The Maryland Renaissance Festival is a

Renaissance fair A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire or Renaissance festival is an outdoor gathering open to the public and typically commercial in nature, which purportedly recreates a historical setting for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent the ...

located in

Crownsville Crownsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,757 at the 2010 census. It hosts the Anne Arundel County Fair each September, as well as the annual Maryland Renaissance Festival ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Set in a fictional 16th-century English village named ''Revel Grove'', the festival is spread over . It is open from the last weekend of August and runs for nine weekends.

History

In the early 1970s, Minnesota lawyer Jules Smith Sr. (1930–2018) invested in George Coulam's

Minnesota Renaissance Festival The Minnesota Renaissance Festival is a Renaissance fair, an interactive outdoor event which focuses on recreating the look and feel of a fictional 16th Century "England-like" fantasy kingdom. It operates during seven consecutive weekends, from mi ...

. A few years later, Coulam left the Minnesota festival and started the

Texas Renaissance Festival The Texas Renaissance Festival (dubbed the Ren Fest) is an annual Renaissance fair located in Todd Mission, Texas, about 55 miles northwest of Houston. The Texas Renaissance Festival (TRF) started in 1974 on the location of an old strip mining s ...

, and Smith sold his shares in the Minnesota festival and organized a similar festival in Maryland, near

Merriweather Post Pavilion Merriweather Post Pavilion is an outdoor concert venue located within Symphony Woods, a lot of preserved land in the heart of the planned community of Columbia, Maryland. In 2010, Merriweather was named the second best amphitheater in the Unit ...

in Columbia. The fair was first held for four weekends in 1977 and drew 17,000 people to see performances by

Penn and Teller Penn may refer to: Places England * Penn, Buckinghamshire * Penn, West Midlands United States * Penn, North Dakota * Penn, Oregon * Pennsylvania ** Penn, Pennsylvania * Penn Lake Park, Pennsylvania * Penn Township (disambiguation), several muni ...

and

The Flying Karamazov Brothers The Flying Karamazov Brothers (FKB) are a juggling and comedy troupe that has been performing since 1973. They learned their trade busking as street artists starting in Santa Cruz, California, eventually going on to perform nationally and internat ...

among others. In 1985, the fair was moved to its current location in Crownsville and in 1986 Smith turned over the management of the fair to his son Jules Smith Jr., who still runs the festival with three siblings. The festival was originally an Elizabethan fair, but in 1989 switched to being focused on

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. King Henry is played by actor Fred Nelson, replacing Bill Huttel, after Huttel's death in 2001. On July 22, 2020, the Maryland Renaissance Festival announced that it would not operate in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Fair

The

English Tudor English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

village is of woods and fields. There are more than 130

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...

shops and 42 food outlets. More than 1,300 participants populate the village, 400 work directly for the company, 700 for the other vendors and 200 as performers on stages or as characters throughout the village. The Maryland Renaissance Festival utilizes eight major theaters, four smaller stages in taverns, a children's area and a jousting tiltyard with seating for 3,000. The fair contains an elephant and camel that groups of fairgoers pay to ride. In 2014,

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

, speaking on behalf of

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; , stylized as PeTA) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. PETA reports that PETA entities have ...

, wrote a letter asking that the rides be cancelled because of exploitation and abuse associated with using animals in this fashion. Born Free USA also protested on a road outside the fair.

References

External links

Official website
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Renaissance Festival A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire or Renaissance festival is an outdoor gathering open to the public and typically commercial in nature, which purportedly recreates a historical setting for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent the ...

Tourist attractions in Anne Arundel County, Maryland 1977 establishments in Maryland Renaissance fairs Festivals established in 1977

History

Fair

See also

References

External links