This weekend in San Luis Obispo, locals stepped into the year 1585 during the Central Coast Renaissance Festival.
Community members clad in their best medieval garb filled Laguna Lake Park on Saturday and Sunday for the festival.
Visitors enjoyed dancing, magic, demonstrations, and a large selection of food and drinks.
However, the best attraction for some attendees was the series of live jousting matches, complete with knights in shining armor.
"They have an amazing knight battle in there. It's one of the only [shows] in the state that has actual full metal combat, where they're hitting each other with axes [and] cudgels," Kris Brown, an attendee visiting from San Francisco, said. "It's one of the most amazing knight-fighting shows you'll see."
Some attendees told KSBY that the Central Coast Renaissance Festival sets itself apart from other events.
"[At] most Ren Faires that I've been to, it's either really, really flat, and it just feels like you're just kind of walking on, like, a fairground, whereas this one kind of has, like, different levels to it. The booths are more spread out, and you kind of have different corners and different areas. So, it actually makes it feel like you're actually in, like, a medieval village," Kyle Hastings, an Atascadero resident, said.
2025 marks the 39th year that the festival has been hosted on the Central Coast.
You can check back for next year's dates on the Central Coast Renaissance Festival website.
