Thursday, February 4, 2016

2016 Arizona Renaissance Festival

2016: The 28th Annual Arizona Renaissance Festival & Artisan Marketplace

📍 Location: 12601 U.S. 60, Gold Canyon, AZ 85118
📅 Event Dates: Saturdays & Sundays – February 6 – March 27, 2016
🎟️ Special Opening: Presidents’ Day – Monday, February 15, 2016
🕰️ Festival Hours: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM, rain or shine
🚗 FREE Parking courtesy of Fry’s Food Stores

🏰 Step Into a Magical 16th-Century Village!

The Arizona Renaissance Festival is one of the largest Renaissance fairs in the United States, featuring a 30-acre medieval amusement park filled with knights, jesters, artisans, and live performers. This family-friendly event offers:

✔️ Over 2,000 costumed actors, dancers, and musicians performing throughout the village.
✔️ 14 entertainment stages featuring music, comedy, acrobatics, and theater.
✔️ Full-contact jousting tournaments held three times daily.
✔️ 200+ artisan shoppes selling handmade crafts, swords, jewelry, and clothing.
✔️ Delicious Renaissance food & drinks, including turkey legs, honey mead, and Medieval Margaritas.
✔️ Interactive games & rides, from archery and axe throwing to a medieval maze and dragon slides.

Whether you're a history enthusiast, fantasy fan, or just looking for a fun day out with family and friends, the Arizona Renaissance Festival is an unforgettable experience!

⚔️ Exciting Attractions at the Arizona Renaissance Festival

🏆 Jousting Tournaments – Witness Knights in Battle!

One of the most thrilling attractions, the full-contact jousting tournament takes place three times daily in the Jousting Arena. Watch as knights in shining armor charge at each other on powerful warhorses, competing for glory and honor!

🎭 Live Entertainment & Street Performers

The festival’s 14 stages showcase more than 100 live performances daily, including:

Jesters & Comedians – Hilarious interactive performances!
Acrobatics & Fire Jugglers – Daring stunts and incredible feats of balance!
Minstrels & Dancers – Medieval musicians, belly dancers, and live storytellers!

🎭 Want to be part of the show? The festival’s street performers will pull visitors into the action, making every experience unique!

🍗 Feast Like Royalty – Food & Drinks at the Festival

🍖 Indulge in delicious Renaissance-style feasts, including:

Giant roasted turkey legs
Steak-on-a-stick & bread bowl stews
Handmade chocolates & cinnamon-roasted almonds

🍻 Quench your thirst with:

Honey mead, Medieval Margaritas & Da Vinci Coladas
Craft beer, ales, and refreshing soft drinks

🍽️ The Exclusive Pleasure Feast – Limited Seating

🔥 For the ultimate dining experience, join the exclusive Pleasure Feast!

A 90-minute, five-course medieval banquet
Live music, comedy entertainment & unlimited drinks
A festival souvenir included
Advance reservations highly recommended

🎡 Family-Friendly Games & Rides

⚔️ Test your medieval warrior skills with:

Archery & axe throwing
Climbing challenges
Siege paintball battles

🎠 Kid-Friendly Rides & Attractions:

Da Vinci’s Flying Machine – A people-powered ride!
The Slider Joust & Piccolo Pony – Perfect for young knights!
The Enchanted Maze & Dragon Slide – Fun for all ages!

🎟️ Arizona Renaissance Festival Ticket Information

✅ Discounted Tickets Available at Fry’s Food Stores:

Adults: $22
Children (5-12): $10 (Kids under 5 are FREE!)
Seniors (60+): $21 (Available only at the Festival Box Office)

🎟️ On-Site Ticket Prices: $2 more per ticket if purchased at the Festival Box Office.

📢 Buy tickets online to save time!

👗 Costumes are encouraged! Don’t have one? Costume rentals are available behind the ticket booth at the main gate.

