What to expect - our first Renaissance Festival

[Storm]

The must see show at MNRF is Vilification Tennis! There is only 1 show a day so you do not want to miss it!...

[Lady_Lily]

Welcome!!

Costumes range all over the place. Wear what you think is comfortable for the first time, if you just want to dress up, by all means dress up! Once you experience it, you can determine if you want to invest in more historical/expensive stuff. A basic black belt from any store like Target or similar goes a long way if you're wanting a belt. Pouches are pretty easy to make out of fabric and are equally as easy to find out at festival. Mens costumes are pretty simple, a McCalls pattern as you mentioned will get you what you want. Use something breathable! As for shoes...comfort is best. Moccasin types work well!

Shows I recommend as people mentioned: Tortuga Twins, Puke and Snot, and if you like fire Tastes like Burning is another good one. If you see a name that sounds interesting, check it out or there are any number of people who you could probably ask if they've seen it and what it is. People are pretty helpful there!

Hope you both enjoy and have a great time! Looks like I'll be missing you when you're in town!

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

If ..... they have Villification Tennis this year.  And

If ..... you go to see it.  And

If ..... the announcer asks if there isn't anyone who is familiar with it.  And

If ..... you are sitting with some R/F members.  And

If ..... they tell you to raise your hand.....

Beware!     

And after you raise it in the air anyways, have a great time!       

[switch]

 

Thanks tcindie and Rafe and for everyone else who responded.  Tomorrow we are heading out to find some simplicity patterns, so well see how it goes.

Rafe - when you say Mongolian Grill, is that on the faire ground?

Also, we are both interested in this Beer for Breakfast...where can that be found?  After all, it is our vacation

Lady Renee Buchanan - I think you scared me enough to keep my arms down

Thanks for all of the recommendations for shows, Hopefully we can stay 2 days. 

As for costumes - I think we are just going to go for the time period and call it good.  Once we are pros like you guys, then we'll worry about whether it's authentic   I'm kinda particular but since we are newbies, we'll just throw caution to the wind!

by the way, with 22 acres....is there a map at the front gate?

[Lady_Lily]

They have little brochures that have maps! One really awesome thing is, they are doing a lot of renovations this year and all the booths have numbers! So, if you find a shop name that sounds interesting...you'll actually be able to tell where you might find the shop you're looking for!

[switch]

They have little brochures that have maps! One really awesome thing is, they are doing a lot of renovations this year and all the booths have numbers! So, if you find a shop name that sounds interesting...you'll actually be able to tell where you might find the shop you're looking for!

Very good.  I'll be especially looking for homemade mugs/imported steins.  I have a neat collection, small (only 3) but all of them are castle / knight oriented.

I'll find out tomorrow if we can extend our stay, hopefully so! 

[Lady L]

The only show I am able to recommend is the armored joust. 

All shops have numbers and have had, for as long as I have been there, which is 12 years. Not all numbers are as visible as they should be, though.

Maps are available at the front gate, additional info for each weekend is on a flyer you can pick up at the information tent, near Bad Manor. If you can't find something, they can tell you where it is.

Oh, we are not supposed to be selling anything *imported*, only artist made, juried in products.

Hope you find our faire to your liking.

[tcindie]

I've never seen anything like a Mongolian grill on faire grounds (although that would be AWESOME)...

But, I can tell you the best mongolian grill in town (in my opinion anyway) is Khan's.  There are three of them in town, the closest to where you'll be staying is off of 494 & Portland Ave. 

[Marietta Graziella]

Beer for breakfast!!!  Every day during the run!  Find most of us at the Foaming Stein for the first pint of the day.  Usually, for me, by 9:05.   

[Goody]

Beer for breakfast!!!  Every day during the run!  Find most of us at the Foaming Stein for the first pint of the day.  Usually, for me, by 9:05.   

I'm surprised nobody has pointed out the 10am meet 'n' greet at the Meade Booth!! That's pretty much where everyone from this forum checks in with each other each morning.

