Hear ye! Hear ye! All maidens, knights, wenches and peasants are invited to travel back in time at the Louisiana Renaissance Festival where harps are strummed, turkey legs are eaten and corsets are donned.
The fantastical festival has been running strong since 2000 in its arboreal Hammond location, according to Richard Hight, co-owner of LARF.
Hight said he and his military friend Alvon Brumfield decided to start their own renaissance festival after becoming involved with a similar fest in Arizona.
“My family and I had gotten involved with visiting renaissance festivals, and we had Alvon come up with this idea,” Hight said. “I was approaching retirement from the Air Force and Alvon was about to get out the Air Force at the same time. Well, we were walking around one day, and said, ‘You know, we could do one of these.’”
Hight said the two decided to buy as much land as they could in hopes they would grow into the 100-acre site. He said when they initially opened the festival, they used only a small percentage of the land. Today, the festival has grown considerably.
“I’d say we’re about 10 times larger than we were our first year,” Hight said.
Every year, LARF expands and new features and attractions are added to the now-permanent rustic site.
Some of those attractions include an abundance of merchant shops which peddle a variety of handmade crafts like clothing, jewelry, pottery and glassworks.
Hight said that the festival is fortunate enough to have an experienced glass blower who loves his craft and enthusiastically teaches audiences about the art.
LARF is also home to a plethora of stage shows. According to Hight, it’s impossible to experience all of the stage shows in one day due to the number and conflicting schedules of the performances. From kid-friendly to lewd humor, there are shows for all ages.
Many performers are dedicated to their roles whatever they may be. Speaking with a British accent and using archaic terms, Lady Katherine Seymour, LARF actress and member of the royal court, discussed her daily royal duties.
“In the morn, about sunbreak her majesty does rise, and the ladies on duty for her majesty begin to help her get ready for the day by doing her hair, her makeup and dressing her,” Seymour said. “Mayhap that day she need a bath of some sort, we would help her with that.”
Although the festival is largely based on nods to history, Hight said the festival isn’t completely historically accurate and the experience is more about fantasy and escape.
“We don’t base everything on history,” he said. “It’s more of what people remember. We look at the fun aspects of it, but we don’t confine it to a specific year. We create a playground for people to come and forget about the world for a day and just relax and enjoy themselves.”
LARF will be open Nov. 29 and 30 as well as Dec. 1, 7 and 8.
“We don’t base everything on history. It’s more of what people remember. We look at the fun aspects of it, but we don’t confine it to a specific year … we create a play ground for people to come and forget about the world for a day and just relax and enjoy themselves.”

Gallery • 23 Photos

Angela Major

Ladies in costume pose Sunday, Nov. 24, 2013 at the Louisiana Renaissance Festival in Hammond, La.