BILLINGS — Saturday marked the start of the two day long All Hallows Medieval Fantasy Faire at North Park.
“This year, we doubled the size, we’re making it an annual event now and it’ll be the first weekend in October from here on out," said Ken Haak, the Ren Faire Master and organizer, "It’s a combination renaissance festival and Halloween.”
This is the second year the event has been put on between the Montana Renaissance Festival and the Billings Industrial Revitalization District (BIRD), raising $15,000 for North Park's dog park last year.
"This year, we’re trying to get enough money up to resurface all of the pickle ball courts and the basketball courts," said Haak.
This year's event is host to 125 vendors, one of whom is Lorelei Hallock, owner of Coyote Kidz Dairy out of Livingston, MT.
“From a historical context, the Fall festivals, they mean a lot to me," said Hallock, "Farmers would be gathering all of their harvest … and then preparing for a long winter.”
On Saturday, Hallock was joined by Bigs, her American Saanen goat, who captured the attention of faire-goers
"Most people, first off, ask what kind of animal he is. A lot of people have a really hard time distinguishing goats from sheep," said Hallock, "The other thing is, a lot of people think that he’s very big, which for a lot of pet goats or petting zoo goats, he is much larger.”
She said she hopes to bridge the gap in knowledge about farm animals with the help of interest drawn by Big, who draws her goat sourced products in a pony cart behind the two.
