Written by Debbie Brown
Photographs © Robert Gary and Denise Gary
The sun rose slowly over the desert. The air was quiet and still – well, except for the clanking of goblets and the sound of pirate-speak. The Arizona Renaissance Festival is one awesome experience!
From the stunning costumes of the actors and cast, to the quaint buildings lining the streets, there were so many sights and sounds to tantalize the senses!
This particular weekend was Pirate Invasion Weekend and boy did they shiver our timbers!
And the food . . . AMAZING!
The festival was kind enough to host a book drive for Kids Need to Read on this very special weekend. We collected an astounding 344 books and had a festive time doing so!
It was so rewarding to see how proud and excited the kids were when they handed us the books they had brought to donate to KNTR.
Their smiles warmed our hearts.
The kids received KNTR backpacks . . .
Highlights and Highlights High Five magazines . . .
KNTR bookmarks . . .
and KNTR buttons!
The faire attendees really embraced Kids Need to Read. The outpouring of support humbled us. Days like this sure don’t seem like work!
We have many KNTR volunteers who are Reni’s (Renaissance Festival players), and they went out of their way to show us some love.
Many of the tents and fences were decked out in ribbons of Kids Need to Read colors. It was fun to walk around and see the tributes!
I know our volunteers that worked inside the faire got a big kick out of seeing all of the Kids Need to Read backpacks the kids were wearing! It was such a fun weekend for all of us.
The faire staff members were wonderful! They checked in on us throughout the weekend to be sure we had everything we needed and were so supportive of our mission. When a hail storm hit us, they all came running to help hold the tent down! What gracious and inviting hosts . . . although the swords were a bit much. . . .
Kids Need to Read would like to thank the Arizona Renaissance Festival for their support and warm welcome! We are looking forward to many more years of partnership and fun! HUZZAH!!
See more pictures in the KNTR Arizona Renaissance Festival 2011 Photo Gallery.
