Submitted Photo Performers dressed up for a past Renaissance Christmas.

The Minot Chamber Chorale will present a Renaissance Christmas on Friday and Saturday at the State Fair Center at the North Dakota State Fairgrounds.

This is the 47th year for the special event, which includes performers dressed in Renaissance costume and jesters, jokes and games, instrumental and choir performances of music from the 1500s and later.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the performance will begin at 7 p.m. This year the Chamber Chorale is offering two options, one for concert goers who want to attend the dinner, dessert and the concert and a less expensive option for those who want to attend only for dessert and the concert. Those who would like to come only for dessert and the concert should arrive by about 7:30 p.m. both nights.

Renaissance tickets can be purchased online at minotchamberchorale.org/renaissance or by phone at 441-3094. People must make reservations in advance. Tickets must be purchased by today for the Friday performance and no later than Friday for the Saturday performance.

Tickets are $40 for adults for the full dinner plus dessert and concert option and $20 per adult for those who are only coming for dessert and the concert. Tickets are $15 for children 10 and under for dinner, dessert and the concert and $7 per child 10 and under for the dessert and concert option. There will be a $5 discount for adults in the military. The price of a ticket for a military member will be $35 for dinner, dessert, and the concert and $15 per adult for the dessert and concert option.

There will be a silent auction at the event, with homemade goodies and other items up for auction. During the social hour that starts at 6:30 p.m. people can look over the items in the silent auction and socialize before the performances start at 7 p.m.

Chamber chorale members Cheryl Nilsen, Chuck Weiser, and Janet Schelling said the performance will focus more on music and less on sets than in the past. During the meal, there will be background instrumental music played so that attendees can talk with others at their tables. Some of the performances feature new arrangements of song and more songs with a Renaissance theme.

But, as in past years, the event will make people feel they are in a castle setting. The event is framed around a performance at a royal court hosted by a lord and lady and their jesters and their guests, the Minot Chamber Chorale there will be the Twelve Days of Christmas contest for the audience and the evening will end with the chorale surrounding the audience while singing the beloved carol “Silent Night.”

This is a festive way to kick off the Christmas season, the members said. Schelling said one person once told her that it doesn’t feel like Christmas has begun until she has attended the Renaissance Christmas.