Michigan Renaissance Festival

Michigan Renaissance Festival

August-September for seven consecutive weekends

Visitors who walk through the turreted gates of the annual Renaissance Festival in Holly, Michigan, are made to feel as if they're stepping back into the 16th century. The festival has a permanent, 200-acre site which is set up to resemble a European village. Festival activities, which are designed to entertain and educate, include theater, games, and equestrian events as well as displays and demonstrations of Renaissance crafts and cooking. The entire event, which takes place over seven consecutive weekends beginning in mid-August, is based on the theme of a harvest celebration in which visitors are encouraged to participate. They can try their hand at archery or dueling, sample roasted turkey drumsticks, observe the arts of glassblowing, pewter casting, and blacksmithing, and witness a Tournament of Chivalry in which costumed knights on horseback joust on the gaming field.
The popularity of Renaissance festivals began with their introduction in California during the 1960s. Such events are now held in Detroit, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Kansas, and Largo and Sarasota, Florida, and in many other cities across the country. Attendance at the Holly festival has grown to more than 150,000 since it was first held in 1980.

CONTACTS:
Michigan Renaissance Festival
12600 Dixie Hwy.
Holly, MI 48442
800-601-4848 or 248-634-5552; fax: 248-634-7590
www.michrenfest.com