Michiana renaissance festival is bringing out mediaeval creativity from the community 

SAINT JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind—Aug. 23 marks the beginning of the 13th annual Michiana Renaissance Festival. Vendors are selling food and crafts along with many re-enactments shows happening on the grounds.  

Many people look forward to dressing up and feeling like they are living in a different era. This festival is in honor of Queen Eleanor with the theme surrounding the Renaissance era. The grounds have four different areas the Medieval Renaissance space, the golden age of piracy, the time of the Vikings and fairytale story land all with their own exclusive shops, exhibits, and shows.  

For Ryker Whitacre who went to the festival this fair showcase some of his family lineage. “They're selling some authentic Viking stuff, and I come from Viking lineage myself so that is really cool.” 

 Another major part of the festival is the vendor shops, with many locally made crafts and merchandise that surrounds these eras. One of the vendors ‘Under the Mushroom’ makes many of their products by hand.  

Tanya Clark, one of the owners of ‘Under The Mushroom’ says, “you see a little bit of everything, and we do all the leather work by hand. I do the hats, make potions, and make the jewelry.” 

This was Clarks first year at the Michiana Festival but not her first Ren Fair. "We've been doing fairs for probably, oh gosh, about 15 years now, and so we do time period clothing for the most part, but we get really bored easily.”   

The spark of her ownership comes from visiting ren fairs and seeing the products other people were selling. Clark explains, “we see something, we're like, Oh, I really. But you know what? It'd be better if it was like this.” 

Vendors are one of the key parts of the festival, and for some it's the best part of this two-day fair. Alyssa Korsmo, a festival goer says, “talking to all the like vendors, like they just are so creative with what they do, and they love talking about their stuff. And I think just hearing that is so cool.”   

The festival will go through Aug 24. From 10 AM to 6 PM. Tickets are available online or in person. To find the calendar of events visit.