The

Renaissance Festival comes to the area twice a year. Your

favorite performers and vendors return each spring and

fall to give you that 16th century English Country Faire

feel. When the festival starts up again this Saturday,

there will be some new acts to tickle your funny bone and

thrill you, as well as several updates to some of your

favorite shows and attractions.

Great Cats

of the World comes back to the festival with a few new

friends. The cats come courtesy of the Center for

Endangered Cats in Minnesota and illustrate the beauty of

large jungle cats. The new cats this fall include a black

leopard, a spotted leopard, a serval, a baby lion, and an

Indochinese Tiger. The cats, as always, will be on stage

with no cage.

Mordred's

Haunted Castle also returns to the fairgrounds this fall,

but this time with $50,000 worth of additions. The castle

now includes Pirate's Plunder. In the old days, Kings

truly feared the attack of greedy, bloodthirsty pirates.

As you walk through the castle, it gets attacked by some

pirates during a storm. There is a great possibility that

you will get wet, as cannon fire erupts on all sides.

There are

also several new shows at the festival. In Battle Chess,

the game gets a tad more exciting as warriors duel each

other with assorted weaponry. Audience members are

matched up with festival characters in battle of

weaponry, wits, and skill. Another new show is Peasant's

Court, a hilarious show likened to Judge Judy meets the

Renaissance. There will also be performances by Danger

Slash, featuring Slash of Hack and Slash, Shakespeare's

Chicken, The Lost Boys, Robin Hood and his Merry Men,

and, of course, the lovely kissing wenches.

There are

over 100 shows daily at the Renaissance Festival, which

was just named one of the top 100 best events in North

America by the American Bus Association. It is the only

event in Georgia to make that list.There is truly

something for everybody - shopping for Grandmother and

pseudo-jousting for Dad and the kids.

There are

discount tickets available at the customer service

counter at Publix, and good deals all around. You can

purchase two for one tickets until Oct. 3 for $12.95 or

get discounted adult tickets for $12 until Nov. 7.The

Renaissance Festival starts this Saturday, Oct. 2 and

will run through Nov. 7. The hours are from 10:30 a.m.-6

p.m., rain or shine. The fairgrounds are located on Hwy.

74, just past the I-85 exit in Fairburn.

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