GEORGIA RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL 2003



        My very first view of the Georgia Renaissance Festival was certainly MOST impressive, I must say. Due to the change to Daylight Savings Time, I arrived extra early that Saturday morning to find acre after acre of empty parking lot, patiently awaiting the arrival of festival patrons -- which strongly suggested that either the owners of GARF were overly optimistic or they were expecting a LOT of company that weekend, indeed (Photo, Above: the parking lot at GARF wraps around half the site, with the entrance to the faire at right). As it turned out, the owners' expectations were correct for the festival crowd soon showed up in force, to take up all the available parking and then some (Photo, Below: patrons eagerly crowd around the Main Gate at GARF to view the Opening Ceremonies)!








        Alas, but I was to be disappointed on one count. Prior to GARF, I had been in touch with Millicent Hand (AKA "Titania, the Faerie Queen") who had graciously extended a personal invitation to me to visit her most wonderful faire. Needless to say, I was looking forward to meeting her and the rest of Her Court that weekend, mayhap hanging out with the Fey Folk for awhile and capturing many faerie portraits for these pages. Instead, I met her lovely daughter at the Main Gate (Photo, Left), where the wee lass informed me that her mother, Titania, would not be putting in an appearance that weekend. Worse, the Faerie Court had been downsized just this year, so there were now only two "official" GARF faeries onsite. It was fortunate that a large contingent of the Fey from the Tennessee Renaissance Festival chose to visit GARF that weekend or the enchanting presence of the Sidhe would've been truly sparse, indeed! As I understand it, the cutbacks in the Faerie Court apparently coincided with a reduction in the GARF Festival Season from a Spring/Fall show (seven weekends in the Spring with another seven in the Fall) to a Spring Festival, only. Considering how much fun an active Faerie Court -- such as that at the Texas Renaissance Festival -- can be, it was a sore disappointment for me to drive 15 hours straight from Houston only to learn that the GARF Faerie Court was no more!!! On the other hand, it was both a pleasant surprise and an unexpected pleasure to find that my merchant friend from the Louisiana Renaissance Festival, Ron Haring, had a sales cart across from the Brewer's Pub at GARF (Photo, Right: Ron displaying his wares: hunting and drinking horns!). Actually, it shouldn't've been all that surprising to me, considering that he lives only a few hours away in the Carolinas, making GARF a "local" faire for him. Still, faire is always more fun when you share it with friends! So this weekend I hung out with Ron a bit, enjoying his road stories and sharing the usual faire gossip when he wasn't hawking his wares to passing patrons. It also didn't hurt that Ron -- being a GARF veteran -- knew the best values at the nearby Camelot Food Court! He graciously introduced me to two lovely lasses (Photo, Below), who made sure I didn't go hungry during my visit. These ladies were most friendly and helpful, not only suggesting menu items which were both inexpensive and tasty, but they were also willing to chat awhile when business was slack. A most gracious bow to both of them for making my brief visit to GARF all that more enjoyable!!!




        GALLERIES


        VIEWS of the Georgia Renaissance Festival 2003 -- Twelve views of shops, buildings and towers at GARF2003.


        COSTUMES and CHARACTERS at the Georgia Renaissance Festival 2003 -- Twelve views of wond'rous garb and interesting characters at GARF2003.


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        Standard Disclaimer: This webpage is strictly an *Unofficial* look at the Georgia Renaissance Festival held near Atlanta, GA. The author of these pages is in no way, shape, manner or form connected with the Georgia Renaissance Festival (PO Box 986 • Fairburn, Georgia 30213 • 770-964-8575) and/or any of the sponsors associated with this event. All opinions expressed are strictly this author's own. Unless noted otherwise, all photographs are copyright ©2000-2004 by George Laking.

        This page created 24 May 2004
        This page updated 7 July 2004