Penn & Teller Performance At Ren Fest Left Many ‘Out’ & Upset

Opening weekend for the Minnesota Renaissance Festival has come and gone, and the by all accounts from those attending, it was business as usual, even with a fire that consumed a portion of the grounds earlier this year. One of the special parts of this years opening weekend was the return of an old act that made it big, Penn & Teller returned to perform.

Penn & Teller Brought The Crowds - Leaving Some Upset

With the return of Penn & Teller for a one day performance at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival crowds of people showed up hoping to get a spot to take in the show. Some got there early and sat through the mornings shows, thinking they would have been able to stay where they were for the Penn & Teller shows, but that wasn't how it worked.

Several online social media posts to to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival group, it's a non-official page, highlighted peoples frustration with the shows.

Get our free mobile app

The shows availability was labeled as 'first come first served' on the Minnesota Renaissance Festival website, and many took that interpretation literally, as it seemed plenty of festival goers 'camped' at that stage for a majority of the day, only to be 'cleared' out before the show to open it up, as a truly first come first served opportunity.

What Did People Expect?

The overall thought from a collective of attendees was that 'first come, first served' meant those who had gotten seats earlier in the day would have been able to remain for the Penn and Teller show.

Really? Did we really think that a money making venture like the Renaissance Festival was going to just allow that to happen?

I mean look at the size of the crowd, and that was after they cleared the stage area, and were reportedly turning some people away from the area.

While it's a shame that it happened, it didn't surprise me to hear about the issues. When you book and bring in guests like Penn and Teller, you are going to get plenty of people that are interested in attending the show.

The best outcome for all involved would have been either a lottery selection or a ticket window that opened that day for the shows, with a limit of tickets per person to purchase for either the 2PM show or the 4PM show.

Renaissance Festival Runs Through Sunday, September 28th

For those interested in attending Ren Fest, the festival runs weekends with select other days, through September 28th. You can learn more about the remaining themed weekends by heading here.