00:00Welcome to Holly Grove. I'm Danielle Flynn for Rock and Road Trips at the Michigan Renaissance
00:03Festival in Holly. This Michigan tradition started back in 1979 in the village of Clarkston. About
00:0911,000 people showed up over five weekends. A few years later, the RenFest got its permanent home
00:14on Dixie Highway in Holly. The Michigan Renaissance Festival has grown into a massive
00:19annual tradition with a 16th century village filled with performers, food, shops, and some
00:24seriously committed costumes. There are more than 150 artisans, musicians, magicians, comedy
00:31shows, and of course, the full contact armored joust. Every weekend gets its own theme from
00:36pirates and pups to Viking invasion to sweet endings. The festival runs for seven weekends
00:41plus Labor Day. Grab a turkey leg, raise a glass, and don't worry if you don't own a corset
00:46or chain mail. Costumes are encouraged, but certainly not required. Side note, the bathroom
00:51facilities in 16th century England were referred to as the privy because only the privileged
00:56people had access to any kind of bathroom. Everyone else had to figure it out. The first
01:02festival happened nearly 50 years ago. The festival has grown exponentially in size and numbers.
01:08Today, roughly a quarter of a million people make the trip every year. I've been attending
01:14the Michigan Renaissance Festival since the early 90s, and I love that they have awesome entertainment
01:18for the kids. The kids' realm is huge and magical, and every year it gets even better.
01:23If they are gores with those little knights and princesses in tow, you're going to find plenty
01:27designed just for the kids. The kids' realm has puppet shows, fairy tales, and tea, children's
01:33costumes, a pie-eating contest, a night ceremony, and kids can make their own magic wands in the
01:39wizard wand workshop. Outside the kids' realm, the kids can also catch live shows, watch armored
01:44knights' joust. Try Renaissance games or get a face painting or a henna tattoo. Fun fact,
01:50kids four and under get into the festival for free. One of my favorite things about the
01:54Renaissance Festival is the potential to get messed with. You can arrest your friends and
01:58family members or get insulted by a jester, and you can pay to throw tomatoes at them. If it's
02:03your first time at the Renaissance Festival, don't let Mother Superior know. Then you've got
02:07sword-fighting, comedy, belly dancers, the washing well wenches who have been washing your
02:12dirty laundry since the early 90s. I love these ladies.
02:15La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. You sing la-la because the lyrics are naughty.
02:19What? Use your imagination. I'll tell you when you're older.
02:22All right. Dirty Laundry Show, 12, 2, and 4. Whatever's convenient for you, we're going
02:27to be there. We're always at the tub or the pub.
02:30The joust, always a good time. The joust is the real deal, too. Full contact as you cheer
02:34on your favorite knight, or maybe you cheer on his horse, Gilbert. Live music is everywhere,
02:41Celtic, Irish, traditional, and some things that are considerably harder to describe. Feeling
02:45thirsty? There's a pub crawl, King's Happy Hour, and new this year, Hydran's Hall, a Viking-inspired
02:51hall built around mead tasting. Or go all in with the Feast of Fantasy, where dinner comes with
02:57entertainment. You can see why I love it. For rock and road trips, we're live at the Michigan
03:01Renaissance Festival with 94.7 WCSX. The weird, the wild, the wonderful. Rock and road trips
03:08with 94.7 WCSX. This rock and road trip is brought to you by Faygo. This summer,
03:14when you're looking for zero sugar, go with the flavor. Go with Faygo Zero Sugar.
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