Ye olde medieval bash Renaissance Faire completes magical spring season at Escondido’s Felicita Park

By Samantha Nelson ESCONDIDO

— Thousands flocked to Felicita Park over the last few weekends to see knights, pirates, queens, fairies and more magical wonders at the biannual Escondido Renaissance Faire.

The fair wrapped up another successful spring season as attendance continues to grow each year following the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns a few years ago.

Produced by Olde Tyme Productions Inc., the Escondido Renaissance Faire has been taking visitors back to medieval times for more than 20 years.

The fair returns to Escondido twice each year for two weekends in the spring and two more weekends in the fall. This recently completed fair was at Felicita Park the last weekend of

April and first weekend of May.

The multiple guilds of volunteer entertainers that make up the festival helped transport guests back to the 16th century Elizabethan Era and beyond. Described as a Renaissance Faire with a pirate flair, guilds of swashbucklers and buccaneers also joined the fun, offering clever pirate names to anyone who wanted to join.

Guests could participate in treasure hunts and archery lessons, enjoy turkey legs and mead, shop for handcrafted weapons, clothing and other trinkets, and watch as knights clashed in jousting tournaments.

“It’s a really nice event,” promoter Richard Pavia said. “It’s worth it to see the kids’ smiles when they see a knight in shining armor or a queen for the first time — you can’t beat it.”

According to Pavia, the fair brings in $60,000 annually for the San Diego County Parks and Recreation division and hundreds of thousands of dollars to the city of Escondido in terms of visitor spending at local restaurants and shops. Organizers also donate thousands of dollars to the Escondido Chamber of Commerce each year as well. The fair will return this fall for another two weekends of magical, medieval festivities.

In addition to the Escondido Renaissance Faire, Old Tyme Productions runs the High Desert Pirate Faire with a Renaissance flair in Hesperia. The company purchased that fair last year and has big plans for it going forward.