August 6, 2008, Shelton, WA. The Avery Renaissance Festival today announced it will debut on October 4^th & 5th, 2008 at Avery Township, near Shelton and Olympia, WA.

Hours are Saturday and Sunday, 10am – 6pm. Afterwards, on both days, from 6pm to 8pm, there will be a family-oriented “Concert on the Green” where guests can sit down and have hamburgers and hotdogs while enjoying a range of entertainment.

Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for ages 11-16, and free for kids 10 and under. Admission includes the Concert on the Green. Concession prices are low: A family of five can eat for less than $20. Discount admission coupons will be available at Mason County businesses starting September 15^th. Agencies and organizations serving low income families and disadvantaged children are encouraged to contact us for free tickets and concessions vouchers.

The 2008 event is a smaller version of the full 2009 Festival also announced today, scheduled for July 10^th – 12^th, 2009 at Avery Township.

Many of the most popular and best known performance troupes in the area will be there for 2008, including The Seattle Knights, Ye Merrie Greenwood Players, The Seattle Pirates, and many others. “We have some spectacular entertainment in store for our guests,” said Dameon Willich, a Festival organizer, “and a wide array of quality vendors. We are just a 90 minute freeway drive from Seattle and 2 hours from Portland, and you don’t need to take a ferry or cross a toll bridge to get here.”

“We are delighted to be able to make Avery Township the permanent home for this great, new Festival,” said Les Trummert, venue operations director. “Organizing a Festival is a daunting task and I give much of the credit to Mason County leaders and government agencies. They make promoting economic development and creating new jobs in Mason County a top priority. From the Commissioners down to every County employee we have worked with, our hats are off to them for their assistance and get-it-done spirit.”

The Avery Renaissance Festival is different from other Faires in that plans for 2009 include separate villages for renaissance, fantasy, and historical equestrian and military, but also numerous, secluded smaller villages dotting miles of trails, each with its own historically accurate theme and cultural representation –ranging from Native American to early explorer, pioneer, and immigrant experiences.

According to Craig Jones, another Festival organizer: “Naturally, all the usual RenFaire fun and excitement people have come to expect is here, right up front. But we have found an incredibly rich and diverse assortment of regional historical and cultural societies and groups with important and interesting stories to tell. We are going to carve out little isolated places in our majestic woods so they can set up their villages and tell their stories. The Avery Renaissance Festival will be a discovery and learning experience like no other, and you pretty much have to see the parklands and forests we have here to appreciate how glorious and magical the setting really is.”

More information and updates will be available after August 15^th,, 2008 at www.averytownship.com

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