To be or not to be…
That is the question in regard to this year’s 2020 Renaissance Festival in Bonner Springs.
With everyone from the Kansas City Chiefs on down wrestling with if and how their seasons might go down in light of Covid-19 conditions, this year’s Ren Fest is full speed ahead in offering discounted advance tickets.
So will this year’s fest go down?
Good question.
While the Ren Fest website has a Covid-19 “overview,” it’s majorly promoting advance ticket sales with a $4 savings on adult tickets over gate admission prices.
The Covid warning:
“With the safety and well-being of our patrons, participants and staff at the forefront of our preparations, we are eager to welcome you to the 2020 Kansas City Renaissance Festival. Please review this page for our latest opening information.”
Followed by an asterisk sentence that reads:
“In the event the 2020 Festival can not occur, all tickets and passes will be forwarded to the 2021 Festival.”
Which is somewhat bogus given that people may or may not want or be able to attend next year’s fest, let alone have any true idea that there will be one.
Other Ren Fests – like the July Central Coast Renaissance Festival in San Luis Obispo have been canceled.
Left unanswered are questions about whether festival attendees, wenches and performers will be required to wear masks, maintain six-foot distances and offer covid-free turkey legs and scotch eggs.
Or if refunds be available to those not included to roll the dice on next year’s festival.
Those questions and others remain unanswered for now, as several calls to the local Renaissance Festival offices were not retuned.
All of that said, some Ren Fests are more candid about the possibility they may not open.
The Carolina Renaissance Festival to name one.
Located prominently atop the home page of its website is a banner that reads:
“2020 Festival dates and/or Special Events may be subject to change due to COVID 19 considerations,” it reads.
No such advisory exists on the KC fest site.
Instead you have to click on “general information” and “opening” to get a watered down warning.
Just saying…
