Renaissance faires in New York

New York's anchor event is the Sterling Renaissance Festival on the state's western shore of Lake Ontario country, founded in 1976 by Dennis Ouellette Sr. and marking its 50th year in 2026; it recreates the fictional Elizabethan village of Warwick in the year 1585 and runs seven consecutive weekends through July and August. The festival was operated for over thirty years by Gerald and Virginia Young before Doug Waterbury purchased it in early 2008. In western New York, the Niagara Celtic Heritage Festival & Highland Games in Lockport is run by the Niagara Celtic Heritage Society, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit established in 2001 with the mission of promoting Celtic culture, and the festival is directed by Beth Banks. A distinctly New York tradition is Bill Johnston's Pirate Days in Alexandria Bay, held since at least 1980 and typically running about nine days in mid-August, which celebrates an actual pirate — a Canadian-born man who in 1838 looted and burned the British passenger steamer Sir Robert Peel in the St. Lawrence River, was never convicted by a jury, and later received a presidential pardon and worked as a lighthouse keeper. In the Hudson Valley, the Hudson Valley Faerie Festival is presented by Circle Creative Collective, a Kingston-based nonprofit that uses immersive arts programming to create economic opportunities for local artisans, and the festival grew out of earlier local events such as the March O' the Faeries and the Faerie Wonderland Tea Party.

Sources: Sterling Renaissance Festival — Wikipedia · Sterling Renaissance Festival (official site) · Niagara Celtic Heritage Society — About · Discover New York's North Country — What Are Pirates Days in Alexandria Bay? · Chronogram — Hudson Valley Faerie Festival