing what they were wearing. It just looked funny to me.
Here’s ‘Spunky’ again.
It can get crowded at TRF, but it’s a fun type of crowded when everyone is having a great time.
I watched a lot of the shows while I was there. The next few photos are from the Gypsy Belly Dancers.
They were fantastic.
They all wore colorful dresses and danced really well.
This young lady was awesome.
Then this lady walked on stage.
She wore a sparkly top.
It looked great in the sunlight.
Then she pulled out a big snake.
She proceeded to dance with it on her head. It was very cool.
I was surprised the snake didn’t bite her, but it never did.
I think she stole the show.
Next, I want to show you Shunyata. Another dance team.
They were belly dancers also and very good.
They put on an entertaining show for the crowd watching them.
They even danced with swords balanced on their heads. This was awesome to see.
I have the video of them and the other acts on my YouTube Channel if you want to see them dance.
Last, I’d like to show you a very talented young lady. Jenny O’Connor. I loaded this video on YouTube and called it The Hot Violinist.
It’s been viewed millions of times. People love it. You should watch it.
Here is the link to it.
She played another song and a young lady came out and danced to the music.
Finally, Jenny grabbed a guitar and jammed while another dancer accompanied her with beautiful moves and a scarf.
I hope you have enjoyed this look at the Texas Renaissance Festival.
If you ever have the chance, you should go. I love it and go every year if I can make it.
I hope I see you there one day.
I have more than 25,000 travel photos on my website, as well as my videos, for your viewing pleasure.
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Spider Michaels