Hoggetowne Medieval Faire

This annual festival held at the fairgrounds is a great way to spend an afternoon being outside and being around happy people in costumes. It’s actually a lot of fun especially when your drinking. Plenty of beer being sold here and if you’re hungry, go ahead and get one of those giant fried turkey legs to munch on while you’re checking out all of the kings, queens, lords, friars, knights, princes, princesses, witches, wizards and other noblemen dressed to the nines.

Faire was fine. $ 17 for an adult ticket. The show with the chessboard was cool with some entertaining actors and funny fight scenes. Jousting show was a miss for me. I ate a gyros which was super on point. The small, one man shows were probably the highlight for me. The Medieval Faire is definitely worth checking out for something to do on a weekend if you’ve got nothing going on. If you have to miss it, don’t worry, you’re not missing a lot.

Our Red Hat Sisters, «Feathers R Us» came today in an RV. The festival seems very organized and prepared. Everyone was friendly here today. My friend Karen got Elfin ears today. She looks cute! The lady glued them on and painted them for ger ($ 20.00). They are made out of latex. The lady said come back next year for a re-​painting of the ears. We chatted with a «Juggler» and a man with an owl. I took a picture of Leslie with the owl in her shoulder. The food, coffee, and other foods were good. It cost under twenty dollars to get to get in. I bought in advance on Event Brite ahead of time. It is very cold today, so I am back in the RV WARMING UP FOR A FEW. Brrrrr! Perfect conditions for snow flurries. Overcast, cold and windy. Still having a great time anyway. If you have never been before, you need to consider coming next year. Dress up too! Lots of fun and entertainment.

I am not exactly sure what I was expecting when visiting this faire — I guess a ‘more’ medieval theme. I was surprised that after 30 years of running this there wasn’t more medieval backdrops or scenery that they could of used to give it that old world charm. There was plenty of stalls to look at and a variety of medieval themed items for sale (most of them very over priced and not great quality). The one thing we really found lacking was seating — there was just one small tent to sit down and eat in and no other seating available unless you were watching a show. For older people or people just needing a rest from all the walking — it would be nice to have a place a sit. The lines at the food stalls made it very hard to move around as people were blocking the path as they stood waiting in line. We went to watch the jousting but were very disappointed — they had seating on just two sides and not much seating at that and the two sides were the only places you could watch from. I managed to find a small space to stand and some very rude and tall people pushed in front of me completely blocking my view. When I said «excuse me you just blocked my view completely» — they just ignored me completely and as a result I didn’t get to see any of the show. There were many people walking around in costumes including pirates, zombies etc. which seemed a little odd. It was fun to look around but I don’t think it is something I would go back too. We were able to park in the disabled parking area and were very thankful to have this option as the main parking was quite some distance away and would of been to far for me to walk.

This faire is amazing! This was my second year going and I highly recommend it.
It’s held at the alachua county fairgrounds, off of né 39^th Ave. It’s so entertaining to see all of the cool costumes and the various shows and acts they have going on.
There are beautifully hand made crafts, swords, clothing, and of course… Delicious fair food like funnel cakes and turkey legs!!!
This time, I took my kids on the dragon ride, which was definitely the highlight of the trip. It’s this wooden dragon on ropes that swings back and forth. It may sound kinda lame but I promise it was super fun! It’s powered by this amazingly strong guy who pushes it back and forth (really high!!). He even climbed up on the dragon and hung upside down on the rope while it was swinging. Obviously, I’m a bit obsessed with this dragon ride and if I weren’t married with children I would probably run away with the medieval faire carnies and become a resident faerie princess.
Go to the faire! Make sure to ride the dragon and eat a funnel cake!

While the event itself is not particularly interesting (spaced out mostly boring shows), the people watching is fantastic. I’m not sure why they think it is medieval, but this fair draws people dressed in fantasy, cosplay, highland, historical, and more. They all wander around talking loudly in terrible Brittish accents. Grab something deep fried from the midway, a $ 5 pint of beer, and watch and wonder where they all come from.

The Faire was wonderful but parking was really bad. The parking was nothing but a field of cacti. We had to get our tires replacement after parking there. Find a parking nearby that is a pavement. We end up spending more on tires replacement than the tickets to the faire.

I know the NY Ren Faire in Tuxedo is bigger, but I really enjoyed this one so much more. Less crowded and more to do and see! Less obnoxious.
There’s archery (with live targets), bird show, jousting, stuff for kids, lots of interesting vendors… although, if you’re going to sell things that cost multiple hundreds of dollars, wouldn’t you devise a way to take credit cards? I can take credit cards on my iPhone, and it costs me next to nothing. Just a little tip, vendor-​who-​shall-​remain-​nameless.
Parking was close by, lots of food and drink variety and easy to find, drinking tents with «gold» and drinking songs being performed live… overall, I had a great time.

You gotta love the wenches!
The Alachua County Fairgrounds is transformed into a bustling medieval marketplace for the 23^rd Annual Hoggetowne Medieval Faire. Come be swept away by medieval magic as troupes of actors, street performers and musicians journey back to the days of yore on January 24 – 25 & 30 – 31, and February 1, 2009. Revel in the sights and sounds of one of North Central Florida’s premier events.
Join the crowd and cheer for your favorite contender as mounted knight’s joust in full plate armor on the tournament field. Applaud street performers who dance, juggle and jest for your amusement. Listen to minstrels playing period music and enjoy continuous live entertainment on eight stages. Browse through the bustling medieval marketplace for that perfect gift or trinket.
Watch and enjoy as King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table battle the forces of evil in a strategic living chess match, or test your own skills in games of chance, strength and skill. Watch and learn as more than 150 artisans demonstrate their skills in blacksmithing, weaving, leatherworking, woodcarving, pottery and much more. Indulge in a feast fit for a king in our food court, where you can find sweet potato fries, bloomin onions and our famous giant turkey legs.
The Faire is the perfect place to bring even the youngest members of the kingdom. Children delight in visiting the royal pavilion, where they will become lords and ladies of the court of Hoggetowne. Indulge not only your children, but also yourself with rides on a camel, pony or even an elephant. Human-​powered push rides further add to the authentic medieval fun.
Faire hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays & Sundays and 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday. Ad-​mission is $ 12 for adults, $ 6 for children ages 5 – 17 and free for children under 5. On Friday, January 30^th tickets are half price.