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Hanford Insider: Cultural Celebrations - Renaissance Fair and Moon Festival Take Center Stage

• Rob Bentley • Season 3 • Episode 10

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Fall festivities take center stage in Hanford as our community gears up for a season packed with beloved traditions and exciting changes.

The 46th annual Renaissance of Kings Fair returns to Civic Park on October 4-5, bringing with it a rich tapestry of period entertainment, food, and activities. Parks Director Brad Albert reveals this may be the longest-running Renaissance Fair in California, featuring expanded entertainment this year including the crowd-favorite "George the Giant," traditional royal court processions, and combat demonstrations—all accessible with a modest $5 admission fee.

Meanwhile, the China Alley Preservation Society continues its remarkable recovery journey following the 2021 arson fire that devastated the Taoist Temple Museum. Arianne Wing shares the painstaking conservation efforts underway, with artifacts being meticulously restored by specialists and some featured in a special exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of History through 2026. The 41-year tradition of the Moon Festival carries on at the Carnegie Museum on October 4th, featuring performances by Gumyo Taiko drummers and the Cal Poly Lion Dance team.

Community improvements are also in the spotlight as the city contemplates transforming parts of Civic Park from grass to hardscaping, creating a more versatile and accessible space for events year-round. The beloved Hanford Christmas Parade returns with significant enhancements, including an extended route down 7th Street that adds 2,000 feet of viewing area, improved lighting, and enhanced security measures—all designed to create a more enjoyable experience for the thousands who attend this holiday tradition.

From local government appointments to high school sports updates, this episode captures the pulse of our community as we honor our rich past while thoughtfully planning for the future. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at HanfordInsider.com for the most comprehensive community calendar available, and join us as we celebrate everything that makes Hanford special.

You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider
Thank you for supporting the show!

SPEAKER_02:

