Kansas City, Mo ? The Kansas City Renaissance Festival will stay at its Bonner Springs, Kan., location for at least another five years.

The Wyandotte, Kan., County Unified Government chose the current operators of the annual event, Mid America Festivals, over two other bidders who wanted to run a similar festival on the grounds.

Mike Taylor, a spokesman for the Unified Government, said the lease actually was for 20 years, as long as Mid America Festivals followed through on its promise to build a $1 million feast hall and continued to meet performance criteria.

“In some ways, you could look at it as a 20-year lease, with a five-year window,” Taylor said. “If they haven’t started the hall and have it up and operating in five years, or are not meeting performance things, this gives us a chance in five years to sit down and talk about it. We can cancel the contract and go out for proposals again, but I’m assuming they’ll do all they say they’re going to do.”

Carrie Shoptaw, general manager of the Renaissance Festival, said the Unified Government’s decision was a relief to all involved with the event.

“We are so grateful and relieved,” she said. “It was a tough journey at times, kind of unnerving at times, and kind of scary at times. Everybody’s smiling and laughing and giggling in the office now.”

In its 27th season at the Bonner Springs site, the Kansas City Renaissance Festival is the second-largest renaissance festival in the country. Taylor said it was rated as one of the top 100 events in North America, drawing more than 150,000 visitors annually, and in 1999 was named Wyandotte County’s Tourism Event of the Year.

Taylor said the festival fit in well with the tourism ambitions of the county.

“The feeling was this is the best possible arrangement for the people who attend the festival and the taxpayers of Wyandotte County,” Taylor said.

This year’s festival, which has been plagued by rain that cut attendance slightly, runs through Monday.

“I’m thinking if we have a good weekend, we’ll probably make budget,” Shoptaw said. “It’s almost impossible to have a blowout year when it’s rained as much as it has.”