The Make-A-Wish Foundation will be bringing 13 year old Makayla to come join us for the VIP treatment at the Great Plains Renaissance Festival!
Makayla was born with severe progressive scoliosis and cerebral palsy. Now 13-years old, she is a bubbly people-person and loves the Renaissance family atmosphere.
When she met with her wish granters, she explained that her one true wish was to have a VIP experience at the Wichita Renaissance Festival. This weekend, that wish will come true, thanks to many community partners who have joined in to share the power of a wish®! Her VIP weekend will start Saturday morning with a make-over at Mary Kate and Company. She will arrive to the festival by limo, where she will be greeted by her Cavalier Pirate escort. The rest of her VIP experience will be revealed to her as the weekend goes on, and it is sure to be a magical experience for everyone involved!
Check back next week for a full story and pictures!
Hi, you probably don’t know me, but I’m the guy who’s behind the scenes, updating the Great Plains Renaissance Festival website, and have been since mid-2009. The site it’s self started way back in 2001 (or, at least that’s as far back as The Internet Archive’s WayBack machine goes – I remember going to the Ren Fests way back when, even the Newman Renaissance Festival back when it was still at thing, but I don’t remember much about the site back then.)
It’s fun to see how things have evolved in the last 15 years of the faire – so, before it gets released in it’s newest incarnation, I thought I’d show just how far it’s come! All the images on here come from The Internet Wayback Machine, part of The Internet Archive. (If you think that Wikipedia is the repository for all human knowledge, consider that Wikipedia is one of the many things that have been indexed and archived by The Internet Archive!  Heck, stop by there and look at the first entry for Wikipedia archive, touting a whopping 8,000 article!  Wikipedia, at the time I write this, has over 4 million articles written in English, and over 35 million pages total.)  The only downside to using The Internet Archive is that sometimes it doesn’t manage to download a copy of all the images involved, so not all of it loaded for the the images I took :-/
One of the interesting landmarks in the while process is the 2009 version of the site – it’s the first time that online tickets were available. Â I believe it was 2010 when we implemented online registration and payment for vendor booth spaces.
So what’s new with this update?
Email Updates
Faster Loading
Better Galleries (everywhere)
Easier Ticket Purchasing
Easier Vendor Signup
Better Menu Structure – find what you want easily
Better FAQ system
Modern Stylization
Better Mobile Optimization
Inclusion of better signup system
Wichita Highland Games Information
Better URL structure
Easier to find Advanced Ticket Locations (For those who don’t buy online)
Submit your own photos to be included in the galleries
Nearly every page of the site will have been touched in one way or another by the time I’m done with the revamp (along with generating quite a few new pages, and deleting some really old stuff that’s no longer needed.) Â At the moment, we’re well over the 50% mark for the revamp. Â Some example areas that still need hit:
Entertainers list (some of them are done, like Joust Evolution, but not many)
Schedule (won’t be updated until the Spring 2015 schedule is ready)
Cosplay Contest
Photo Contest
Videos
Wichita Highland Games Athletic Signup
Wichita Highland Games Clan Signup
Wichita Highland Games Athletic Page (shows what all the events are, for those who’ve never seen the games before!
When you’re at the faire, feel free to stop by and say Hi! Â I’ve got my own little space at the faire – look for the Kansas Authors’ Pavilion on the West side of the faire (well, on Saturday, at least. Â Part of Sunday I’ll be competing in the Wichita Highland Games, doing stuff like throwing weights and my favorite, the caber toss!)
[singlepic id=415 w=320 h=240 float=left]Everyone takes a ton of pictures at every Great Plains Renaissance Festival, and some of them are downright amazing!
So here’s your chance to shine! We’re bringing back the Great Plains Renaissance Festival Photo Contest for the Spring 2013 Ren Fest! And this time, first prize is $50, two free tickets to the Fall Great Plains Renaissance Festival, and of course the glory of winning!