On this episode of The Hanford Insider, we'll get previews of the Renaissance Fair with Brad Albert and the Moon Festival with Ariane Wing. Rob will give you a rundown of the busy October calendar. Then later, I'll be back with your sports report. This is the Hanford Insider for Monday, September 29th.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, hey there. Welcome to the Hanford Insider Podcast, where we bring you closer to the heart of our community. I'm your host, Rob Bentley. Each episode, we highlight the stories, events, and people that make Hanford such a unique place to call home. From local history and culture to what's happening around town today, we're here to keep you connected and in the know. Now let's jump into some community news. Congratulations to Rick Bradford for being named the new Kings County Sheriff. He's been on staff with the department for years, so it should be a smooth transition. He officially takes over the position on November 24th, following Sheriff David Robinson's retirement. Congratulations also to Hanford Fire Department captains Matt Martinez, Jared Turner, and Christopher Ferrinian. They were promoted from the rank of fire engineer. It's exciting to see the growth of the department under the leadership of Chief Daniel Perkins. The City Council won't be meeting until next week, but there are several items to take note of until then. For the last several weeks, the city has been seeking opinions regarding the possibility of hardscaping some of the grass area in the Civic Park to make the area more accessible, especially when the area is resoded after the ice rink is removed in January. Most years, we're lucky if the grass is ready to go by the first Thursday night marketplace in May. Replacing the grass each year is an expensive task, so the city is considering removing the grass permanently in that area and replacing it with simple pavers at a cost of two hundred and seventy thousand dollars. Simple concrete would cost four hundred and forty-four thousand dollars, or they could use a decorative material called Lethocrete at$700,000. When the auditorium was originally built, the center section was all concrete. Throughout the years, it's changed between grass and concrete, depending on the scope of the improvements that were being made. If I remember correctly, this last change to grass in the center was made in the 1990s. I'm fifty-fifty on the improvements. I enjoy the grass, but think having concrete would give us a more usable space for things like concerts, car shows, vendor fairs, and such. I'm wondering what space in that area will look like around the courthouse stage once the barrel house brewing and other places open up inside the courthouse. Contact your city council representative and let them know how you feel. Take the survey on the city website. Simply making comments on Facebook will not help. Take the time to research it and then decide for yourself. The City Council is also inviting members of the community to a special open house about the East Lacey Corridor Improvement Project that will be held on Wednesday, October 22nd at 6 PM. This is your chance to let the leaders know what you would like to see included in this massive upgrade for East Hanford. Finally, I mentioned a few weeks ago that I've been working with the city on this year's edition of the Hanford Christmas Parade. Since the Chamber of Commerce no longer exists, the city decided to take on the event rather than let it go away. The good news is that it will still be held on the day after Thanksgiving. The better news is that rather than making the turn on to Urban Street, the route has been extended down 7th Street to Reddington Street, adding two thousand feet of additional seating area. There will be better lighting in the lineup area moved to 6th Street. There'll be enhanced security measures, more trash bins, more restrooms, and I'm proud to share that I'll be hosting an additional announcers stand along the route. All of these changes have been studied extensively by the committee by looking at surrounding communities and how they structure their events. And we're excited to present this event to the community. All of this does come at a cost though. Corporate sponsorships and participant fees will be an important factor in providing this event to the community. So when you see the application process that will be released soon, please understand that these changes will make the event safer and a more enjoyable experience for the thousands that attend this annual event. You can learn more about this year's parade on the website at Hanford.city slash Hanford dash Christmas dash parade. I also have a link to the parade website on the Hanford Insider event page for the Hanford Christmas Parade. Now let's take a look at this week's community calendar. At the Thursday Night Marketplace this week, it's Paint Downtown Hanford Pink Night with entertainment by the classic rock band Wild Hare. The Carnegie Museum of Kings County's History of Agriculture Part 2 is open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. through December 14th. They'll also be holding their third annual Gala fundraiser on October 25th, and you can get your tickets at the museum during regular hours or online at Carnegymuseum of Kingscounty.org. Well, October is nearly here, and this weekend kicks off a very busy month. The Renaissance Fair will be held in the Civic Park on October 4th and 5th, and the tribute to the China Alley Moon Festival will be held on October 4th at the Carnegie Museum of Kings County. I'll have more information about these events in just a minute. On October 4th and 5th, the China Alley Preservation Society is presenting a special drama at the Temple Theater called the Truer History of the Chan Family. The Saturday performance is sold out, but there still may be a few tickets for the Sunday performance at 2 p.m. Tickets are free. You can email them at info at ChinaAlley.com for more information. The Hanford Education Foundation bourbon tasting event will be held at the Hanford High District Farm on Centennial on Saturday, October 4th in the evening. Hanford's inaugural night out will be held on October 7th at 4 p.m. in the Civic Park. There will be lots of fun provided by the Hanford Fire Department, Hanford Police Department, and the Public Works Department. On October 11th, it's the United Cerebral Palsy Fall Festival at COS in Hanford from 10 until 1. The Main Street Hanford Oktoberfest is also that day in the Civic Park from 5 to 9. October 18th is the Walk for Life at Calvary Chapel Church. And also on the 18th, it's the big Griswold LaSalle rib cook-off in the Civic Park. So there's a lot of stuff coming up. If you have an event coming up and you'd like some help getting the word out, let's work together. Send your information to HanfordInsider at gmail.com. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter to get a complete calendar of events. It's the most comprehensive community calendar available. Well, it's that time again. It's the 46th annual Renaissance of Kings fair at the Civic Park in downtown Hanford on October 4th and 5th. And we have with us Brad Albert, the Director of Parks and Community Services for the City of Hanford. He's been working really hard on this event, and uh where he's he's here to share with us about this year's fair. Welcome to the show, Brad. Thank you, Rob. Pleasure to be here. So, Brad, this show has been going on for years and it is a tradition. A lot of people come to Hanford specifically for this event. And I know last year's event, you went through some major changes in the way that you did things as far as the entertainment and the organization and kind of controlling the uh the uh gates, as it were. So uh let's hear about it. Um, really looking forward to this year's Renaissance Fair. Uh, what do we have going this year?

SPEAKER_01:

So, this is the you know, our 46th annual, if you can believe it. My understanding is it is the longest recurring Renaissance Fair in the state of California. So we're real excited this year. Um, we're working with Seed Square Production. Uh, we have increased our budget for entertainment. So we'll have different and new entertainers than what we've had in the past. We have all the guilds, we have all the food vendors, we have all of the um arts and crafts and uh combat demonstrations. So we're looking forward to uh another great year.

