At the Carolina Renaissance Festival, the entire 22-acre kingdom forms the set for comic adventures, in which you can be both audience and part of the fun. With a cast of over 500 costumed characters, the festival is like a Monty Python movie come to life.

Festival fans can leave their cares behind and enjoy the pleasures of a simpler time in a storybook town where you can choose from continuous music, dance,  and comedy shows, shop for wonderful arts and crafts; plus games, rides and a feast of exotic food and drink.

You can throw tomatoes at the insulting fools locked in the stocks at Vegetable Justice. Cheer for your favorite mounted knights at three jousting tournaments each day. Or test your skill at games like the Dragon Climbing Tower, the Archery Range and the Maze.

In the festival’s vast 16th century European village, an expected 160,000 revelers will find shows on 10 stages of continuous entertainment, including fan favorites back for the anniversary celebration:

•The sharp wit of the Ded Bob Show

•The Juggling and Comedy antics of London Broil

•All three Tortuga Twins

•Zilch the Torysteller

•The dangerous acrobatic theatrics of Barely Balanced.

•The dashing swordsman Don Juan and his zany servant Miguel.

•Birds of Prey demonstrations of majesty in flight.

•Cast in Bronze, America’s Rare Traveling Carillon - Weighing over 13 tons, this unique musical instrument features 48 bronze bells.

•And hundreds of mistrels, dancers, jugglers and jesters.

Families will enjoy the King, Queen and their Court (where kids can be knighted by royalty), Mother and Father Goose and their costumed flock, rides on the people-powered Da Vinci’s Flying Machine, Christopher Columbus’ Voyage to the New World, the Slider Joust, and the Piccolo Pony (a rocking horse bigger than an elephant).

The food is as spectacular as the entertainment. Festival kitchens cook up an endless feast of bread bowl stews, steak-on-a-stake, gourmet sausages, and the festival’s famous giant roasted turkey legs.

For dessert, try the fresh crepes, the cakes and cookies from the Monks Bakery, candy delights from the Chocolate Shoppe, and a favorite of all renaissance wanderers: a bag of cinnamon-roasted almonds.

Festival pubs offer soft drinks, beer, wine, champagne, ale and Medieval Margaritas. 

You can also book the Village Haven for group parties and wedding ceremonies.

When the Carolina Renaissance Festival was introduced to the Charlotte area in 1994, the shows took place on three stages and six acres of village attractions. Now 17 years later, the event has grown to become one of the largest  renaissance festivals in the country. The Village of Fairhaven is now spread over 22 acres with its 10 stages of non-stop entertainment, a tournament arena for jousting, an open-air market with 100 artisan shops, kitchens and pubs, games of skill and the people-powered rides.

Have more fun than you thought possible in a single day at the Carolina Renaissance Festival.

For visitor convenience, the Festival has embraced modern times. In addition to purchasing advanced discount tickets at Harris Teeter stores region-wide, Festival goers can now print their own tickets in advance online at RenFestInfo.com

The 17th anniversary Carolina Renaissance Festival will be held weekends, Saturdays and Sundays from October 9th through November 21st. For more event information call toll free: 877-896-5544, or on the web at RenFestInfo.com.