If you take me to an amusement park or attraction, I will always want to see any shows or acts involving animals first. This past weekend was my first time attending the Arizona Renaissance Festival in over ten years, and I was in awe of their expansion as well as the number of shows involving animals.
Not only do they have the original shows of jousting involving numerous well-trained horses, but they now also have birds of prey, multiple dogs at the event, elephants, and camels!
One of the Jousting Horses heading back to his stall. Image from AZ Ren Fest Facebook page (here).
I love how confident and powerful these horses look. Image from AZ Ren Fest Facebook (here).
The horses are incredible well adjusted in order to be able to handle the commotion of the AZ Renaissance Festival. I’m sure countless people attend this event not recognizing how incredible it is for these animals to handle the noise, colors, and unpredictable stimulus that this event brings. Very impressive.
A horse pulling a wagon. Not impressed? You should be! Photo from AZ Ren Fest Facebook (here).
The Birds of Prey show was fascinating and intimidating. I am not ashamed to admit that the one animal I am not comfortable around are birds. I was not only impressed with the number of birds these trainers had, but also the fact that they could have more than one out at the same time. Again, the birds handled a huge amount of stimulus including a loud speaker, a large audience, and even food distraction (though the handlers did warn us to get rid of our food before the vultures came out…haha).
The variety of birds in this Ren Fest show was incredible! And many of them were re-hab situations. Photo from AZ Ren Fest Facebook (here).
Last but not least were the dogs of the AZ Renaissance Festival. These dogs did not have a show themselves, but were a part of the atmosphere or the street performers. Every year there are many Greyhounds in attendance, and while they are definitely a good fit for the Renaissance Festival, they also promote Greyhound rescue.
There is also an adorable Border Collie who works hard earning his owner tips by showing off his trick of holding a sign (despite the crowds and distractions). His owner has even taught him to hold his sign on his nose on hot days so he can pant. As someone who teaches all my dogs this trick, it was fun to see it in use at such a large event!
This dog was raking in the cash for his owner. I love training my dogs this trick too! Photo from AZ Ren Fest Facebook (here).
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the AZ Renaissance Festival and would definitely recommend it to others.
Have you attended a Renaissance Festival in your area? What did you think?
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