This year is the 46th annual anniversary of the Texas Renaissance Festival, but things aren’t going to be as they normally are when you go. There are new safety guidelines as well as new attractions because of COVID.

Of course, they ask you to wash your hands, wear your mask and stay 6 feet apart. In order to help us do these things, there are hand sanitizer stations throughout the festival, tables to eat at are spaced apart for when you take off your mask, and temperatures of staff will be checked daily.

To help stop congregation in lines, there are new attractions, such as a singer from Austin Texas, Amanda Kitchens, a “public humiliation” torture show called Dangerous Curves (booing is required!), and a pyrojuggler named Thomas Wood, a comedian who also a fire-eating juggler.

Unfortunately, with the new things comes a cancelation to others this year. Texas Renaissance Festival sadly had to cancel their school days, but academic contests can be submitted online still. Some vendors are also being held off this year by their choice, but TRF added links to all their websites so you can still buy their items. Sophomore Brooklyn Freeman says “I’m sad there aren’t school days this year because it was fun to miss school and also have a good time with friends.”

While some things had to come to a close for safety reasons this year, the Texas Renaissance Festival is doing its best to stay open. Although that may mean people can’t do as much as they would like, they can still go to dress up and have a fun time.