SPEAKER_03:

So let's hear about the people that come in from out of town. You know, we see setup going on all week, and we know that a lot of people come from out of town and they're spending their dollars here. So I imagine this is a big financial impact on the city of Hanford as well. Yeah?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it really is. You know, our special events and and others within the city are really economic development of bringing in the regional, um becoming a regional destination where folks will travel from pretty far away to come into Hanford. This particular event, the Renaissance Fair, our Civic Park is such a wonderful venue with our historic buildings kind of um in the park. And so it just really lends a very nice feel with the courthouse square and the staging area. And so we're we're just really blessed to have a venue like Civic Park.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, and October's a busy month. If you look at that community calendar that I put out each week, you can see that every single weekend there's something going on, but be it the rib cook-off or uh lots of different activities, but we definitely get the month started off with a bang with the Renaissance fair. Uh, tell us about some of the entertainment that you have lined up this year.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, we we have one one that was a really a big hit. We'll be returning George the Giant. And George is, I'm not sure how tall or big George is, but he he really is a giant. And um George will let you staple money onto his body. Um uh of course he he takes those as tips, but he's kind of a fixture on the on the Renaissance fair um circuit, so to speak. But we have jugglers, we have um, of course, part of the entertainer is the whole king and the queen court, and there's a formal procession, uh formal um uh declarations that are made as part of the event, very much traditional to the days of old. So that will all be happening. Um uh tickets are available online currently. Um they're five dollars. We've kept everything the same, or you can purchase your ticket um at the gate. We have two entrances, one on Dowdy, one on Irwin. So you can come in from either side of the park, and um, we're just looking for a wonderful day. It looks like the weather is going to be pretty, pretty good last year. It was very, very warm. I I felt sorry for some of the folks in armor. Um, but you never really know in early October, so um, but we are looking forward very much.

SPEAKER_03:

That's great, and you have some great food vendors as well, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

We do, and and again, these folks go um up and down uh the coast with this that kind of fit the theme and fit the Renaissance era, so so to speak. And so uh we will also have a beer garden. And one thing, because we are fencing now, folks will be able to walk anywhere within the park within the fence line. Um, so they can go have uh see the entertainment, visit the vendors, see the combat demonstration, visit with the gills, and kind of be free to roam um a little bit, which is a little different than what we've had in the past.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, so Renaissance Fair is coming up on October 4th and 5th at the Civic Auditorium Park. And then you're gonna turn the park because you have the Halloween events coming up, yeah?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, the fall festival is right after the Renaissance Fair. So that will feature kind of uh food vendors. We have pumpkins, we have costume contests, and we work with our local vendors right in Civic Park. Uh, and again, a beautiful venue for the fall festival there. We won't be doing our haunted house just due to the changing of the courthouse um itself, ownership, but we'll be out there and it will be a great event for families and for young, young um goblins and ghouls.

SPEAKER_03:

And Brad, you and I have shared a lot of time on the show, and I know that we have some great information that we're going to tease you with for the Hanford Christmas Parade and the 2025 edition of Hanford's Winter Wonderland. So you're gonna have to tune back in the beginning of November for that information. But uh, we're really looking forward to these activities, Brad. And I'd like to thank you for always being willing to come on the show and talk about some of the great things that they uh that there are to do in Hanford.

SPEAKER_01:

Rob, it's my pleasure. Thanks so much for having me.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, it's great to have with us once again Ariane Wing from the China Alley Preservation Society. And we've got the Big Moon Festival coming up at the Carnegie Museum on Saturday, October 4th. Uh, welcome to the show, Ariane.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you, Rob. It's a pleasure to be here.

