via The Herald Weekly
Lacey Hampton Mar 2, 2017 
HUNTERSVILLE – The Renaissance Festival Podcast has released winners of its 12th annual Renaissance Festival Awards, and the Carolina Renaissance Festival was named No. 1 in the Southeast.
The awards were voted on from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31, 2016.
There are 24 categories for the awards, and 2,768 people submitted votes, according to the Renaissance Festival Podcast Facebook page.
The Carolina Renaissance Festival was up against about 30 different Renaissance fairs in its category. Voters from around the world submitted ballots, said David Reiland, who is also known as Captain Nicholas London and owns the Renaissance Festival Podcast.
“We are honored every time we are nominated or we win an award through this organization. We feel this represents our core group of Renaissance festival enthusiasts that are big fans. We appreciate all of their support all of these years,” said Matt Siegel, director of marketing and entertainment for the Carolina Renaissance Festival.
The festival has also been recognized by the Renaissance Festival Podcast in the past, Siegel said.
The Carolina Renaissance Festival has been around about 25 years. Ronn Bauman, a member of The Tortuga Twins who has performed at the Carolina Renaissance Festival since it first began, said he has enjoyed being a part of the festival. Bauman is also glad to see it be recognized.
“We’re honored to be a part of it,” he said.
Fans of the Carolina Renaissance Festival have embraced The Tortuga Twins since the beginning, and even though they travel to many Renaissance festivals, the Carolina Renaissance Festival remains Bauman’s favorite. To him, the festival is well-run, deserving of the honor and has great fans, Bauman said.
“We tour 11 months out of the year, and if I could do only one Renaissance festival it would be North Carolina (Carolina Renaissance Festival),” he said.
