Michigan Renaissance Festival Retrospective

Begun in 1979 in Clarkston Michigan on the grounds of The Columbiere Center, by 1985 the growth and popularity of the event caused it to be relocated to its present location in Holy Michigan.  Later a jousting field and interactive entertainments were added on 16 stages with a full cast of over 150 from around the country as well as some from abroad.

 Today, over 195 artisans offer their wears with the season composed of "theamed" weekends beginning in middle August and climaxing at September's end.  The gate plus food and other sales grosses several millions of dollars for the Michigan Renaissance Festival Corporation.  Though the festival can be and most often is great family fun, make no mistake, the festival is also big business.  To their credit, they are very philanthropic.  According to Michigan State Governor Granholm: "They conduct food drives for local shelters, donate proceeds (this can meal all or a portion) of their "Bike Run" to Harvest House, providing support and services to the Muscular Dystrophy Camp in Genesee County, woman's shelters, and local hospitals, including an annual visit to the children at Hurley Hospital in Flint."

 As a journalist, my goal was to track the experience of an average family of three for a day at the festival.

Later on in the day they each had a turkey leg for lunch.  These were selling for $5.75 each…17.25… add in three more bottles of soda to wash it down…$9.00.  Now if my math is right, dad has already shelled out $85.10.  Later the boy wanted some Kettle-corn… another $5.00 and the total is at $90.10 with no rides, no arrow shooting, henna tattoos, gifts to remember the day, or tips… yes tips… to the performers. If you are beginning to think that this is an expensive day for the family I think your right!  Especially with gasoline at or around $3.00 a gallon for transportation, it can be very expensive. 

Meeting them within the festival grounds, I first discovered that at the gait they had paid $17.95 each for mom and dad as well as $8.95 for their 11 year old son.  While advance tickets are available cheaper they had decided to see what the whether would be like before committing themselves to attending.  That’s $44.85 for a family of three to get in the door!  Once inside dad decided that since he was going to be there all day and it was warm, he would like a glass of beer… that turned into two glasses at $4.50 each or $9.00.  Mom and the boy wanted a bottle of soda each at $3.00.  Dad's wallet was now $58.85 lighter than when he left the house.

Then there is the condition of the footpaths and the village itself.  I don't know how many years it has been since wood chips were spread upon the footpaths but I can tell you that there were times you had to close your eyes because of the amount of dust raised by foot-traffic and the slightest breeze.  It was impossible to eat without a film of dirt forming upon your food.  In fact, we were surprised that the board of health let them stay open under such conditions. Some say that the use of woodchips is a fire hazard because of smoking.  I say that like many other affairs there ought to be designated smoking areas, eliminating the problem of fire.   The increased hygienic atmosphere in and around the food-stands, lack of dust on the footpaths and general increased cleanliness of the shops would be more than worth the smoker's sacrifice. 

On the positive side, the people that work there seemed to be genuinely interested in the enjoyment of the patrons.  The family that I tracked said they liked the general ambiance and particularly the hand-driven rides for the children but were put off by the prices in the shops.  They particularly liked the falconry display put on in the arena and thrilled at the speed and maneuvers of the falcons and hawks as well as the in-depth knowledge of the falconer.

They liked the joust, but the Falconer won hands down in their opinion.

Though the costuming has slipped a bit from the original 16^th Century village intent of the Renaissance Festival of 1979 to include the early to middle18^th Century as well in 2007, it is probably not generally perceived by today's mass audience that seems enamored more with pirates and swashbucklers with decks awash than Arthur and Camelot or the reign of Henry the eighth.

 Retrospectively speaking, the Michigan Renaissance Festival can be, and is, a lot of fun to attend but there is much that needs to be done to improve the facility, the quality of experience of the patron, as well as make it more affordable for the average Michigan family.

Perhaps they will do better next year.