2023 DATES: July 8-9, 15-16, 22-23, 29-30, 2023
August 5-6, 12-13, 2023
This post documents my experience on August 12, 2018.
Beyond the ticket booths and castle walls…
…past the feast hall…
…and after the band…
…there’s a pathway that takes you by…
…a Peasant Village…
…camel and horse rides…
…and your first armor and sword shop…
…before unleashing you into the woods…
…where you could go off and create your own adventure.
Welcome to The Great Lakes Medieval Faire and Marketplace…
…a festival where you could lose yourself in all the attractions…
…whether at Pirate’s Cove…
…equipped with a ship…
…a band of pirates…
…and a friendly mermaid…
…or at the gaming area with such games as axe/knife/star throwing…
…Drench A Wench…
…and Tomato Torment.
The festival was set up with countless diversions, such as the Butterfly Encounter…
…glassblowing and blacksmith demonstrations…
…miniature golf…
…ancient rides…
…a giant game of checkers…
…stories from a magic mirror…
…henna…
…reiki (Angelic Crossings)…
…a fairy who granted fairy names…
…some good old fashioned fortune telling…
…and different places to just hang out.
And if going down a fairy trail…
…and accepting a fairy quest wasn’t enough…
…you could rent a costume…
…have your hair braided…
…and accessorize your new elf ears…
…to be part of the fun.
Or maybe you didn’t want to be involved in a sword fight with that knight twice your size.
Then you could sit back and cheer on the Highland Games…
…take in a fool hearty performance (Fool Hearty)…
…laugh to some storytelling (The Gwendolyn Show)…
…listen to a faster Celtic melody (Celtic Mayhem)
…listen to a slower one (Roxanne Dresden)…
…and just enjoy all the entertainment spread across the festival grounds.
But whether you liked to dress the part or not…
…it was fun to shop among the clothing…
…jewelry (Aeris Dea)…
…magic wands, walking staffs (Johnson’s Wood)…
…and gemstones…
…as well as the shields…
…bows and arrows…
…crowns…
…chainmail (Pendragon Chainmail)…
…leather arts…
…and steam punk fun.
And while many may be happy enough with my festival description thus far…
…I still need to mention the food.
With both stand-alone booths…
…and larger food court areas…
…the food vendors cooked everything from cheesesteak sandwiches to crepes…
…with all your chicken and gyros in-between.
And, to finish the experience just right, there was nothing better than a nice cold Butterbeer…
…a basket of deep fried Oreos…
…and – you guessed it – a pickle (Pickle Pirate)! :-)