SPEAKER_03:

So, Ariane, uh, we know a lot, the moon festival is a huge tradition, but I thought it would kind of be nice to get a little update about China Alley and uh where the restoration efforts stand at this point.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, yes, it's been kind of a long lull. Um on uh May 12th of 2021, we had our arson fire where a woman uh set the Dallas Temple Museum on fire. And since that time, we have little by little uh been able to conserve some of the artifacts that artifacts that survived. We took a lot of them to conservators in Los Angeles, where it's a very slow, painstaking service because you have to realize many of these items that when I saw them, I thought they were just gone. They were just pieces of burnt wood. And so the process of I don't want to say q-tips and small brushes, but it's kind of like that um because you're dealing with uh pieces that are 125 or more years old. And um but it's been an interesting process just to watch that because it w when they were able to do some of our scorched paper products, I was just amazed. And yes, things are going to look a little different because they're not well, for example, just last week um Steve Bannister and I met with a master craftsman who has been uh restoring and conserving a lot of the couplets and plaques that were hanging in them in the temple on the second floor, and they're pretty scorched. Like he examined a few of them and said, uh, this is just beyond repair. But the ones that he was able to repair that he was bringing back to us, they're gorgeous. They're absolutely gorgeous. But what I had to stop, what made me kind of catch my breath is that, but they don't look old anymore. They don't have that the way since I was a child looking in that temple that they're they were already old plaques. Now they're they got a facelift, and you know, like they have their nips, nips and tuck and collagen injections, and they they just look a little bit different. But then I have to tell myself, but this is part of our history now, our story. We had a fire, we had arson damage, and this is what way things were able to be conserved, and this is what they look like now. And maybe in a hundred years they'll look a little bit different, but this is the way our story is today. We are also very fortunate that um Dr. Sonia Ying out of uh San Francisco area, she's been working with this since the 1980s. She has she was the curator for the Hong Kong Museum of History and their new exhibition, which they did a whole gallery. They had been planning this way before the arson. They had a whole gallery set aside in their new building set just for Hanford's China Alley and their and our history. And so they took over a hundred, maybe a hundred and twenty objects that um were damaged. And they've with their their system of putting things back together, they they did it. And in fact, our our altar was amazing, the restoration, because it was it was charred. If you go to our website, chinaalley.com and see the before and after pictures, especially but when I say before, I mean before the arson and then the arson, the amount of damage that was done um was amazing. And then um we'll be posting pictures of the Hong Kong exhibit and what they have been able to restore. It's just it's um it's just breathtaking and amazing. And it it uh I can't I'm gonna have to stop talking because I can't even describe it. It it is so fantastic news. It was um, you know, it met this exhibit will be up in Hong Kong until the end of 2026. And and I hope a lot of people will be able to see it because it shows to me that all was not lost. Yeah. All was not lost.

SPEAKER_03:

