Scarborough Renaissance Festival is held on weekends during the months of April and May in Waxahachie Texas. Waxahachie is about 30-40 minutes south of Dallas. This is one of the most interesting family entertainment places that I have ever visited. When you enter the faire grounds you enter another world. The employees as well as many participants dress up in beautiful medieval/renaissance garments. There are trolls, dragons, centaurs, kings, queens, knights, pirates, amazons, belly dancers, fairies, princesses, and many other characters. There is a Castle called the "Yorkshire Tower and Dungeons", and there are hundreds of other special built buildings and booths that create an atmosphere of a Renaissance village or town. The faire has 2,000 employees.

There are a lot of shows to see; for example, falconry, jousting, the "Daniel Duke of Danger" show, comedy shows, and musical performances, story telling, animal shows, and plays. In my opinion the greatest shows is the mud wrestling and the human chess. Human chess is a chess game with people being the chess pieces. However, the pieces fight with swords, axes, knives, and other weapons before they get off the board. A musical show that I would like to recommend is "Cast in Bronze". A musician (dressed in a Venetian costume) plays an organ consisting of bells instead of pipes and it is awesome and unique.

In addition there is hair braiding, body painting, psychic reading, palm reading, tarot reading, and massages. There is also a lot to do for the kids; for example, lots of games and rides, elephant/llama/camel rides, a petting zoo, turtle races, archery, a labyrinth, and much more. There are hundreds of booths where you can buy clothes, costumes, art, toys, jewelry, wood craft, home accessories, musical instruments, weapons, swords, even real Damascus swords ($3,000+). We have, unfortunately, bought a little bit too much here, but with excited kids and an excited wife, what can you do.

Food and drink is also a plus. There are a lot of places to buy food and drink and it is in general good food; turkey legs, sausages, Greek delicacies, Steak on a Stake, pastas, salads, fast food, fresh fruit and pastries. The many pubs also serve domestic and specialty beers, wine, frozen Margaritas, cider and the specially produced Scarborough Mead. Scarborough Faire is thus also a joy for dad.

We have been to Scarborough Faire dozens of times and the kids cannot get enough of it. It is advisable to rent costumes (at the faire) for the younger kids. They will love it. Another special feature you should not miss is the "Grande Parade" at one o clock. Hundreds of dressed up characters and animals parade in a quite interesting parade. The parade is a must see.

The only down side is that Texas can be hot in May and almost everything at the faire is outdoors. It is also a little bit pricey. One day tickets are $20 for adults and children $6.50, a season pass for an adult is $60. However, that is nothing compared to what you are likely to pay when your kids see that cool battle axe or that awesome costume. Despite this I think it is worth its price and I highly recommend it for a day of unusual fun for the family.

I can add that right now (during October) the Park is open for Halloween as the "Screams Halloween Theme Park". Screams is the worlds largest Halloween Theme Park.