Happy Fall! It's officially Fall now so we spent the weekend outside at Ty's soccer practice, putting up our Fall decorations, and of course, heading to King Richard's Faire. I've been going for years and it's always a kick off to the beginning of the Fall season.
There's just something so Fall about being in the changing foliage, watching the performances and eating delicious food that is so synonymous with King Richard's Faire to me! We love packing up as a family and heading to the Faire for the day.
This year was no different... After soccer on a Saturday morning, we made our way to Carvershire to see what the King had up his sleeve for the Game of Thrones weekend. Each weekend has a different theme or fun event and this weekend was Game of Thrones. Other weekends include a Princess and Knight dress up for children and Wizards, which are great for the whole family, Vow Renewal weekend, and even the Cleavage contest for those Bachelor weekends-- full disclosure I would love to compete in the cleavage contest but I have so many students (and their parents) who work at and visit the faire, that I'd just never be able to!
Since we love going, we want to share a few tips for making your visit to King Richard's Faire the best! Before you even step inside, you feel transported. From the signs and performers, we get so excited just walking through the gates.
Tip #1. Dress Up!
King Richard's Faire is a Fantasy faire, meaning anything goes! We saw "David Bowie", Monty Python characters, fairies, characters from World of Warcraft, and so many gorgeous dresses. There were knights, jesters, and even a centaur! You can even rent costumes for all ages and sizes right inside the front gate at Seams Like A Dream if you don't have your own! Emmalee was seriously sad that she did not dress up after seeing everyone else and has already started putting together an outfit for next time!
Tip #2. Grab a Map Program!
Just inside the gate is a Map of the Realm but it also includes the show schedule for the day! Some shows happen more than once a day and others only happen once so be sure to pick which shows you want to see!
The shows are the most amazing part of the day. We made time to see Snorkel the Trained Pig, The Big Cat Show, Jacques Ze Whippeur, Prince and Princess Academy, Up in Arms, and Daiku (Twice! They are amazing!). We also caught a few glimpses of the Mud Show and the Washing Wenches while walking by. Tyler's favorite though was the King's Tournament!
Tip #3. See as many shows as you can-- and get to the stage early!
Every performer at King Richard's Faire is amazing. Whether it's a trained pig, with a very humorous handler, or an acrobat who can do a 1 handed hand stand 20+ feet up in the air... you don't want to miss them! Be sure to get there right when the show starts (after the prior show clears out) so you can get a good seat. We were lucky enough to have front row seats to see Snorkel the Trained Pig and the kids loved it!
Tip #4. Bring some $1 and $5 bills with you.
With so many amazing performers, you may want to tip them. The kids were so excited to put money into the buckets at the end of the shows, so even though it's not required- we still love to! In addition to the shows, you might just come across a performer in the middle of the "street". While eating our order of unicorn donuts (more on those in a minute), a musician started playing a few feet away. Ty was so excited to go put some bills into his bucket!
Speaking of Unicorn Donuts, oh my gosh. These were new for us and I am so happy that I can only buy them at King Richard's Faire currently, or I'd be consuming them every day. The warm little donuts are seriously my new favor treat at King Richard's Faire, and at only 5 tickets for 6 donuts, it was a great value.
Tip #5. Figure out what you want to eat before buying your tickets.
King Richards Faire sells their food by tickets. Each ticket is 1 dollar, and purchased in groups of 5 at a ticket booth. Then you go to the food stands and give them the tickets. We always do a lap around the food stands to decide what we want to eat before we go and buy our tickets, so we know that we purchase enough tickets and only wait in the ticket line once! King Richard even made sure to look out for the GF/V/LF crowd. You can check out those menus here!
Tip #6. Carve out some time to check out the artisan shops.
From fairy wings and flower crowns to pet dragons, leather accessories, and hand crafted items... the faire offers a variety of shops to meander through. I'm still hoping to get a henna tattoo or a psychic reading one of these times!
Tip #7. Don't plan it all, allow yourself to just get a little "lost".
One of our favorite moments this weekend was when we stumbled upon a centaur and a fairy blowing bubbles in the fairie circle. The centaur was playing his instrument with his nose and the kids were entranced by the bubbles. Taking a few minutes of unscheduled fun, allowed us the most magical moments of pure magic for the kids. When another mom tried to tip them, the centaur told her, and all the kids, to pay it forward-- to go and do good in the world for others. How wonderful is that?
We spent hours in the woods of Carvershire, seeing so many amazing performances and being caught up in the magic of it all. Emmalee is already begging to go back next weekend for the Harry Potter themed contests, and of course, now it feels like Fall has finally started in New England.
To get your own advanced tickets, you can order them here. You still have until October 21st to get in a visit! Have so much fun.
xo, Heather