When I have "company/newbs" at the faire I start out by taking them to Fest Friends tent to get daily pass (just think if ur gonna buy 2 bottles of water for $2/piece uv almost paid the $5 to join FF with their free bevs not to mention discount food coupons), then over to the 10a Meade Booth, then on to The Dregs (these 3 things are all in the same area) then rush over to get good seats for Vil Tennis. If ur hungry that may be a good time to eat lunch (while someone holds ur seat) altho I try to wait til afternoon when lines aren't so long. Wander around in afternoon to look at shops and see shows. You'll prolly be amazed at how fast time flies, then head back to the Dreg-along at 6p. Assuming the schedules remain the same this yr!!

[Storm]

Hey Ryan...

If you guys do manage to stay for 2 days try to stick around until the end one of them. They have little something called Drum Jam at the end of the day. It's pretty cool to see!...

Also, if you are interested in unique mugs that may not be castle or knight orientated check out Docs mugs at Mug O' Woods. You will never find anything like them. Not sure where he will be selling them this year. 2 years ago he had a booth, but last year he was selling them out of a little stand.

[der idee_mann]

Hey Ryan,

Haven't noticed it mention this yet, maybe I've missed it but you can also find the site map and info on the website http://www.renaissancefest.com/MRF/ to help you some plan your visit in advance ... there you'll find lists for ... food ... artists ... entertainment and roughly their locations that will give you a good start then you can allow us to lead you astray from there...

Clearly the Foaming Stein and the Mead Booth are first thing in the morning 'must sees' just so happens the Crepe booth is between them so your set to start the morning right. Grab you morning starters then just a few steps over the the Fest Friends area to get you day pass, sit down and plan your path for the day with your new friends! See you soon.

I have not seen anyone mention that getting there early, besides the parking advantage, you will as a 'first timer' probably enjoy the opening gate show which often can be quite humorous if they are on their game... especially if they get off the track and adlib...   

Ooops I stand corrected the 'site map' is appearantly not on the website ... so I guess you will have to wait to get that at the gate!

[groomporter]

They have little brochures that have maps!

There was a thread here with a link to a satellite photo of site that was adjusted to include a better to-scale portrayal of where stuff is, but I couldn't find it again. Anyone know where it went?

[der idee_mann]

I just put the address - 12364 Chestnut Blvd., Shakopee, MN 55379 - into Google Satellite ... not very up to date, but it will give you some idea of the massive size of the grounds as well as the Pavillion & joisting field for landmarks to start with

[switch]

Wow, I really need to make a word doc for all this info, just so I don't forget it all.  I think I will. 

We went shopping yesterday, got material for both our garb getups!  I'm excited  Even though it may not be expressly authentic, I've never had a custom costume sewn just for me.  My wife is getting a fancy dress made and I'm going as a cloaked thief looking guy. 

Has anyone heard of Hancock Fabrics?  Well yesterday we went there and they had all Simplicity Patterns on sale for $1.  Yep $1!  I saw online they were only 10 bucks, in store they were anywere from 14-17 a piece normally.  So we bought about 11 costume patterns, some for me, some for my wife, some for our kids when they reach age.

Total cost for the fabric for my wifes dress, patterns, trim, my cloak, shirt was about $140.  Thanks tcindie for the Simplicity tip, I got the 2 you linked too, plus a few more.  My wifes mom has a touch screen sewing machine, I guess it's more of a computer, so hopefully she'll get them done before Sep 18th.

Marietta Graziella, Goody - I mentioned the foaming stein, looks like my wife is up for it, so it looks like that'll be our first stop.  And we'll need to join that $5 fest friends as well, free water sounds good to me.  Goody, we'd be willing to meet at the mead booth at 10am and go over some details over a pint!  We renew our vows at 12pm - I wonder how public that will be, sometimes I get 

Storm - thanks for the tip on Doc's Mugs, we'll def. check it out, and we'll probably stay the entire day to view the closing fire show or whatever they have at the end.

der idee_mann & Lady L - we'll be there at the opening for sure and thanks for the tips on the maps!

I'm off to google earth to check out satellite views. 

Ps.  We didn't find any talismans, boots or daggers (that weren't made in china) yesterday during our shopping trip, so we are just going to get shoes online most likely and then get the rest of the stuff at the faire.