How do you enter? Â Simple: read the entry rules below, and after you’ve been to the Spring 2013 Great Plains Renaissance Festival, pick your favorite photos – up to 12 in total – and we’ll post them on the Facebook Fan Page. Â Yes, we do check them before posting them – some people get funny ideas about what’s appropriate to enter!
You have until Sunday, May 12th, 2013 to enter your photos, so you’ve got just a little bit to clean them up if you like.  Then, on May 19th, 2013, we’ll start the voting process!  Once your photo is posted, be sure to tell your friends about it!  The photo with the most Facebook “likes” wins!  Voting ends Monday, June 2nd, 2013, and the winner will be announced Monday, June 3rd, 2013!
All entries must be the property of the person who submits the photo.
All entries must be from the Spring 2013 Great Plains Renaissance Festival, April 20th & 21st, 2013. Â Entries from other festivals, events, and other years will not be accepted.
The Great Plains Renaissance Festival reserves the right to reject any photo for any reason, including but not limited to: Â inappropriateness, excessively poor quality, photos from other events, and photos from other years.
The Great Plains Renaissance Festival may use or assign your photo for use in any fashion deemed appropriate by The Great Plains Renaissance Festival and / or it’s contractors.
Each person may enter up to twelve (12) photos for the contest, maximum.
Photos must be no larger than 7 MB file size, and must be no smaller than 800 x 600 resolution.
Photos posted, mailed, emailed, or otherwise submitted in any way beside use of the entry form below are considered to be invalid entries.
Prize is based upon Facebook “likes” on the Facebook Fan Page for the Great Plains Renaissance Festival. Â All decisions are based up on that metric only.
The Great Plains Renaissance Festival accepts no responsibility for entry errors, technical errors with Facebook’s technology platform, or other errors that prevent votes to be counted, or an entry to be lost.
All photo contest entries are due in by midnight, Sunday, May 12th, 2013. Â Entries after that point will be rejected.
Voting begins May 19th, 2013, and ends June 2nd, 2013. Â Winner will be announced Monday, June 3rd, 2013.
T-95’s Hank the Mechanic takes a magical trip to the Great Plains Ren Fest, along with pirates, dancers, falconers, knights, and… a walking puppet show? Â You’ve gotta see this!
An artisan making glass jewelry and figurines. I loved all the great artisans there. This fellow was in merchants row with a booth selling his crafts. But there were other artisans there as well, in the SCA Dell and the blacksmiths too. Notice his heat source is a dragon's head.
A Renaissance Wedding. In the SCA Dell. It was so neat that the rings were flown in by a hawk from the Royal Gauntlet. The bishop oversaw the ceremony. The Holy Goats were in attendance.
Young Holly Detrick dances with His Majesty, The King, at the close of the festival on Saturday, April 16. The King bows to his partner and declares, "She danced my spurs off." Sure enough, the spur on his right boot had come loose. Holly had a great time!
This is a picture of my boyfriend and a very nice lady we met at faire on Saturday. He recognized her from KCRF and we stopped and chatted for a bit. As we were leaving, she offered her hand to him to kiss and I couldn't resist getting the picture! This was also his first time in garb and our first time at the Great Plains faire, we had a blast!
This is a picture of my boyfriend and a very nice lady we met at faire on Saturday. He recognized her from KCRF and we stopped and chatted for a bit. As we were leaving, she offered her hand to him to kiss and I couldn't resist getting the picture! This was also his first time in garb and our first time at the Great Plains faire, we had a blast!
On these pages you’ll find the entries for the Spring 2011 Great Plains Renaissance Festival Photo Contest – the brave folks who felt their photos were good enough to show the world! Photo contest entries will be accepted until April 23rd 2011 (EXTENDED – submission deadline is now May 1st, 2011!) – voting will end on May 8th, 2011. You don’t have to be a professional to enter – you’ve just got to have a picture you think is good and worth sharing!
