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Royal Medieval Faire

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

A View of the Faire

Every year, Waterloo hosts the "Royal Medieval Faire". After living here for too many years, we figured it was time to go check it out and see what all the fuss was about. We were quite disappointed. The Re-enactment of the Battle of Stoney Creek, a similar type of event, is much more enjoyable as an adult, and much better value.

This isn't to say everyone will be disappointed - I would think that it would be a great place to go as a child. Children 4-7 would probably have the must fun. The disappointment began when we arrived, and discovered there was a $5 admission charge. Although the website does say there is an admission charge (in the "about" section), it isn't well advertised, and we were under the impression it was free.

My $3 sausage

After paying our fee, we proceeded to walk around the festival grounds to see what was available to eat. There was a vendor selling roast turkey drumsticks for $6, but there was a long line, and the vendor sold out of them before the day was finished. I decided to purchase a $3 sausage (a "dragon toe"). There was a distinct lack of food vendors - either you purchased a hamburger/hotdog/sausage, popcorn/cotton candy, or a turkey drumstick.

After lunch, we walked around to see what else the festival contained. The festival had a large number of vendors selling cheap merchandise and useless paraphernalia. There were a few neat vendors (one vendor was selling swords; another was selling chain mail), but everyone else was just selling useless products of questionable quality. I felt like I had paid $5 to give others the opportunity to sell me more things I didn't need.

The highlight of the tournament

Every hour, there was a tournament that took place. Actors dressed up, and used a weak story to give other actors the excuse to "attack" each other with swords. The quality of the actors was incredibly poor - it was clear nobody had any training in fight choreography. A 4-7 year old child likely would have appreciated the combat, but we found it mildly entertaining at best.

The Queen's Stage

We discovered later that the City of Waterloo had a food services booth set up where they were selling hot apple cider, and beer (in The Wild Boar Tavern). There were four women singing outside the tavern, and they were quite talented. They were the most enjoyable part of the festival.

I found it strange that the event cost $5 for adults, and only $2.50 for children. A child likely would have had a great time at the festival - there were many free activities that they could have taken advantage of (such as a trivial maze they could walk through, etc). I left disappointed at the $5 loss and the waste of an afternoon.

Cost

Adults were charged $5, children were charged $2.50