Jiffer Kalinski

Review of Maryland Rennisance Festival

I've been coming to the Maryland Renaissance Festi...

I've been coming to the Maryland Renaissance Festival for over 10 years. I'm a regular and usually get either a 6 day pass or a Fairever pass. Several years ago, they made a new ruling that bands performing there can't use electronics such as a keyboard which kept many bands away. Then they put bands like Albannach (Scottish pipe and drum) on an open stage and they have to play rain or shine. Their drums get damaged in the rain so they will take gigs elsewhere instead of coming here anymore. And now this year, they have taken away pub sing at the white hart. This is a tradition where all the bands that played during the day come together and one by one they play one song with everyone singing along. We would finish the night with Wild Mountain Thyme and then there would be a cannon blast signaling it's time to go. It's like management wants to make it more about families that may or may not come once a year, and less about families that come every weekend. All they're doing is driving away patrons that made Maryland the second largest faire in the country and sending us to Pennsylvania Faire.