Before this year, I avoided Medieval Fairs due to a common misconception: that they were only for “nerds” and history buffs. I couldn’t have been more wrong! A close friend of mine took me to my first Medieval Fair in November of 2018, and I immediately loved it. Here’s why I believe everyone should attend a Medieval Fair in their lives and my experience at the Sarasota Medieval Fair!
Fantastic Food
Huge turkey legs, homemade crepes, and fresh fruit and vegetables are sold at thematic booths around the grounds. I had a homemade chocolate strawberry crepe, made right in front of me! Visitors walk around with massive, juicy turkey legs. Traditional fair food such as funnel cakes, popcorn, and ice cream are also sold around the park. It’s all delicious!
The alcohol at the Medieval Fair is no joke either. Beer, wine, and mead are sold at various pubs and booths. There’s even a pub crawl! I tried a blackberry mead and a raspberry mead. Both delicious, sweet, and refreshing in the Florida heat!
Incredible Entertainment
The Fair is full of performances and entertainment. I fully enjoyed a full-contact jousting tournament while sipping my mead in the shade of the arena. The horses were beautiful and well cared for, and the knights’ performances were awesome! I felt like I was in an episode of Game of Thrones watching the tournament.
My favorite performance, however, was the Washing Well Wenches. A PG-13 show, the wenches had me rolling in laughter. They barely toed the line of inappropriateness to be allowed to perform in front of families, flirting with men and pulling them up on stage. They bribed the men with flowers for their wives in the audience and made them strip, sing, or run around the rest of the fair. When they were finally awarded their flowers, they had to take it from the wench’s mouth with their teeth, as the crowd chanted teeth, teeth, teeth!
Other performances that I unfortunately missed included a birds of prey performance with trained falcons, human contact chess, a wheel of death, Celtic dance performances, and craft demonstrations. A full schedule of the fair can be found here. You will never be bored at the fair!
Beautiful Costumes
Arriving in costume is not required, but many of the fair-goers enthusiastically participate. I saw beautiful princesses, knights, and even demons with working wings during my visit. There are multiple costume contests, and even a “best beard” contest! Men come with long bears, braided and gelled into a unique form of art. All costumes are free to enter, and guests definitely take it seriously!
There is even a photo contest each year after the fair is over. Cash prizes and free tickets are given out to winners. Check out the incredible photography, and some Medieval inspiration, here!
Merchants Galore!
My favorite part of the fair had to be the merchants selling their hand made goods. Costumes, wine goblets, jewelry, and even swords and weaponry are sold at various stalls. Everything was absolutely beautiful! I purchased a gorgeous wine goblet and a hand made silver ring. I love them!
People enjoy this fair so much, it has become a Sarasota staple. Birthdays, weddings, and vow renewals are commonly held on the grounds beneath the decorations and on the castle stage. People eagerly audition for positions, and volunteer for the fair as well. It definitely should not be missed!
Ready to attend? Check here for flights to Sarasota, Florida, and here for fair tickets! The fair runs the first 3 weekends of every November.
Have you ever been to a Medieval Fair? Let me know!
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I love Medieval Fairs! I used to regularly attend the Tennessee Renaissance Festival. It is so much fun! I also love to watch jousting! The food is always good, and the costumes are amazing. I once saw someone dressed as Sauron from Lord of the Rings. It was kind of terrifying.
The women wearing the demon costumes were so mesmerizing. Their wings actually worked and it was absolutely terrifying, but I couldn’t look away! I definitely want to check out a Comic Con just for the cosplays!