I just find it in general to be a bad idea to take rats out in public... just too many things could go wrong. It's sort of a common sense thing in my opinion. You asked for opinions and those are my two cents.

It is between early October and late december we usually go later novemeber for pirate week so it's usually pleasantly cool by then ((Of course if it is too hot we won't take him)) and it usually located towards the upper part of Texas.

if he is not used to being outside in crowds i would say don't do it but maybe you can take him to a safe area with a similar type of crowd and see how he reacts to it. try it a few times and if you think he'd do ok at the festival then i think it would be fun for the whole family!

i know a guy who used to carry his rat around in his back pack in a small cage... the rat was probably used to it though and never got into much trouble.

I say do it. I've taken my rat Mordecai to festivals and he loved it, and other people loved him. I was extra careful. But since I did it I guess I don't have any common sense.

Don't take this personally but I probably wouldn't.

I heard a story from a lady who did bring her rat to the Texas Ren-fest and her little girl ate some rat poison they had set out for the wild rats that got in. She was a real sweet lady, met her randomly in a pet shop.

But that'd def. something you'd want to look into more.

I'd say that it is completely up to you.  You know your boundaries and how much your going to be able to watch them.  I've been to several of these fairs (my boyfriend acts in them), if you are a major participant then I would suggest not taking him.  There is lots of running around and jumping and what not when you participate.  If you are more of the person that walks around to see everything and is all calm then I think it would work, but I would suggest maybe making a pouch or bag or something he could climb into to escape the crowd if he gets scared.  I also wouldn't suggest letting him run around on the ground on the leash, they can wiggle/chew out and may run off.  You also don't want him to get stepped on.  Also, I know the fairs my boyfreind goes to are weekend's/week's long and he camps out there, would you be staying overnight??  If so then you would need a good sized travel cage and need to check to make sure it doesn't get too cool at night and that he will be safe from wild animals.

If it's TRF you are planning on attending, I would say absolutely not.   Since you've been there before I'm sure you've seen that there are a ton of hawks, owls, snakes. stray dogs, fleas/ticks as well as wild rats all over the wooded areas of the fair.  I would think that the smell of so many predators would stress him out and even if it didn't, the huge amount of wild rats could easily transmit something to him.  Also, aren't you worried the cannon fire is going to scare him?

And let's not forget the throngs of drunken adults carrying weopons  .  Small squishable pet + drunken man wanting to show off his new mace = very bad idea.

Ren faires are a lot of fun for humans, I've never understood why people always want to bring their animals to these things, but good luck with whatever you decide.

This is exactly my point... you can only control your actions, not the actions of others, or the environment/situation. It's not a safe situation, because you only have very limited control of very few factors.

Wether or not I take him has yet to be desided but I am most defenantly getting that outfit just for pictures My Echo buddy can be my knight in shineing armor  since there is a lack of any with out fur around here