The perfect time to get away from the stuffiness of school and work might just be on a sunny weekend at Whidbey Island.
Whidbey Island Ren Faire was held from May 23 to 24, starting from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with many activities and vendors to explore while being in elaborate costumes and in character for the time.
This was actually my first ever Ren Faire experience and I was pleasantly surprised by how the event went — compared to Washington’s Midsummer Ren Faire, Whidbey Island’s own is smaller but the event went out of its way to entertain every attendee and provide a fun, engaging experience. I didn’t expect much going in, but there were quite a lot of smaller vendors that showed up with various handcrafted themed items, such as dragon eggs, costumes to rent or purchase and so much more to look through.
Being out this far, Whidbey Island was a beautiful, scenic place for a look into the past: lush forests, vast fields and farmlands. I enjoyed exploring the area despite the long drive to get there, which was over an hour. There was an expected increase of guests this year, especially over Memorial Day weekend, and the event organizers sent multiple emails ahead of time for guests to plan their trip and parking.
Parking filled up super quickly, even though I arrived half an hour earlier. It was very important to plan out my trip there — it saved me a lot of trouble if I needed to run back to the parking lot for the car.
According to the Whidbey News-Times, 15,161 people attended over the weekend. I could definitely see that when I came on Saturday. As soon as the event started, more people came in through the shuttle buses and the space around the vendors became crowded. It became more apparent when I had to line up for food.
Aside from the dense crowd and growing lines, there were many shows to watch and attend. The performers were all passionate and great in providing a fun time for everyone.
I saw “Dungeons & Shakespeare” first thing in the morning. It was a play from the game Dungeons & Dragons, inviting audience members to come up, pick a character, roll the dice and decide the next move. There were a lot of smiles and laughs from the impromptu play.
The highlight of the event was definitely jousting with the Seattle Knights. I came all the way to Whidbey Island for this reason, as I have grown really interested in jousting. Last year, HBO Max released “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” a short series in the same world as “Game of Thrones.” Thanks to the focus on jousting tournaments in the show, it pushed me to go to this event for the first time.
The Seattle Knights performed at 12 p.m. and again at 4 p.m. I saw them both times, one show in the cloudy skies and the other in the bright sun. They came out in all of their teams, each with a respective house, riding on horseback with tall flags blowing in the wind. It was very impressive to see the knights come out to the audience on their horses. I was very interested all the way to the end and it also made me realize how small I am compared to horses. They are so beautiful but so large in person!
Seeing the knights dash so fast to try and knock off the other’s lance was a spectacular show. Every part of the audience cheered loudly and booed when their team didn’t win. It became really immersive and charming to watch everyone get into the show. If it’s up your alley, I would try to at least catch one jousting show.
Thinking about next year, I would love to attend again when it comes back up. There were a few issues that came up, such as the long lines, which took away time to see certain events.
In the future, Whidbey Island Ren Faire might outgrow the area and they would move to another place while improving the spaces. Either way, it’s going to remain at the back of my mind and I am more than excited to see it grow!
