July 12 & 13
Opening Festivities
Join us for the kick off of the 2008 season! Fun & Fantasy for All...Imagine the limitless possibilities of being transported in time to an authentic Renaissance Village in 1585...taking a pleasant summer stroll amongst 200 professional actors and stagehands who painstakingly recreate all the sights, sounds and smells in every corner of our 35-acre township of Warwickshire. All this and much more awaits you at the 2008 Sterling Renaissance Festival - New York's premiere Elizabethan experience created to excite and enlighten adults and children of all ages!
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July 19 & 20
Romance Rendezvous
Bring your lover, or maybe find one, at the Romance Rendezvous July 19th and 20th! Nothing is more romantic than a stroll back in time through the cool summer forest of Sterling. As you and your spouse enjoy the sights and sounds of the Festival, join the Renewal of Vows Ceremony happening twice each day and feel "just married" all over again.
Our package includes Festival admission for the couple with a ceremony performed by a Justice of the Peace with the Queen presiding. You’ll also receive a champagne toast, a piece of cake for each person, a goblet for the women and a mug for the men, a marriage certificate and a drink coupon for each person valid for a drink at any Festival Pub.
Reservations are required and space is limited so be sure to register today!
Bring your significant other to one of three Shakespeare plays all about love: "Twelfth Night", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and "Taming of the Shrew". If you're looking for love, a visit to one of the Festival's many exotic delights is sure to inspire romance. Get a tarot reading on love from the druid grove; adorn yourself at the Henna booth; get your hair braided or face painted; wear a hair garland, or a new bodice to attract attention; men can add some dash with a new doublet and boots from our clothiers and leather smiths too. Impress your paramour with a gift of fresh flowers, fine foods, or rare gifts from Festival vendors.
Romance seekers will find lots to do and much to talk about at Festival pubs, stages, and activities, Lords and Ladies can beguile each other all day long at the Sterling Renaissance Festival's Romance Rendezvous. What happens after that is up to you!
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July 26 & 27
Pirate Revel
"Everybody wants to be a Pirate, everybody wants to go to sea!" That's what they will be singing at the Sterling Renaissance Festival's Pirate Revel, on Juy 26th and 27th!
Come in costume and join the Dread Pirate Costume Competition, for children and adults, and win some pirate booty. Kids can attend a Pirate's Punch Party with pirate friends, and adult buccaneers can gather at the Festival pubs for a special mug of Grog as they parlay with the Festival's sea-fairing rogues.
Feast on pirate delicacies stolen from around the world, and fill your sea chests with exotic finery from Festival shops. Every pirate can sing so join in a sea shanty at any of the singing revels that take place throughout the day. Watch swash buckling swordplay on stages and in the lanes, bid on a wench or bloke at a Pirate Auction, and jeer at the Pirate Trails.
All things pirate return to port at the Pirate Revel happening at the Sterling Renaissance Festival, so grab your shipmates and prepare to come aboard, and don't forget your "Arg!"
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August 2 & 3
Celtic Celebration
You'll get a lilt in your kilt if you come to the Sterling Renaissance Festival's Celtic Celebration, happening on August 2nd and 3rd!
Thrill to the sound of a bagpipe band, see traditional Scottish and Irish dancing, cheer athletes as they compete in a Caber Toss Competition and demonstration, and for this weekend only enjoy the return of our favorite Celtic band, Empty Hats! Enjoy Festival musicians, Merry Mischief, Cantiga, Crannog, and others as they showcase their Celtic selections.
Traditional foods of Scotland and Ireland will be featured in Festival food booths, as merchants showcase their Celtic flare. Be sure to stop at the pubs to have a pint of Guinness, the featured beer for the occasion. Kick up your heels and raise a glass at one of the many Celtic sings happening through out the day.
Catch the Celtic mood and lighten your heart at the Celtic Celebration!
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August 9 & 10
Wine Lover's Bacchanal
If you love wine, you won't want to miss the Wine Lovers Bacchanal on August 9 & 10!
A grand selection of Finger Lakes wines will be available at Festival pubs. Join an old fashioned grape stomping competition for the right to be named the Lord or Lady of Wine. Attend a wine tasting with a flight of Finger Lakes wine, a cheese and fruit platter and a talk by a local winemaker.
Enjoy stories and shows devoted to the glorious distillation, hear poems and songs as you travel the Festival!
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August 16 & 17
The Grande Finale
While it’s true that all good things must come to an end, all of us at the Festival look
at our Grande Finale as a special time for you to experience all the richness, pageantry
and fun that can only be found at the Sterling Renaissance Festival. The mood will
certainly be celebratory, as the villagers from 1585 will be relishing (and reliving!)
all the wonderful memories of an exceptional season while looking forward to 2009!
This is the weekend which promises to be one filled with exceptional fun, unbridled hilarity
and merriment as it is the last chance for a whole year to enjoy a repast of many unique
and varied Festival foods, gather fine, hand-crafted wares from many skilled Artisans
and share a toast of your favorite ale to yet another glorious season at the
Sterling Renaissance Festival.
The Grande Finale…the one you must not miss!
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