Renaissance faires in Kansas

Kansas's renaissance faire scene centers on two long-running operations at opposite ends of the state: the Kansas City Renaissance Festival in Bonner Springs and the Great Plains Renaissance & Scottish Festival in Wichita. The Kansas City Renaissance Festival began in September 1977 as a benefit for the Kansas City Art Institute and ran primarily in that capacity for its first 23 seasons; since 1999 it has been operated by Mid-America Festivals, the company that also manages the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, and after a 2003 lease dispute with Wyandotte County it signed a new long-term lease to stay in Bonner Springs. It has grown into one of the largest renaissance festivals in the United States by its own account, drawing an annual attendance of 200,000 to a 16-acre site adjacent to Sandstone Amphitheater, with 165 booths and 13 stages across 16 operating days each year. Its season opens on Labor Day weekend and runs for seven consecutive weekends of Saturdays and Sundays, plus the Labor Day and Columbus Day holidays. Wichita's Great Plains Renaissance Festival takes a different shape: it is held twice a year, in spring and fall, at Sedgwick County Park in the city's northwest, and its organizers say they have been 'keeping the Renaissance in Wichita for more than 25 years,' billing the fall 2026 edition as the 26th annual. What sets the Wichita event apart is its deliberate blend of the English Renaissance with Scottish culture — Highland Games championships, a Parade of Scottish Clans and Pipe Bands, kilts and bagpipes — alongside renaissance-staple acts such as Heroic Knights of Old Jousting and the Raptors Keep Birds of Prey show.

Sources: Kansas City Renaissance Festival — Wikipedia · Kansas City Renaissance Festival (official site) · Great Plains Renaissance Festival (official site) · Visit Wichita — Great Plains Renaissance & Scottish Festival · The Sunflower (Wichita State) — Great Plains renaissance festival combines modern, historical culture