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The Bay Area Renaissance Festival at MOSI set for Feb. 21-April 5
| Article published on Monday, Feb. 16, 2009 |
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TAMPA - The 2009 Bay Area Renaissance Festival welcomes guests, weekends Feb. 21 through April 5, plus Festival Friday on March 13, for the 31st annual event.
The Festival is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., plus Friday, March 13, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Bay Area Renaissance Festival at MOSI is open rain or shine.
Daily admission rates at the gate are $16.95 for adults; children ages 5-12 are $8.95; senior tickets are $13.95; and ages 4 and under are free.
Discount ticket offers can be found online for each weekend. Promoters can be reached at 800-779-4910. Advanced tickets can be purchased at participating Circle Ks, Walgreen's, at MOSI and ClicknPrint Tickets or at www.renaissancefest.com. Advanced tickets are $13.95 for adults and $5.95 for kids. Sweetbay Supermarkets will have advanced tickets available after March 9. Subway will have coupons for $2 off adult and $1 off child tickets. Parking is free.
The Bay Area Renaissance Festival at MOSI is located at 11315 N. 46th St. in Tampa, off of I-75, exit 265/FL-582, on the corner of Fowler and 46th St., next to MOSI.
Each weekend the Festival offers a unique slant on the period with special events and activities for guests. This year is no exception with the following added attractions scheduled to enhance the events that are scheduled each day of the show. The following is a list by weekend:
Feb. 21-22 - Highland Fling
The weekend includes activities such as: Highland games, Scottish Village, Highland dancers, kilt competition, beer tasting, Scottish entertainment. Special military family discounts available with ID: $8 for adults and $4 for kids.
Feb. 28-March 1 - Wine, Chocolate and Song
Enjoy events such as: Chocolate Festival; King Henry’s Birthday; Red Hat Ladies; Best Bloomers-Men in Tights competition; Longbow competition; Sonnets and Serenades; Grape stomping; and wine seminars and wine tasting.
March 7-8 - A Silk Road: Discover the Riches
Activities include: Pet Fest, sponsored by Petco; pet vendors; animal costume contest; demonstrations and agility shows; juggling competition; sign language Saturday; belly dancing competition, performances, lessons and music.
March 13-15 – Shamrocks & Shenanigans
Events include: Special beer vendors and tastings; Perfect Proposal (WQYK); homebrew displays; homebrew competition; MOSI Marathon; Irish events, dancers and music; Mashed Potato Eating contest.
March 21-22 - Italian Masters
Activities include: Wine tasting; invention exhibits and competition; Bocce Ball competition; Italian vendors; Spaghetti Eating contest; Mask Fashion Show
March 28-29 - High seas Adventures
Events include: Nautical Nonsense; Biker Weekend; beer tasting; and King Henry’s Birthday
April 4-5 – Spanish Expeditions
This final weekend of fun, includes: Taste of Spain; Flower Festival; longbow competition; Spanish dancers; charity wine auction; wine tasting; Spanish cooking demonstration; vow renewal; and garlic seminar.
Festival highlights
Fun is literally in the air this year with the gravity defying moves of Acrobellum. This “acro-balancing” group founded by Levi Landry was inspired by years of combat performance experience with the Renaissance Festival.
These seasoned, Florida based actors perform in the streets of Fittlesworth, the Festival village, to audiences that stop to watch the members stack themselves into unbelievable shapes! The costuming has an eastern European flair and characters are named for the colors they wear. Most important to the performance is the audience.
“We try new things in front of the guests all the time. They motivate us to improvise right on the spot”, said Landry.
A newly revamped ensemble, “The Gatekeepers”, will welcome over 80,000 guests this season. In the space of just a few moments, these fully developed characters take all-that-enter into a world 500 years past.
Once inside the gates, guests learn that a carriage accident has caused King Henry and his lovely bride, Catherine Parr, to be stranded in Fittleworth. But, was it really an accident? Although nothing in the land of Fae can ever be certain, there are rumors among the forest creatures. Fairies, meaning no genuine harm, found the Royal Carriage wheels curious and decided to play with them as they spun by the shire. Alexi Schuarte, aka Cherry Blossom, directs this section of the 2009 scenario.
Her fairey court consists of one Satyr and seven fairies, all named for the earth’s elements. Schuarte said the children will be the primary audience for this group, but surly all that believe in the creatures of the shadows will see the magic in these playful pucks.
The Human Chess match battles each day for the honor of the court, but this year the guests are a part of the show. A dozen spaces lay empty each game, so that guests can get in the act. This all new interactive event is held twice each day: Once at about noon right after the Royal Parade and then again at 3:30 p.m.
The theme of the combat, stage-fighting event is the True Nature of Nobility; what it means to be noble, not a Noble. The Evil Baron calls the moves in both shows, first against the Lord Mayor and second against the village Wheel Wright. In both games, villagers act as chess pieces who have only the tools of their trade with which to fight. That is, the baker chases her opponent with her rolling pin, the Blacksmith with a poker, the Sheep Herder with a crook and the pirate has only the use of a paddle!
The poor peasants are up against the most evil henchmen in Fittleworth including the wicked Sherriff and a slew of merciless pirates. The good guys have to make tough choices that don’t always mean winning. They battle as much with their own sense of good and evil as with their adversaries. Scott Mullen, show director and choreographer has been with the Bay Area Renaissance Festival for twenty-two seasons, and has hired an eclectic group of actors and fighters for this hilarious combat show.
