Halloween, it's about Pumpkins!

I've been saving these photos from my trip 2 weeks ago to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival (aka, KC Ren-Fest). I've never been at Ren-Fest on Halloween, it must be even more fun than other times, but here are some pics from the weekend, which seem fitting for the Halloween weekend. (You can always click on the photos to enlarge them if you want to see more detail).

Real pumpkins, carved into very creative jack-o-lanterns.

KC Ren-Fest is all about costumes and fun. My friend, T'ger (who you may recall gave me a kidney 5 years ago and saved my life) is a costumer by trade. He makes and sells coats, tights, hats, kilts and all sorts of costumery in his shop, T'Ger Toggs.

That's T'ger in the middle, being silly as usual.

That's T'ger Toggs, below. Even though KC Ren-Fest is huge, like a small city, everyone knows T'ger. His shop is like a community gathering place and many of the staff characters use T'ger's costumes.

Notice the clothes hanging on the line overhead. And the bubbles coming out of the upper corner from the bubble machine.

The princess and the archer in hot debate.

Everyone dresses up for Ren-Fest. This 85 year old princess hasn't outgrown her love of being a princess.

That's Scott, a fireman from Kansas City, who always comes to Ren-Fest and works as a cabbie (Cabroioet), pulling people around the grounds for $5 a ride. He says it's a great workout.

One of the fire dancers entertains the crowd.

The Grand Parade.

A couple of times a day, all of the paid characters of Ren-Fest parade through the entire complex. There are acrobats on stilts, fire eaters, a King and Queen, princes, princesses, gypsies, jugglers, etc.

Lots of dancing gypsies.

People bring their dogs. I don't know why. You probably can't see it, but riding on the dog's back is a dragon in knight's gear. If you click on the photo it will enlarge and you can see.

Plenty of pirates, too.

And long-eared elves, too.

And bad-behaving princes (he ate a bad hotdog).

Lots of children, too. This knight and princess are waiting expectantly for T'ger to fill up the bubble machine. (The bubbles are special, they're filled with "smoke" and so when they're burst, it's even more magical than swatting regular bubbles!)

Yes, there are gardens at KC Ren-Fest, and good ones, too. But they have a hard time competing with thousands of costumed people cavorting through the woodlands at KC Ren-Fest.

Caged Jack-o-lantern.

I didn't grow any pumpkins this year. The drought hit just as the plants were beginning to bloom and no amount of watering could make up for the hot days that prevented the blossoms from setting.

Do something fun for Halloween. Maybe the costumery of Ren-Fest will give you some ideas.

Happy haunting!