If you live in New England, I’m sure you’ve heard of or seen signs for King Richard’s Faire in Carver Massachusetts.  I’m embarrassed to say that as I’ve always known about it, I had never been until recently.   My husband mentioned going earlier this fall and I was totally on board because we both knew the girls would enjoy it.  And we were right! We had a really fun day.

King Richard’s Faire is New England’s largest and longest-running Renaissance Festival. It opened its 2013 season on August 31st and runs weekends and Monday holidays through October 20, 2013. It’s tucked away on 80 acres of enchanted forest in Carver, MA and King Richard’s Faire is a full day of live, interactive entertainment for all ages and is open from 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekends and Monday holidays (Labor Day, Columbus Day).

This weekend coming up your last chance to attend this year as it closes for the season on Sunday, October 20, 2013.   It really is a family filled fun day with lots of shows, activities and tons of ‘scenery’ for everyone.   The ladies are all dressed as wench’s and while they may look pretty, they look a little uncomfortable to me!  Not sure I’d want to wear one of those outfits but there are a lot of people who attended the faire all decked out as well.

It’s set in the woods, which is appropriate for the setting of a Renaissance Festival.   It’s very picturesque too!

We arrived just in time for the King’s Jousting contest.  There were 4 knights and depending on where you were watching from, you are assigned a knight. This was our Knight.  They all played a part and acted out their personality.  Our knight didn’t win but he tried.  I loved the white horse he rode – isn’t it beautiful?

The girls loved the floral headpieces there were selling and really wanted one so we decided to get them each one.  They range in sizes, flowers and prices as well.  These were $12 each but are made really well  so they will last.   The next day they went to school my little one wanted to wear it!

I even put the floral headpiece on.  I thought it was so pretty and loved how it looked on the girls.  Lots of older people were wearing them too.

They have the biggest slide we’ve ever seen.  Not big because of how long it was but because how wide it was!  My little one looked even smaller than she is on this!  It was pretty cool.  We had to pay $2 for her to go through the giant maze and then slide down the giant slide.

This guy was great.  He juggled fire while he was on top of that ball!!!  It was cool and I know that this stuff can be done but it’s just so cool to watch.  And he was  hilarious to boot.  Loved this show the best and I’d watch him again because he was that good!  I’m guessing that they guys don’t get paid for their performances because each one of them begs (seriously they beg) for tips at the end of the show.   That part I didn’t really like.

There were some beautiful tigers there too.  I think they were babies because they were so playful together and we watched them for the longest time.  They were beautiful and I wish we could take one home as a pet!   The Tiger above is trying to sneak up on his ‘sibling’ and it was so fun to watch.

We had the opportunity to try our hand at shooting a bow & arrow!  My little one caught on really fast as to how to hold it, but she needed my help to pull it back because after all this was a real bow and arrow so it wasn’t easy to use.   I wish I had my own set of arrows to shot, but since they gave us plenty she was more than happy to share with me.  We did have to pay to do this and since my husband paid I can’t remember how much it was.

Holly had a lot of trouble getting the arrow on the bow and I think by the time she was on her last one, she got it!  But it was fun trying.   And we may never get a chance to do this again.  They loved it and now we can all say we’ve shot a real bow and arrow.

And of course there was a man men who eats fire.    This was a cool show even though I’ve seen other fire eating shows, I just really liked him.  But towards the end of his act he starts telling us he is going to put a nail through his nose and that was when my oldest and I left.   My husband and the little one stayed behind to watch but I didn’t want anything to do with that.  He said it wasn’t bad and of course it’s all for entrainment purposes, but still I couldn’t watch it.

There were other shows and we ended up spending close to 5 hours there.  We took our time, watched the shows, browsed the crafts, had something to eat and walked through all the little stores they had.  There was more than enough to do there and we loved it all.

You can not bring any food or drinks into the faire so you will have to purchase your food so be prepared to dish out some money.   They make you buy tickets and then the tickets can be used to purchase the food.  The food wasn’t very cheap but everything we got tasted really good so it was worth the price.  One thing I had since I am trying to eat healthy, was a salad and I was very impressed with the size and quality of it.  I believe it cost me $7 in the end so a little pricey in my opinion but at least it was good.

It definitely wasn’t a cheap day but considering we spent so much time there, it was worth our money.  We had a fun family day and that’s what counted.   My husband and I fit things like this into our budget as family fun time.  But don’t go and expect to not spend any money besides admission because you’ll at least have to eat.  And perhaps get at least one beer from the beautiful (or beautiful to look at) wench’s!

Disclosure: I received Free Tickets to attend this event for review. My opinions are 100% mine.