There will be a question and answer period at the end of each performance to provide an opportunity for historical perspective on the fighting styles of the period.
Friday, March 13, the Faire will once again host the special school day, with added emphasis on educating the youth of west central Florida. Each year thousands of children and young adults visit the Faire as part of their spring history curriculum. This outing gives teachers an opportunity to bring history to life and generate enthusiasm for this fascinating period. Faire promoters provide complimentary learning materials for educators including trivia, games and puzzles related to the era. These tools are also available online at www.renaissancefest.com.
Renaissance Festival history
The Bay Area Renaissance Festival was first held in 1979 in the city of Largo. This inaugural Faire featured renaissance dancing, archery contests, jugglers, mimes and madrigals.
By 1980, the Faire had added food booths, a human chess match and a unique marketplace. Ownership and management changed to the Mid America Festivals group at that time. As attendance to the popular event grew, so did the number of artisans, demonstrations, entertainers and foods. The Faire grew to a full five weekend event to accommodate growing demand. At that point the event had developed beyond the status of local event to a regional tourist attraction.
The show continued to develop fans through the next decades, offering more each year in entertainment, education, food and art. Through the 1990’s, Faire attendance had grown to nearly 80,000 annual guests.
In 2004 Faire promoters chose to relocate the Festival to Tampa, Florida adjacent to the Museum of Science and Industry. After years of providing an aesthetic place where guests could immerse themselves in upon entering the show, careful consideration was needed to find a new location equal to the task. The Museum of Science and Industry with the leadership of Wit Ostrenko, President of MOSI, offered Mid America Festivals a location near the museum. Though much landscaping and attentiveness to environmental issues was required, the Festival site was erected, complimenting the educational and entertainment philosophy of its long standing neighbor. Hillsborough County and Tampa City officials have also been an integral part of the success of the show in its current location at 46th and Fowler, offering building guidance and codes compliance standards as the site continues to develop. In total, this year marks the 31st season for this long time event.
Faire food
The food at the Faire is surly one of the most popular stops in any guest’s journey back in time. Over the years, the menu has developed to include favorites such as the now famous turkey legs, fish and chips, chicken kabobs and cheesecake on a stick. Additionally, the Faire will offer a wide variety of sandwiches, pork chops on a stick, kettle corn, roasted almonds, and desserts including strawberry shortcake and homemade ice cream as well as a variety of adult beverages, soft drinks and gourmet coffee.
In addition to the a la carte dining throughout the Faire, there are three popular events held each day of the show hosted by the entertainment department. The Queen’s Tea is held each afternoon and is hosted by the Queen of the Festival, Catherine Parr. This charming private party with Her Majesty includes not only a delicious three course afternoon tea service, but performers hailed especially for this event. The Royal Smoker has quite another flavor in its early evening presentation. This “adults only” party offers a variety of hearty snacks, cigars and libations as well as belly dancing, limericks, comedy and music.
And the Feaste of Fantasy offers a full six course indulgence of appetizers, salads, main course offerings and dessert. Tickets to these events can be purchased at the Festival gates. Seating is limited and tickets can be ordered by calling 800-779-4910 or at www.renaissancefest.com.
Even more fun
The enchanting shire of Fittleworth will be host to national and local entertainment acts featuring comedy, music, juggling and stage combat, including: Washing Well Wenches (bawdy clean fun), Johnny Phoenix (comedy, fire and whips!), Demzarah Gypsies (gypsies, music and dance), Dragon Scales and Faerie Tales (life size dragon hatching up good fun for all ages), Manolete’ (Bolas and fire), Emyrs Fleet the Ratcatcher, Empty Hats (Great Music!), Jim Hancock Music (The Master Minstrel), The Mudskippers (Shakespeare in the Mud), Buckle and Swash (comedy pirates and swords) Pony Rides, a Petting Zoo, Games & Rides and of course full contact armored jousting from War Horse Productions.
The New Riders of the Golden Age from War Horse Farm will again join the cast of the 31st annual Bay Area Renaissance Festival. Based in Sarasota, War Horse Farm has been the training center for one of the premier jousting troupes in the country since 1982. Under the direction of Kelly Bailey, knights are schooled in horsemanship following the discipline of western reining and the sport of joust.
The use of period designed tilting armor differentiates the New Riders from their staged theatrical medieval joust counterparts by allowing them to engage in an authentic full contact joust. The lance passes are real. Lances are made of genuine solid pine and neither cut nor scored to assist in their breaking. When the lance meets its target and splinters into pieces is when the New Riders and the audience truly find out what it means to be a knight. War Horse Farm is home to an armory and workshop where the period designed armor, equipment and costumes are kept and maintained.
The artisans provide an added authenticity through the colorful shoppes that line the lanes of this renaissance setting. Only the finest craftspeople are selected following an extensive artisan jury process. Products include the mediums of glass, metal, leather, stone, pottery, fabric and wood. From these materials are created extraordinary jewelry, toys, weapons, clothing, house wares and adornments.
This year debuts the all new Barbarian Battles! Guests can play for free in the Barbarian Lair with unique padded swords in all shapes and sizes for sale. It’s an experience like no other, with a nationwide following of warriors all hooked on this sword fighting phenomenon.
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Article published on Monday, Feb. 16, 2009
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