Photo Credit: www.visithoustontexas.com
What is a Renaissance Faire you ask? It is an outdoor gathering that aims to recreate a historical like setting often around the time of the English Renaissance era for the amusement of its guests. Renaissance fairs generally include costumed entertainers or fair-goers, musical & theatrical acts, art & handicrafts for sale, and alot of festival food. Most are always open to new volunteers, actors and vendors. Just be cautious of which ones you choose to volunteer/work at if you do. There will be more information and a disclaimer at the end of the post. The titles of the Faire include a clickable link to follow.
In New England there are several throughout the year. Here are a few:
This Faire is located in Fremont, NH. They have been going since 2005 and they are run by Three Maples Renaissance Corp. a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. That means they DONATE proceeds to charities. Their main charities are the New Hampshire Food Bank and the Rockingham County Meals on Wheels. How awesome is that? This past year they donated over $106,000 between the 2! Clicking on the link above will take you to their website and you can see the donation pictures, learn more about them, maybe volunteer, maybe sign up to be a vendor and sell your goods or maybe even perform! They are a wonderful group of people and they do good work.
Located in Stowe, Vermont they include Medieval-inspired artisans and craft vendors; mead and cider makers from around Vermont; tasty food from local chefs; musicians, dancers, acrobats, historical demos, encampments, a joust, Vikings, fairies, knights, jesters, pirates and even a unicorn!
2023 makes their 4th season! Located in Acton, Maine at the Acton Fairgrounds. Just as the other Faires they offer stalls of merchandise, plenty of food, music and entertainment as well as jousts! .
This year marks 25 years of entertainment in New England located in Lebanon, Connecticut. They offer Fantasy weekends such as Time Travelers, Pirate & Viking, Wizard Weekend and more. Your invited to dress up and and have fun! They even have contests.
King Richards Faire (link not provided)
They claim to be the largest, biggest and best. (On their website) Located in Carver, MA. 2023 makes the 42nd year, the longest running Renaissance Faire in New England. Tickets for this faire are a bit more expensive than the others. They are a for profit.
What do you wear to attend?
If you volunteer there you are to wear appropriate garb and not a store bought costume. They will help you figure it out if you need it. They are good people.
If your attending wear appropriate weather clothing and foot wear. You can also wear period garments or attire. Elves, Vikings, period gowns, mystical beasts. You name it, you can wear it.
Every one of the above are always looking for volunteers, staff, players and vendors. Just a bit of caution. There is one that will ask you to sign a disclosure, waiver or a non compete agreement. (The FTC is currently trying to ban non-compete clauses.) This means that if you volunteer for one faire you can not volunteer at another. Even if one is a for profit and one is for a non profit. They see it as a competition. Stupid? Yes it is, but it is happening currently at one faire in New England and they are loosing good people over it. This writer knows of at least 2 persons who are not returning to one faire for almost this reason. So choose your faire wisely and don't sign anything you cant or don't agree with.
This post is my personal opinion and I was not paid or compensated in any way.
