King Richard’s Faire is back as New England’s largest and longest-running Renaissance festival!
This year marks the 42nd season of King Richard’s Faire in Carver, MA. Open now on weekends through October 22 (including the Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day Monday holiday), you don’t want to miss out on this New England tradition! Faire hours are 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day.
For the 42nd year, King Richard’s Faire offers a full season of music and merriment as New England’s largest and longest-running Renaissance Faire. Located on an enchanting 80-acre wooded site off Rt. 58 in Carver, Mass., the Faire’s shady tree-lined paths lead visitors through a magical village ruled by King Richard, Queen Anne and their royal court. The Renaissance-themed festival welcomes visitors to spend the day amongst colorful acrobats, aerialists, jugglers, fire-eaters, musicians, dancers, and puppeteers throughout the realm.
During this exciting season, King Richard’s Faire offers the region’s best live entertainment, including eight stages featuring hundreds of local and national performers, shopping, and exciting rides and games for a full day to “escape YOUR reality.” Guests of all ages will be dazzled by brave knights battling three times daily on the jousting tournament field, and bawdy beggars competing in the Mud Pit. Frolicking faeries can be seen dancing through the forest, and wee ones can ride a unicorn and watch royal dogs perform tricks on stage. Throughout the realm, happy villagers help Faire attendees escape into a fantastical, whimsical world where they can interact with performers, puppets, pirates, pipers and princesses for an entire day. Unlike a stage or filmed production, King Richard’s Faire connects on a personal level for a full day of live, immersive entertainment unlike any other theatrical attraction.
NEW entertainment in 2023: Huzzah for laundry! A fan favorite, The Washing Well Wench show returns their unique brand of good clean fun on the Twin Tavern Stage with new cousins Tansy and Pippa on the hunt for a new spouse and hilariously harkening audience members to “help” with the laundry! Also new in 2023: the Rowdy Bardlings band splits the season with talented musicians Pict’s Pipers, and comedian Jim Mackenzie brings his unique antics to the Faire alongside our popular one-wheeled Jamey Mossengren, the “Unicycling Unicorn,” a tall talent towering 14 feet high! And as always, King Richard’s Faire offers an original musical featuring King Richard, Queen Anne, and a cast of characters in two acts on the King’s Stage at 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. This year’s musical features an entertaining blend of Renaissance Faire-themed pop/Broadway parodies, making the show perfect for all ages, young and old.
New artisans in 2023 include Singletree Hats, Hair Spirals and Etched Metals; Dragon’s Den Candles; Sanctum Folklorica candles; Peace Light Apothecary with goat’s milk soaps, scrubs and sprays; Shepherd’s Moon Jewelry; Palace Plaits Renaissance-style hair braiding; The Art of Glass featuring hand-blown glass creations; Iron Fox Forge, our first female metalsmith artist; Ye Olde Horn Shoppe with hand carved drinking horns; and Queen Elizabeth’s Closet offering fanciful fans whimsical hats for thy head.
EPICUREAN DELIGHTS: In between the magical entertainment and shopping, guests can feast like royalty on two-pound spit-roasted turkey legs, dragon wings, boules of chowder or stew, ringlets of fryes, giant onion blossoms, and many more delicacies. The King’s Cook enjoys providing gluten-free, vegetarian and lactose-free options for those who require it. Thirst may be quenched with champagne, specialty cocktails, wine, hard cider, mead, or beer at many locations throughout the realm. For those princes or princesses with a sweet tooth, the kitchens offer delectable cakes, cookies, baked apple desserts, a variety of ice creamy concoctions, and many other sweet treats.
THE GAMING GLEN IS OPEN! Test thy strength, skill and stomach on any of 18 glorious and exciting rides and games in our Gaming Glen. Throw an authentic axe or knife, shoot an arrow like a brave hunter, test thy strength on the Giant Stryker and ring a bell, or simply enjoy the breeze on our man-powered Hurlinator, Pirate Ships, Flying Gryffin. Play hide and seek in M’Lady’s Shady Maze or conquer your foe on the Dragon Joust… and in the magical Gaming Glen, heroic winners are rewarded with prizes and lauded publicly!
HANDCRAFTED WARES FROM ARTISANS NEAR AND FAR: Our talented artisans create one-of-a-kind treasures from near and far. Discover beautiful handspun pottery, sparkling crystals and jewelry, and artistic face painting as well as Renaissance-style hair braids, metal wraps and floral garland wreaths for thine head. Delight in period clothing, leather and moccasins, armor, dancing wings, and musical instruments of all kinds. Watch as our blacksmiths demonstrate the forging of weaponry and revel in handmade scented oils, perfumes and apothecary goods. Lastly, psychic readers are ready to forecast your future. These talented artisans help make memories that you can take home, and that last long after the final drum jam.
MUSICIANS AND MERRIMENT: Stroll between stages and shoppes and there’s magical moments unscripted at every turn. The Faire’s cast of roving musicians, Villagers and other clever characters may interact with guests, pose for pictures, and make memories that last a lifetime. Sometimes magic is performed on stage and sometimes it just appears while you are eating a giant turkey leg or in line buying a brew. Entertainers of the realm can be found all day: Miracle Fish Puppets, Hamm Lynn, Hyper Piper, The Enchanted Mystickals fairies, Buzzard Bay Buccaneers pirates, Portland Pipers, Dave the Minstrel, Bartholomew the Bard, Brynne on the Harp, Asta la Vista harpist, and Maypole Dancing at 1:30 p.m. daily.
TICKETS/TIPS: Guests are encouraged to skip the box office line and pre-purchase tickets online at kingrichardsfaire.net, and may choose the date of their visit (NEW this year). Note: pet animals are not allowed unless they are legally identified service animals, and no outside food or beverages are allowed into the Fairgrounds. Cosplayers and costumes are welcome! See our website for more FAQs and details.
Visit kingrichardsfaire.net for a site map, special events and entertainment schedules, and ticket information.