Expense
Dressing up in Tudor, Elizabethan or other period costume from the Renaissance period is not cheap. If you will be attending a Renaissance fair alone, then the costs will obviously not be as high as a family of four who will all want to dress up for the occasion. A family will need to supply costumes for each member as well as budget the total cost of entry into the Renaissance fair. Attending a Renaissance fair kitted out in period costume can easily run into several hundred dollars for just one day.
Authenticity
True history buffs who want to accurately help re-create their passion for the Renaissance will not always be able to find costume that is truly authentic to the period. Even if they take care to make sure that the costume they hire or purchase is authentic, they may find that when they show up to the Renaissance fair that there are many other costumes that are far from authentic or they may come across women in beautiful dresses reminiscent of the Renaissance period but wearing modern shoes and no headdress.
Unless you have done your research into the period and you have obtained an authentic replica of costume that was worn during the Renaissance period, you might end up with costume that is not authentic. Some people do not care about authenticity, while others take Renaissance fairs far more seriously and wish to avoid any anachronisms in their dress and grooming.
Food
A truly authentic Renaissance fair will not be serving diet coke and hot dogs to patrons. But are you prepared for the alternative? Eating habits were far different in the Renaissance period than they are nowadays that would require a strong stomach and a sense of adventure. So unless you do not mind experimenting with dishes you would not normally consider eating, you may find that the food at Renaissance fairs is not to your taste.
A Renaissance fair opens a time portal to a bygone era for history enthusiasts. But before you make plans to attend your first Renaissance fair, you should calculate the total cost of attending, as well as some other important factors so that you are able to more fully enjoy yourself at the Renaissance fair.
