By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Weekend Editor

The Renaissance Festival comes to the area twice a year. Your favorite performers and vendors return each spring and fall to give you that 16th century English Country Faire feel. When the festival starts up again this Saturday, there will be some new acts to tickle your funny bone and thrill you, as well as several updates to some of your favorite shows and attractions.

Great Cats of the World comes back to the festival with a few new friends. The cats come courtesy of the Center for Endangered Cats in Minnesota and illustrate the beauty of large jungle cats. The new cats this fall include a black leopard, a spotted leopard, a serval, a baby lion, and an Indochinese Tiger. The cats, as always, will be on stage with no cage.

Mordred's Haunted Castle also returns to the fairgrounds this fall, but this time with $50,000 worth of additions. The castle now includes Pirate's Plunder. In the old days, Kings truly feared the attack of greedy, bloodthirsty pirates. As you walk through the castle, it gets attacked by some pirates during a storm. There is a great possibility that you will get wet, as cannon fire erupts on all sides.

There are also several new shows at the festival. In Battle Chess, the game gets a tad more exciting as warriors duel each other with assorted weaponry. Audience members are matched up with festival characters in battle of weaponry, wits, and skill. Another new show is Peasant's Court, a hilarious show likened to Judge Judy meets the Renaissance. There will also be performances by Danger Slash, featuring Slash of Hack and Slash, Shakespeare's Chicken, The Lost Boys, Robin Hood and his Merry Men, and, of course, the lovely kissing wenches.

There are over 100 shows daily at the Renaissance Festival, which was just named one of the top 100 best events in North America by the American Bus Association. It is the only event in Georgia to make that list.There is truly something for everybody - shopping for Grandmother and pseudo-jousting for Dad and the kids.

There are discount tickets available at the customer service counter at Publix, and good deals all around. You can purchase two for one tickets until Oct. 3 for $12.95 or get discounted adult tickets for $12 until Nov. 7.The Renaissance Festival starts this Saturday, Oct. 2 and will run through Nov. 7. The hours are from 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m., rain or shine. The fairgrounds are located on Hwy. 74, just past the I-85 exit in Fairburn.

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