Frequently Asked Questions

Enter your city, ZIP code, or state in the search bar on the home page. You can set a search radius (25, 50, 100, or 200 miles) and filter by date range or faire type. You can also browse faires by state.

Your location and radius are remembered between visits so you don't have to re-enter them every time.

There isn't one season — there are two, and which one applies depends on your climate. Nationally the number of faires open peaks in spring through June, then again just as strongly in September and October, with a dip in the hottest weeks of high summer.

The desert southwest and Florida run their faires in winter and early spring, because August there is unbearable. Northern states do the opposite and run through summer into autumn. Almost all faires are weekends only.

Our guide to faire season breaks this down month by month.

The directory covers renaissance faires and the themed festivals that share their audience:

• Renaissance Faires — the classic multi-weekend village faires
• Medieval Festivals — earlier-period events and medieval markets
• Pirate Festivals — pirate and privateer weekends
• Celtic Festivals & Highland Games — including Scottish and Irish festivals
• Viking Festivals — Norse and Viking-age events
• Fantasy & Fairy Festivals — fae, fantasy and related gatherings
• Jousting Tournaments — standalone jousting and armoured combat
• Madrigal Dinners — period dinner theatre, often around the holidays

Some faires are listed from a public reference before the organiser has announced the current year's schedule. Rather than invent a date, those listings show the faire's usual season — the month it normally runs — and say plainly that the exact dates aren't announced yet.

They're replaced with real dates as soon as the faire publishes them. If you're planning travel around a listing like that, always check the faire's own website first.

Listings are refreshed continuously and past faires are removed automatically, so what you see is upcoming. Wherever possible we link to the faire's own website, because that's where the authoritative dates and prices live.

Organisers do cancel and reschedule on short notice, and faires are rain-or-shine events. Check the official page before making a trip.

No account needed. Browse, search, and filter completely free with no sign-up required.

No. Costumes are always optional, and at any given faire plenty of visitors are in ordinary clothes. Dressing up is a big part of the fun for regulars, and cast members do tend to engage more with visitors in costume, but nobody is turned away for wearing jeans.

If you're curious, see what to wear to a renaissance faire — the cheapest version is mostly things you already own.

Large faires generally charge somewhere around $20–$40 for an adult day ticket, with reduced children's and senior rates. Small community faires are often much cheaper and a few are free. Buying online in advance is usually cheaper than at the gate, and season passes often pay for themselves on a second visit.

Budget separately for food, artisan purchases, and cash to tip performers — many faire performers are paid mainly out of tips.

Faires are generally excellent for children, and most large ones have a dedicated children's area, quests, or a knighting ceremony.

Dog policies vary a lot: some faires are enthusiastically dog-friendly, others allow service animals only, and some have specific pet-friendly weekends. Check the individual faire's website — the same goes for weapons policies if you're coming in costume.

Wear shoes you've already walked miles in, bring water and sun protection, arrive near opening for the gate show, and carry small bills for tipping performers. Our guide to your first renaissance faire covers the rest, and faire etiquette and customs explains the conventions nobody announces at the gate.

Click Submit a Faire in the top navigation. Fill in the name, date, location, and any other details you have — the more you provide, the more useful the listing. Submissions are reviewed before publishing, usually within a few days.

Yes — completely free. There are no paid tiers and no fees for featured placement.

Open the faire's detail page and expand the "Report an issue with this listing" section at the bottom. Select the issue type (wrong date, wrong location, faire cancelled, and so on), add any details, and submit. We review reports promptly.

If you're the organiser and need a bigger change — or want a listing removed — contact us directly and we'll sort it out.

There's no formal claiming system yet, but get in touch and we'll make sure your listing is accurate and points at your own site. Include a link to your official page.

Faires are identified from public sources — the faires' own websites, public reference lists such as Wikipedia's list of Renaissance and Medieval fairs, event platforms, and community submissions — then reviewed before publishing. We don't run faires; we point you at the people who do.

Working out which faires are running near you, and when, meant checking a scattering of individual faire sites and directories that had quietly gone stale. We built one free directory that's actually kept current and always links back to the organiser. Read more about the site.

Send us a message and we'll get back to you.