🚗 FREE Parking courtesy of Fry’s Food Stores

📞 More Info: Visit www.RenFestInfo.com or call (520) 463-2700

🏰 Why You Should Visit the Arizona Renaissance Festival

If you’re looking for the best Renaissance festival in Arizona, this annual event offers an unforgettable mix of history, fantasy, and entertainment. Whether you’re:
✔️ Cheering on knights in a live jousting tournament
✔️ Exploring the artisan marketplace for unique medieval gifts
✔️ Feasting on legendary turkey legs & sipping honey mead
✔️ Enjoying live performances on 14 stages

🔥 Mark your calendar, grab your friends, and prepare for a day of adventure at the Arizona Renaissance Festival!

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Desert Diamond Casino - West Valley Wins and Will Open in Glendale 12/20/15

Glendale Arizona and Metro Phoenix Area local Gamblers will have a new venue to shake hands with Lady Luck starting December 20th, 2015 when the Tohono O'odham Nation opens a casino in the West Valley.

The Tohono O'odham Nation is a southern Arizona tribe who is scheduled to unveil its fourth casino in Arizona in Glendale, about a mile north of the Westgate Entertainment District near the University of Phoenix Stadium.

The Desert Diamond Casino West Valley marks a turning point regarding the limits of gaming compacts that have governed American Indian casinos in Arizona since the 1980's. The tribe has prevailed in a ruling over opponents that include other casino-operating tribes, city, state and federal officials and entities which have used the courts and public opinion to challenge the new casino.

Those that sought to quash the casino, claimed that agreements reached by the state and tribes during the purchase of the land don't allow the Tohono O'odham to open a casino on the land it purchased miles outside of its reservation boundaries. The Tohono O'odham fought back claiming that federal law allowed it to replace flooded reservation land and the state agreements do not prevent the tribe from building a casino on purchased land.

The tribe has prevailed in the legal battle and the tribe's temporary casino is set to open to the public on Sunday 12/20/15 and will remain open 24/7 while the fight continues to go from Class II Bingo Style Gaming Machines to a Class III Vegas Style gaming facility.

The concessions were made in part because the Arizona Department of Gaming withheld a full Class 3 gaming license, claiming the tribe committed fraud by not disclosing plans for the West Valley casino while negotiating its state compact.

Currently 16 different tribes operate 24 Class III gaming facilities in Arizona. Those Class III casinos may offer “Las Vegas style” gaming activities (slot machines, house-banked poker, and blackjack).

The Desert Diamond West Valley Casino and Resort will be built in phases. The Tohono O'odham are developing 135 acres at Northern and 95th avenues.

The first phase of the development is a low-profile building that will serve as the Class II casino.

The temporary casino is set to open with 1,089 gaming machines, which by cosmetic appearances look and operate like slot machines. The devices' mechanisms differ from true slot machines internally. They're actually bingo-based gambling devices, but the odds of winning are approximately the same as the odds of winning on traditional random number generated slot machines.

Some few machines in the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino will be linked to a network of other casinos nationwide and offer $1 million jackpots, which tend to pay out somewhere in the country 4-6 times a year.

Later, the tribe will convert the current building into a warehouse and a larger permanent Class III casino, hotel, shopping and convention center complex will be developed. If it is successful in court in overturning the state's ruling.

The Arizona Department of Liquor also has not yet granted a liquor license, it is expect to obtain it's liquor license around February 2016.

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Thursday, November 26, 2015

Little known Thanksgiving and Harvest Festival Facts and History

ta-end="157" data-start="76">📅 Thanksgiving: A Blend of Ancient Harvest Festivals & American Traditions

Thanksgiving is a rich blend of traditions from Native American, British, and Puritan influences, shaped over centuries into the modern holiday we celebrate today. The story of Thanksgiving begins long before the Pilgrims' feast in 1621, with earlier harvest festivals and religious observances playing a significant role.

🦃 The True History of Thanksgiving

The commonly told "First Thanksgiving" story dates back to 1621 in Plymouth Colony, but the real history is far more complex.

The Story of the 1621 Harvest Festival

In 1614, English explorers captured and enslaved Patuxet Native Americans, leaving behind a smallpox outbreak that devastated the local population.
When the Pilgrims arrived in 1620, the once-thriving Patuxet village was nearly empty, except for Squanto, the sole survivor.
Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to grow crops and fish and negotiated a peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Nation.
In 1621, the Pilgrims and Wampanoag held a three-day harvest festival, which later inspired the modern Thanksgiving celebration.

