Central Coast Renaissance Festival

An Elizabethan-themed renaissance festival on California's Central Coast, built around the court of Queen Elizabeth I and staged over a weekend with a village layout of vendors, food stalls and performance stages. Featured entertainment includes armored combat bouts by Armored Combat Worldwide twice daily, a free-flying falconry show, plays and comedy, and musical acts such as the Merry Wives of Windsor, The Story Wrens, Tea and Strumpets, The Minstrels of Mirule and Wild Thyme Larks, plus street performers. Children's activities include Buccaneer Boot Camp swordsmanship with balloon cutlasses, a play area, games, a pirate treasure hunt and a daily costume contest; Sunday is designated Be A Pirate Day. Costumes are welcome but not required.