For sure. So we know the restoration efforts uh tireless. People have worked for what now, five years since the uh since the arson fire. And uh do you have a maybe a timeline as to what when we might see China Alley activated again?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, uh, it can't be soon enough for me. Um I know that when the Hong Kong exhibit is over, uh things should start coming home. And hopefully um by that time, our building is structurally stable, the temple museum is structurally stable, um, it's just um repainting, repairing, all those kind of things. But I'll tell you what the real holdup is. In fact, Steve and I were just talking about this last night. The real holdup, quite frankly, is money. If Oprah would call me, this thing could be done much quicker than it is now. Um uh it things doing doing this kind of cons conservation, it's it's tedious um by the hour and very expensive. For instance, um some of you will remember the lanterns that we had hanging on the second floor of the of the museum, and they were beautiful. They were a glass with beads and all this work, and they are being restored, but they cost over 10,000 a um a lantern. And we had um eight of them, I believe. So um, you know, there's you know, it's it's like I said, if of um it just takes uh time and money, and money being probably kind of a little bit more important.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, well, I I know you've applied for lots of grants, and you can go to the website at Chinaalle.com and learn about the history of China Alley. And there's also donation links and volunteer links on how you can become a member of the China Alley Preservation Society. And one of the locations that you can do that is at the upcoming Moon Festival. And I know the Moon Festival is very special to you, and the Carnegie Museum is just so happy to be able to help uh put this event on in conjunction uh with your group. And uh tell us a little bit about the history of the moon festival and uh what we're looking forward to on October 4th.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, first I'd like to thank the Carnegie for being teammates with us on the on the Moon Festival. It really um that was amazing last year, what what we did. And well, the moon festival is funny because I always think of the the cow poly lion dancers and I were about the same age when we started the moon festival. Now they could be my grandkids. I think so. I think we've been doing the moon festival um in China Alley for, I want to say 41 years. Um boy, that was courageous of me to date myself. But uh, and then we had the the COVID arson lull, and then I was really happy when you came and said, let's do a moon festival together. But it it's just uh really an amazing day, even though we're in the Carnegie, but there's so much history with the Carnegie that I feel that, and we're not very far from China Alley at the Carnegie Museum location. So I feel that um visitors they can spend the day and have fun at in the Carnegie garden with doing moon festival things and watching the Gomeo Taiko and the Cow Poly Lion Dance team. And then if they want, they can drive down to China Alley and where it all started a billion years ago. Um, but it's uh the the moon festival is from on October 4th from noon until 5 p.m. with the performances at 2 and 4. And there'll be um I know the Carnegie's got some food trucks lined up. There's going to be um uh the Salad Bowl Chip Kids group has um their their booth. I think they do henna painting. Uh we've got I call him origami Ray, he'll be there. We have uh quite a few other booths, and so I I think it'll be a really great afternoon.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, we're really looking forward to all of the booths. Um last year was such a fantastic time. The weather was a little warm, but looks like this year's weather's gonna be just perfect. So uh again, uh the tribute to the China Alley Moon Festival will be held on Saturday, October 4th from noon until 5 p.m. And the Carnegie Museum will host the event at 109 East 8th Street in downtown Hanford, along with the Renaissance Fair that weekend. So we're really looking forward to a great afternoon and continuing this long tradition of the Moon Festival.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you very much, Rob, and we're looking forward to seeing everyone there.

SPEAKER_02:

And now it's time for Hanford Insider Sports with Eric Bentley. We'll start with football, where with Hanford High and Hanford West on bye, it was only Sierra Pacific in action last week, and the Golden Bears looked fresh coming off of their bye, taking down Carruthers 34-29 last Friday at Neighbor Bowl. With the win, Sierra Pacific improves to 3-2 on the year as they get ready for the start of league play this Friday as the Golden Bears travel to Exeter to take on the Monarchs. 715 kickoff for that one. Hanford High will see their first WYL action this Friday as they travel to Dainuba for a 730 kickoff with the Emperors. And Hanford West will look to pick up their first win of the year on Friday as they take on Reedley at 7.30 in their final non-league matchup of the year. Over to Girls Volleyball, where last week saw the first league action for all three teams. We'll start with Hanford West, who fell to Emmanuel in a five-set non-league battle, before taking down Exeter in straight sets to start League Play 1-0. Sierra Pacific also went one and one last week, suffering a three-set to one non-conference defeat at Exeter on Tuesday, before bouncing back by taking down Selma in straight sets to start one and oh in league play. And Hanford High had two WIL matchups last week, falling in straight sets to Danuba on Tuesday, then taking on to Larry Union on Thursday, but no scores reported from that contest. And in water polo, it was a clean sweep for Sierra Pacific as both the boys and the girls took down Hanford West last week. The boys also started League Play 1-0, taking down Exeter 17-11 on Thursday, then going 2-1 in weekend tournament action to improve to an impressive 14-4 overall. As always, we like to cover as many sports as we can, but we can only do so much without you. Any sport, any team, any level, if you have a score report or a story idea, please let us know at HanfordInsider at gmail.com. I'm Eric Bentley, and this has been your Hanford Insider Sports Report.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, that's all the time we have for this week's show. If you enjoy this podcast and you'd like to show your support, you can go to buymeacoffee.com forward slash Hanford Insider to make a donation. If you'd like to join the Hanford Insider email list, stop by my website at Hanfordinsider.com to sign up for updates. You'll also get an exclusive copy of my newsletter in your inbox each week. I also need your help getting the word out about the show by liking and sharing on social media, or like most people, just telling a friend. For more information about the show, you can find this podcast on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and YouTube at Hanford Insider. If you have a show idea, be sure to email me at HanfordInsider at gmail.com and I'll look into it. Thanks for listening. Enjoy this fall weather and have a great week.

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