Last week, the King of the Texas Renaissance Festival and his entourage visited the My Table offices here in Montrose to deliver trays of faire-worthy fare. There were brownies, cookies, chocolate-covered strawberries, pierogies (who knew?), gyros, meatballs, sausages on sticks and that most essential festival food, turkey legs.
Most importantly, the King wanted to enlist our help in making sure our readers know that the 2016 festival begins tomorrow, Saturday, October 8.
His Grace (aka Greg Taylor) has ruled the Texas Renaissance Festival for 18 years, first ascending the throne in 1998. A visit from the King himself is a rare honor, so we took the opportunity to pepper him with as many nosy questions as we could. Read on to find out some of his favorite activities at the Texas Renaissance Festival and, most importantly, his food and drink recommendations.
What is your favorite food at the Texas Renaissance Festival?
I absolutely adore turkey legs and I like the steak-on-a-stick. I’ve grown quite partial to the sausage, and then the sweets – oh, I just like it all! I really do. I’ve eaten it all. I’ve tried everything they have out there and I have yet to not eat it twice.
The festival has a different theme every week. What’s your favorite?
I like All Hallows’ Eve a lot, but my absolute favorite is the Celtic Christmas following Thanksgiving. That’s our final weekend, and it’s three days: Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I have a beautiful outfit that I wear and I get to sit with the children and find out what they want for Christmas. Anytime I get to actually sit down and visit with people, I really love it.
What’s your secret to not getting hot in that heavy finery that you wear?
I ignore it. The best thing to do is if you engage with your patrons – meet people and play – you forget about it.
The Renaissance Festival has some special wines to help you cool off, right?
Oh, absolutely. One of the festival’s biggest sponsors is Messina Hof. We have their full selection of wines out there, and they’ve made a few just for us. There’s the King’s Red and several whites that they’ve made. Their ports are to absolutely die for. The tawny port is very nice. I love that.
If you could only pick one dessert at the Texas Renaissance Festival, what would you have?
Well, I like funnel cakes a lot, and The Queen’s Pantry [the onsite bakery], but I’ll be honest with you. I’ll go to the King’s Feast, which is in the King’s Arms Feast Hall by the Merchant Prince. We have a six-course meal, and he always makes me a splendid dessert. Every year, it’s something new, so I can’t wait to get there this year and see what he’s made me.
For people who have never been to the Texas Renaissance Festival before, what should they know?
They should know they are about to have an absolutely wonderful time because they’re going to leave the city, come to the country – the festival is located northwest of Houston near Magnolia – and step into 60 acres of a Renaissance village that we’ve worked very hard to make beautiful. All the grounds and gardens are landscaped.
So, be prepared to step into another time and place. Prepare yourself to be enchanted and taken away from the doldrums of your 40-hour workweek or whatever. Everyone who visits can become a king or a queen. Perhaps you’ll find a costume. Some visit and suddenly try on a kilt for the first time – or some barbarian armor.
We have entertainers from all over the world. We have eight main stages as well as several gazebos and performers who play out in the path. There’s Ded Bob, The Sturdy Beggars and jousting. There are four jousts a day – full contact on horses. There’s Sound and Fury, a wonderful Shakespeare spoof show.
My favorite thing is all the musicans we have out there. They’re constantly playing on the gazebo and on the path. You can have a great time at one of the pubs, like the Sea Devil Pub. You can stand out there and listen to The Pirates sing and have a great time.
Or you can walk through our Magic Garden. It’s quiet and next to a little creek. There are these little sacred chapels we set up with different flowers and such. We just added Queen Titania’s Bower out there, a stage where there will be music all the time.
You mentioned pubs. Does that mean there is craft beer to be found?
Indeed there is: Brigadoon Brewery. On our opening weekend, which is also Octoberfest, Brigadoon Brewery will bring their Autumn Ale and open it for the whole season.