The Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale, California (Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area)

Looking for something entertaining for a day or a reason to dress up in historic attire? Then the Renaissance Pleasure Faire is just for you. I live in the suburbs of Los Angeles and have always heard of this event, but have never got the chance to actually attend. The main reason being the price; it is $25 a ticket. However, my local Borders bookstore was having a promotion where with a certain dollar amount purchase you would receive two free tickets to this event. I'm a frequent Borders shopper so this was a good deal to me.

The event is held on Saturdays and Sundays for about month (usually in April through May) and occurs every year. The event hosts several vendors including food, accessories, costume rentals, and games. Food booths include specialties such as giant turkey legs, chocolate covered cheesecake sticks (also known as "sin on a stick"), and gelato. Accessories being sold include handmade floral garland headbands, specialty jewelry, swords and shields, and goblets. Games range from archery, dart throwing, shooting, and tomato throwing (you get to hurl tomatoes at a guy who yells insults at you). There are also kid-themed games and crafts such as basket weaving and turtle racing.

There are also comedic shows and musical performances based on that time era. Keep in mind that most of the shows are considered PG, some PG-13, and a few are even rated NC-17. The shows rated at NC-17 are kept to one stage only and parents are forewarned prior to entering that area. I attended a few of the PG rated comedic shows and they were pretty entertaining. My all time favorite event was the Jousting performance. It featured 4 knights fighting "to the death" and was filled with good stunts and was an overall a thrilling experience.

A few things to keep in mind the site where the actual event is held is pretty dusty, I would suggest wearing opened toed shoes (so you can just rinse off with water) because your regular tennis shoes will get dirty inside and out. Also, many of the women and men who work there are dressed in costumes to resemble the time era, so some of the costumes can be somewhat risqué. Also, a lot of attendees also dress up for the event, and there are a few who don't choose to dress appropriately for the time era or for the event in general. Also, parking costs $10. For those who think they'll just park outside and walk in to avoid paying the parking fee, it's doable, but I wouldn't recommend it. My friend and I tried doing that and it is a very long walk in.