Age Of Chivalry Returns To Las Vegas With Renaissance Festival!

After a two-year $11.7 million renovation, Sunset Park is again host to the Age of Chivalry Renaissance Festival turning back the clock for three days of costumed knights, fair maidens, knaves, wenches, minstrels and more.  The festivities begin on Friday, Oct. 11 and run through Sunday, Oct. 13 at 2601 E Sunset Road. Clark County Parks and Recreation presents the festival in its 20th year with more than 50 shows per day, more than 100 artisans, historical reenactments and plenty of food and drink to satisfy the masses. 

The festival is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10 per day for adults and $5 per day for seniors ages 60 and older and children ages five to 12. Ages four and younger are free. Three-day passes can be purchased for $25 for adults and $10 for children ages five to 12 and seniors ages 60 and older. Combo packs including admission, an event T-shirt and a 18x24 commemorative poster are available for each day of the festival.  Three-day passes are available through Ticketmaster and must be redeemed at the event box office for a wristband Oct. 11, the first day of the fair. Advance tickets are available through Ticketmaster; event box offices will be open at the festival for the same entry fee. Overflow  parking (with free shuttle service) will be made available at Del Sol High School, located at 3100 E. Patrick Lane, Las Vegas, Nev., 89120 on Friday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This year, Wicked Tinkers, Seven Nations and Dread Crew of Oddwood will headline the fair’s main stages as well special stage performances from Killian’s Angels, Lexington Field, Bogtrotters Union and Swagger. 

Pioneers of the growing Tribal Celtic movement, the Wicked Tinkers have been playing haunting, heart-pounding bagpipes and irresistible tribal drums as a professional touring band since 1995. With the addition, several years back, of the mesmerizing drone of the Australian didgeridoo and Bronze Age Irish horn, the magic was complete. Sit back and be transported to an earlier time in Scotland and Ireland, when battle cries filled the air and strange, unheard-of creatures roamed the night. Or better yet, get on your feet and let your body move to ancient rhythms and forgotten sounds.           

The Story of Seven Nations is that of a truly original and determined band based in Orlando, Fla. They have for years booked their own tours and have had their own PBS and CNN specials. Throw away any preconceived notions you may have about Celtic music...this is a band that has invented its own sound and attracted a prodigious national and international following. Seven Nations is not your father’s Celtic band. With a passionate, tender, and rollicking style that winningly veers from roots and folk to dance and fusion-rock, Seven Nations has earned a growing reputation as an adventurous band with a charismatic stage presence. 

The Dread Crew of Oddwood is a pirate-themed band that blends Heavy Metal, Celtic Folk and Progressive Rock with a unique acoustic instrumentation to proclaim a new genre: Heavy Mahogany. Embarking from San Diego in 2008, this bloodthirsty horde has accumulated a commendable cult following in the musical underground of Southern California, and is rapidly gaining infamy throughout the far corners of the world. 

Along with main stage performances, several smaller stages will feature entertainment by Pandora Celtica, Mullaney, Knights of Mayhem, Swagger, Tipsy McKracken, as well as Whiskey Bards, Uffington Horse, and costumed performers such as Adam Reid, Mysto “The Magician”, Lord Rusty, and the Universe of Galileo. The festival presents more than 50 shows per day along with historical re-enactments, jousting tournaments, medieval pageantry and more than 100 artisans – including blacksmiths, stained glass designers, jewelers, wood workers, toy makers, perfume blenders, stone carvers and sword, dagger and armor craftsman – to demonstrate and sell their wares. Authentic food, from fish and chips to an English feast, also will be available as well as beer and ales for adults with proper identification. 

In combination with concerts all weekend, the fair will host a royal parade featuring kings, queens, warriors and peasants on Saturday and Sunday. The festival also offers full-contact jousting tournaments, no-holds-barred gladiator battles, black powder demonstrations, strolling minstrels, contortionists, magicians, storytellers, jokers, jugglers, flame eaters, belly dancers, trained parrots and pirates. Additional attractions include bow and arrow and axe target games, medieval barber and surgeon demonstrations and Renaissance guilds. In the 16th Century Village, German, Italian, Ottoman Turk, French, Celtic, Polish and British military encampments meet on the Field of Honor for battle. 

Knights of Mayhem make their Las Vegas debut at the Age of Chivalry bringing a full-contact professional jousting show that is second to none. For some, it is a real-life passion and thrives outside of the movies and Renaissance fairs. Charlie Andrews leads the Knights of Mayhem, a group of modern-day Lancelots and Galahads dedicated to transforming this medieval sport from a staged act to a professional sports phenomenon that will sweep the globe. For these “knights,” jousting is no dinner show. Donning 130 pounds of steel armor, they mount 2,000-pound horses and charge at each other with solid hemlock lances at speeds up to 30-mph, while peering through a quarter-inch eye slot in their helmets. 

The Boars Head Feaste brings the feeling of the Renaissance alive with a feast complete with live entertainment. Patrons will be entertained by the serving wenches and boisterous, often immature and suggestive, tavern knaves. Cost will range from $25 to $35 per seated guest (in addition to fair admission). Feasting times are scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.  Reservations are suggested and can be made online at www.lvrenfair.com. 

No carry-in food or beverages, pets, lawn chairs or weapons are allowed inside the festival area. Patrons may bring one sealed bottle of water. No unauthorized vending, concessions, merchandise, literature or promotions allowed. Any participants in costume must have all related props or weapons peace tied, or those items will be denied at time of entry. No re-entry is allowed. 

Event sponsors include Clark County Parks and Recreation, Miller Lite, Frias Transportation Management. My LVTV and The CW Las Vegas. Those interested in the Age of Chivalry Renaissance Festival can call (702) 455-8200 or visit the web site at www.lvrenfair.com. Clark County Parks and Recreation also can be found on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook by visiting tinyurl.com/4dfw8ea.                                  

The Sunset Park renovation project started in June 2011 and 75 of the park’s 325 acres have under gone significant improvements. Much of the upgrades occurred around Sunset Lake, including the addition of a walking loop with exercise stations, lake-edge lighting, a new pedestrian plaza, restroom and a remodeled dock for remote-controlled boats. A new  playground features a tree house, swinging bridge and slides that look like petrified logs. The nearby splash pad offers water fun during the community’s hottest months. Picnic spots have new shade structures, and turf areas are more spacious. A new roadway opened in the fall of 2012 to improve access to parking areas and other features in the park. While Sunset Park was being renovated, the Renaissance Festival was held at Clark County’s Silver Bowl Park.