❗ Did you know? The "First Thanksgiving" feast did NOT include mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, or pumpkin pie! Instead, the menu likely featured venison, seafood, corn, and seasonal vegetables.

🦃 Other Claims to the First Thanksgiving

📍 1598: San Elizario, Texas – Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate held a Thanksgiving feast near El Paso after leading settlers across the desert.
📍 1619: Berkeley Plantation, Virginia – English settlers declared an annual day of thanks upon their arrival, two years before the Plymouth feast.
📍 1578: Canada’s First Thanksgiving – Explorer Martin Frobisher celebrated Thanksgiving in Newfoundland, decades before the Pilgrims.

👉 Thanksgiving has been observed in various ways long before 1621, making it a tradition rich in history beyond the Pilgrims' feast.

🦃 The Evolution of Thanksgiving in America

1800s: The "First Thanksgiving" Narrative Takes Shape

By the early 19th century, the 1621 harvest feast was revived as a symbol of American unity.
Alexander Young popularized the idea of a "First Thanksgiving" based on Edward Winslow’s 1621 letter.

1863: Lincoln Declares Thanksgiving a National Holiday

During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday, celebrated on the last Thursday of November.

1941: Franklin D. Roosevelt Sets Thanksgiving Date

FDR moved Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday of November to extend the holiday shopping season during the Great Depression.

👉 Thanksgiving as we know it today is a mix of historical traditions, presidential proclamations, and cultural adaptations.

🍽️ Thanksgiving Food Traditions – Then vs. Now

🥔 Mashed Potatoes – Not part of the 1621 meal (potatoes had yet to arrive in North America).
🦃 Turkey – Smaller than today's 20-pound birds, and may not have been served at all!
🍷 Cranberries – Used by Native Americans for dyes and medicine, but not in sauce form.
🥧 Pumpkin Pie – Based on a 1653 French recipe, not present at the 1621 harvest feast.
🥧 Pecan Pie & Sweet Potatoes – Introduced by the South in the late 19th century.

👉 Victorian-era traditions shaped modern Thanksgiving menus, introducing turkey and cranberry sauce!

🦃 Fun Thanksgiving Facts You Might Not Know

📌 Thanksgiving Football Tradition – Began with a Yale vs. Princeton game in 1876.
📌 First Thanksgiving Day Parade – Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia, 1920.
📌 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade (1924) – Second oldest parade, featuring giant balloons!
📌 Black Friday Origin – The day after Thanksgiving marks the official start of holiday shopping.
📌 Native American National Day of Mourning – Held on Thanksgiving Day to honor the tragic history of colonialism.

🦃 Thanksgiving Around the World

🌎 Thanksgiving isn't just an American holiday! Many cultures have harvest celebrations:

🍁 Canada’s Thanksgiving (Since 1957) – Celebrated on the second Monday of October.
🎑 China’s Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhong Qiu) – A moon festival of gratitude.
🌾 India’s Onam Festival – A harvest celebration in Kerala.
🇬🇧 Britain’s Harvest Festival – Observed in September or October.

👉 Thanksgiving may have evolved differently across cultures, but the spirit of gratitude and feasting remains universal!

🦃 Presidential Turkey Pardon Tradition

🐔 Did you know? The Presidential Turkey Pardon is often credited to Harry S. Truman, but John F. Kennedy was the first to "officially" pardon a turkey in 1963.

📌 Abraham Lincoln may have started the tradition when he spared his son’s pet turkey.

🎉 Final Thoughts – The True Meaning of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has evolved from early harvest celebrations to a national holiday centered around family, food, and gratitude. While its origins are complex, the modern celebration reflects a blend of historical influences and new traditions.

🔥 As you gather around the table this Thanksgiving, take a moment to reflect on its rich history and diverse origins!

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Remember the 5th of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 remains one of the most infamous assassination attempts in British history. A group of English Catholics, led by Robert Catesby, conspired to blow up the Palace of Westminster during the state opening of Parliament to assassinate King James I and his ministers. The goal? To replace him with his Catholic daughter, Princess Elizabeth, and end years of Catholic persecution in England.

