I visited my parents last weekend. And during that time, there was a big renaissance fair in the nearby town of Bretten. I took a day trip and met up with a friend there, and it was a fun day!
Once a year, the entire old town of Bretten turns into one giant renaissance fair. There are crafts, little food stores, and medieval style performances.
It all commemorates a victory of Bretten under a long Suebian siege in 1504. According to legend, Bretten was down to almost no food and about to give up. But they decided to feed all the remaining food to one of their cows and send it outside the city walls. The Suebians saw this and broke the siege because they thought to themselves: If they can even feed their cows, they won’t surrender anytime soon.
My personal favorites were the flag juggling show and the fact that most people wore more or less authentic renaissance clothing. Some of them (and regularly-dressed people) made it into my sketchbook. I originally scribbled the sketches on the white paper and did more polished sketches on grey paper afterwards.