BTW – all of the photos are thumbnails that often don’t show the entire shot, so be sure to click on the photos to see the whole thing!
To vote for your favorites (you can vote for more than one), simple click the Facebook ‘like’ button for that photo!
Delbert and his wife have adopted 6 foster children from the system and one private adoption. They had over 50 foster children through their home. And Delberts son also lived with them. So a house of 8 was a challenge but a great reward today as we all gather and we have 25 around the table. The book is about some of the trials you go through as a foster or adoptive parents and also some testimony back from some of the children and the trials they went through. This book is a quick read and easy read. There is no blame as it is solely our choice as to how we deal with issues in our lives.
The Great Plains Blacksmith Association began in October of 1988, as a group of amateur and professional blacksmiths who wanted to preserve and promote the craft of blacksmithing. Blacksmithing is neither a dead or dying art as many are prone to believe and it is our objective to teach the public, as much as possible, how alive and important the craft is and has been to our society. (more…)
Raiders and warriors, the Clan Macpherson hails from the Highlands of Scotland. Fear not though, the modern members of this ancient Scottish Clan are paying us a visit to share the richness and tradition of not only their own history but that of the ancient Highland way of life. You’ll be amazed at some of the very fine and rare Scottish antiques on display. Come be a Scott, even if your not! This is one group not to miss! (more…)
Tickets to theFall Great Plains Renaissance Festival
September 28th & 29th, 2024
Sedgwick County Park
While Advance Discount Ticket Sales are over, you can still buy tickets at the gate price and move over to the line for people who already bought tickets! Just purchase your tickets here and show them the QR code from the email we send you! (And, if your ticket doesn’t show up quickly: just tell them your name when you get to the front of the line and they can look your tickets up!)
Why mess with tickets you can lose? You’ll receive an email with instructions on how to save or print your ticket. Show your ticket QR Code at the event (you can just show it on your phone , or a printed copy – either will work) and you’re set! Huzzahh! We also do have an option now for us to print and mail them to you, too!
Missing tickets? No problem – with our electronic ticket system we can look you up using the QR Code we provide, or if you don’t have that for some reason, we can look you up by the name and email address you purchased your tickets with!
By purchasing a ticket online or at the event, you are agreeing to our attendance po
Online sales for the Fall 2024 event is over – we’ll see you in spring!
Don’t forget: you’re tickets will come via email, unless you purchase the shipping option.
You’ll receive an email with instructions on how to save or print your ticket. Show your ticket QR Code at the event (you can just show it on your phone , or a printed copy – either will work) and you’re set! Huzzahh!
Now, with our newer system, you are also able to have tickets printed and shipped to you if you like!
Great Plains Renaissance Festival Hold Harmless Agreement
I, being either the owner, authorized agent, or responsible party who is doing business at the Great Plains Renaissance Festival shall indemnify, hold free and harmless, assume liability for and defend the Great Plains Renaissance Festival, RJC LLC / Richard Cathey, their affiliates, agents, servants, employees, volunteers, officers, and directors from any and all costs and expenses including but not limited to: attorney’s fees, reasonable investigative and discovery costs, court costs and all other sums which the Great Plains Renaissance Festival / RJC LLC, Richard Cathey, their affiliates, agents, servants, employees, officers and directors may pay or become obligated to pay on account of any, all and every demand for claim or assertion of liability, or any claim or action founded thereon, arising or alleged to have out of participation / attendance or selling of wares, during the Great Plains Renaissance Festival sponsored by RJC LLC / Richard Cathey, their affiliates, agents, servants, employees, officers and directors or by any act of omission by the Great Plains Renaissance Festival / RJC LLC/ Richard Cathey, their affiliates, agents, servants, employees, officers and directors.
Take a look through the existing photos – just hit "Like" when you find one you want to vote as a favorite picture! The photo with the most Likes by midnight (date to be announced) wins!
You can also enter your own photos into the contest by using the entry form – it’s easy!
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