💣 The Gunpowder Plot – How It Unfolded

The plot began to unravel when an anonymous letter warned Catholic Lord William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, to avoid Parliament. The letter, believed to have been written by Francis Tresham, was quickly made public, leading to an immediate search of Westminster Palace.
👀 November 5, 1605 – The Discovery of the Plot
Guy Fawkes, the group's explosives expert, was caught guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder beneath the House of Lords.
He was arrested, tortured, and interrogated, eventually revealing the names of his fellow conspirators.
The plan failed, and the conspirators were captured or killed.
❗ Why Did the Gunpowder Plot Fail?
Aside from the anonymous letter, other factors contributed to the plan’s downfall:
Increased security and surveillance around Parliament.
Poor communication among the conspirators.
Delays in execution, which gave authorities time to investigate.

👥 Who Were the Gunpowder Plot Conspirators?

The plot was organized by Robert Catesby and involved 13 key conspirators, including:
🔥 Guy Fawkes – Explosives expert, tasked with igniting the gunpowder.
🛡️ Robert Catesby – The leader and mastermind behind the conspiracy.
🎯 Thomas Wintour & Robert Wintour – Key organizers of the operation.
🏹 Thomas Percy – Provided the safe house and supplies.
🔫 John Wright & Christopher Wright – Recruiters for the plot.
📜 Francis Tresham – Believed to have written the warning letter.
🚀 Everard Digby, Ambrose Rookwood, Robert Keyes, John Grant, Hugh Owen – Additional supporters.

🔥 The Aftermath – What Happened to Guy Fawkes?

Guy Fawkes and the captured conspirators were sentenced to death for treason.
☠️ Traditional Execution for Traitors (17th Century England):
Hanged, drawn, and quartered in public.
Their body parts were sent across the kingdom as a warning.
Heads were placed on spikes on London Bridge, alongside figures like William Wallace and Oliver Cromwell.
🏴‍☠️ How Did Guy Fawkes Die?
Rather than suffer the brutal execution, Fawkes leapt from the gallows, breaking his own neck to escape torture and humiliation.

🎇 Bonfire Night – How the UK Remembers the 5th of November

In the aftermath, November 5th was declared "Bonfire Night", an annual celebration of the failure of the Gunpowder Plot.
🎆 Modern Bonfire Night Traditions Include:
🔥 Lighting bonfires across the UK.
🎇 Firework displays, symbolizing the gunpowder that never exploded.
🎭 Burning effigies of Guy Fawkes in remembrance of the failed plot.
🕵️ Ceremonial searches of Parliament, still conducted by the Yeomen of the Guard before the State Opening of Parliament.

🎭 V for Vendetta & The Legacy of the Guy Fawkes Mask

📽️ The movie V for Vendetta introduced a new cultural interpretation of Guy Fawkes, turning him into a symbol of rebellion against tyranny.
🕶️ The film's protagonist, V, wears a Guy Fawkes mask as a symbol of resistance.
💀 The phrase "Remember, Remember the 5th of November" gained global popularity.
💡 The mask has since been adopted by activists, protest movements, and hackers, including Anonymous.

📜 Did You Know? Lesser-Known Gunpowder Plot Facts

📌 Guy Fawkes was NOT the leader – He was the explosives expert; Robert Catesby was the mastermind.
📌 The plot was nearly successful – If not for the anonymous warning letter, the attack could have changed British history.
📌 The UK Parliament is STILL searched before every State Opening – A tradition that continues to this day.
📌 The word "guy" comes from Guy Fawkes – It originally referred to burned effigies of Fawkes, later evolving into the general term for a man.

📜 Final Thoughts – Why Should We Remember the 5th of November?

The Gunpowder Plot was one of the most dramatic assassination attempts in British history. Whether seen as a failed act of terrorism or a symbol of defiance, the story continues to shape modern culture and political discourse.
🔥 **From Bonfire Night celebrations to V for Vendetta, the legacy of Guy Fawkes remains as powerful as ever.**

So, remember, remember the 5th of November… the Gunpowder Treason and Plot!