Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the Georgia Renaissance Festival will open its whimsical 16th century village in Fairburn on Saturday, April 12, for eight weekends through June 1.
Tucked off I-85 about 40 minutes south of downtown Atlanta, a 32-acre wooded site transforms into a mythical village every spring. Each weekend, visitors will cheer on jousting knights, laugh at Shakespearean spoofs, bite into juicy roasted turkey legs and drink beer from Viking horns. Artists will demonstrate their glassblowing skills. Children can learn archery. Elaborate costumes will be worn. Lutes, bagpipes and minstrels will create music with merriment.
Credit: Courtesy of Georgia Renaissance Festival
Credit: Courtesy of Georgia Renaissance Festival
“I’m excited to bring back a few performances that haven’t been seen at the festival in years,” said general manager Dave Dorell, who has been with the festival since he started performing as the village punisher Duncan Flog in 1998.
Dorell, who will retire after this season, said he’s most excited by the return of Hanlon-Lees Action Theater. The theatrical jousting troupe, known as pioneers of the performing art since 1979, has not appeared at the Georgia Renaissance Festival in some two decades, Dorell said. Utilizing shattering lances, fake blood and trained actors, Hanlon-Lees elevates jousting to “a really exciting show,” he said.
A birds of prey demonstration returns this year, showing off the mightiness of falcons, owls, hawks and condors, some of which will swoop closely over audience heads.
Credit: Courtesy of Georgia Renaissance Festival
Credit: Courtesy of Georgia Renaissance Festival
The Tortuga Twins (three brothers comically misnamed) will come back after many years to perform their irreverent, sarcastic retellings of classic fairy tales.
The Cast in Bronze mobile bell machine will also return after a hiatus to serenade crowds. Dozens of giant bells are attached to a trailer and connected to a keyboard, which a musician pounds with his fists to activate the clanging.
“It’s pretty cool to see,” Dorell said, “and the sound is really amazing.”
To celebrate Ren Fest’s 40th anniversary, a towering five-tier cake, built to jiggle and appear to be in danger of toppling over, will be brought out periodically for a skit.
The themed weekends this year include: Viking and barbarian, April 12-13; pet-friendly, April 19-20; highland fling, April 26-27; time-traveler and cosplay, May 3-4; romance, May 10-11; wizard weekend, May 17-18; pirate invasion, May 24-26; and flights of fantasy, May 31-June 1.
Credit: Courtesy of Georgia Renaissance Festival
Credit: Courtesy of Georgia Renaissance Festival
Passing the Torch
As the festival celebrates turning 40, it also bids farewell to festival founder Jack Sias, 80, who sold the operation in February.
When he launched the festival in 1985, Sias made a huge career shift. He had been practicing law in Minnesota when he got a taste of involvement with a small renaissance festival in Maryland.
“It occurred to me that it was a much happier business,” Sias recalled. “I just started gravitating more toward that. It was easier to deal with people smiling than people frowning.”
Back then, Sias also remembers meeting George Coulam, the owner of the Texas Renaissance Festival, who was recently the subject of an HBO docuseries called “Ren Faire.”
“That man got many of us, including myself, started in it,” Sias said. “But we’re totally different types of people.”
In the ‘80s, Sias recalled, renaissance festivals were not yet popular. It was a “hard sell,” he said.
“I used to have people say, ‘Oh, I’m not interested in going out into the middle of the woods in leotards,’ ” Sias remembered. “It was back in the era of the hippies, and the hippies were really the backbone of the festival. They were artisans and interested in a more free-living lifestyle.”
Over time, Sias said he grew to appreciate the culture.
“Matter of fact,” he said, “I used to think maybe they were a little bit crazy. But over the years, I began to think they were the smart ones … For me it was always a business.”
In 1997, Sias moved the festival across I-85 to its current location 15 minutes south of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
“That was a huge endeavor,” he said. “But we were able to pull it off … it’s grown every year since.”
Credit: Courtesy of Georgia Renaissance Festival
Credit: Courtesy of Georgia Renaissance Festival
Sias’ wife, who had a background in food and beverage management, and their children were involved, too. One of their sons, Sias fondly recalls, was in a commercial for the festival chomping on a turkey leg.
With such a long, personal history with the festival, letting go is a big change. But Sias said he was ready to pass the torch.
He sold the festival to Lancelot Entertainment Investment Co., registered in Delaware with executives based in Dallas, Texas. Lancelot also recently acquired several other entertainment assets, including the Edaville Family Theme Park and King Richard’s Faire in Massachusetts.
“These new owners came in and proved to me that they were sincere and they wanted to continue the tradition that we had started,” Sias said. “I’m very comfortable with turning it over to this new younger generation.”
Nick Peterson, one of Lancelot’s managing partners, said he will proudly carry the torch.
“We intend to keep the spirit and legacy of Georgia Renaissance Festival exactly the same,” Peterson said. “If we make any minor changes, it will be only for the benefit of our guest experience. We want to stay true to the culture and community Jack has built.”
If you go
Georgia Renaissance Festival
10:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. April 12-June 1. $16.95-$29.95. 6905 Virlyn B Smith Road, Fairburn. garenfest.com. 770-964-8575.
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