Cauley Square Renaissance Festival

First time in a Renaissance Festival. Went with my kids and overall was pleased with the experience.
Pros: Good variety of shows, decent main door price ($ 20 adults, $ 9 kids), nice setup around the Cauley Square Park.
Cons: Shows are free, but you get asked for tips at the end of each one. Even walking around, actors come to you and openly ask for some gratification… Not very pleasant. Bathrooms really dirty and in bad shape.

My Fair Ladies and Lords,
if thy wish to travel back in time, then Rennaissance at Cauley Square in Homestead must be thy destination.
From the moment you walk in there are maidens and squires to greet you. Consider it like a starving actors playhouse on a giant stage, with different stages at several locations and if you take the time to stay, funny, some actually involve the audience in their act making them do silly things and getting the crowd laughing hilariously.
Some things I’ve never seen at other Festivals were the Jousting skills challenge and tournament. An actual fencing where you can challenge a friend or family member !!! Yes, you put on a vest and a fencing helmet and glove and try to pop balloons attached to each others helmet. Archery. A covered sit down eating area, where a live band walks around and plays bagpipes and drums: entertaining .
Free games like Balance tower and giant chess boards: which we played.
After every show or act they ask for donations, which is worth it, but, does bring cost up. I took my 2 kids and it cost me $ 64 to get in, then donations for each show, then food; at the end of the day it ended up costing me $ 120 for the three of us. It was a great time with my kids, they were laughing and enjoying the shows and the games, so at the end it was worth it.