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The Battalion
Tuesday, October 9,195: T
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Carol Shannon, one of the more popular attractions at the Re
naissance Festival, demonstrates to the audience why she
earned the nickname “Boss Belly.”
Texas Renaissance Festival
1990
Sir Garrett Winston, the white knight, stabs Wolfgang Von Huber, the evil black knight, with his lance during the jousting match.
Each October, over 50 acres in the
middle of Plantersville becomes
home to the Texas Renaissance Fes
tival, a convention of hundreds of
entertainers, musicians, food ven
dors and artisans, all looking as if
they had been plucked right out of
the days of Henry VIII.
Everything about the festival has
been part of an attempt to repro
duce a Renaissance European vil
lage.
For instance, you can’t walk
through the festival grounds and not
hear the distinctive musical
sounds
of years gone by.
The Gypsy
Guerilla Band is a
group of four
musicians who
perform on pe
riod instruments
such as the
chorded zither
and the ham
mered dulcimer
to the tune of Re
naissance, mod
ern American,
and traditional ;
Irish folk songs.
Joyce Lillquist,
who plays the
chorded zither,
refers to their
musical style as
“Renaissance aer
obics.”
Donald and Terry
The three mud beggars, who call
their comic routine “The Greatest
Show In Earth,” throw, wallow in,
and eat mud to the delight of festi
val-goers.
“Everybody eats dirt metaphori
cally,” Von Billy said. “We do it liter
ally and skip the middle man.”
Other entertainment events at the
festival include Merlin the Magician,
the King’s Royal Falconer, belly
dancers, swordfighting, jugglers,
play performances and numerous
other attractions.
Food and drink at the Texas Re
naissance Festival
are an attraction
in themselves.
The nearly 50
food booths at
the festival serve
everything from
period delicacies
such as turkey
legs and apple
dumplings to
more modern
fare such as pizza
and frozen yo
gurt.
To beat the
early-October
heat, beer is a
popular thirst-
quencher.
Kim Fread, a
worker in one of
the many beer
stands on the
Hinely, two
brothers from Denton, Texas, com
prise the musical duo Glasnost,
named for the semi-filled water
glasses Terri plays to the accompani
ment of Donald’s guitar and vocals.
Other forms of entertainment in
clude the ever-popular jousting
event, held three times daily to near
capacity crowds.
Following the grand entrance of
King Henry VII and his court, the
jousters compete for the favor of
alovely wench.
Navasota resident Mark Shim-
shack, the evil knight, said he prac
tices every other day during the year
to avoid any injury during the actual
performance.
Another crowd-pleaser at the fes
tival are The Sturdy Mud Eating
Beggars, Billy Billy Von Billy, Simon
LeSlime, and Spiny Nodules.
grounds, says her booth sells about
2,000 glasses of beer each day.
The Renaissance festival is also
home to over 250 artisans, most of
whom specialize in unusual arts and
crafts items. Pottery, stained glass,
musical instruments, toys, period
hats and clothing, jewelry, hand-
blown glass, leather, herbs, crystals,
metalworks and wind chimes are a
few examples of the multitude of
items for sale.
The Texas Renaissance Festival is
open from 9 a.m. to dusk every Sat
urday and Sunday through Nov. 18.
The festival is about a 40-minute
drive from College Station. To get
there, take Highway 6 to Navasota,
go east on Highway 105, then turn
right onto Farm Road 1774, which
will lead you directly to the festival.
For more information call 1-800-
458-3435.
Above: The ‘Red Knight’ takes a swing at Wolfgang Von Huber, the black knight, in hand to hand
combat during the jousting match.
Above left: To the delight of children and adults alike, ‘Goth the Berzerker’ (Wayne Tiny’ Par
sons), grunts and snorts his way through the crowd.
Story by John Mabry
Photos by Sondra Robbins
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