Hear ye, hear ye: 7 weekends of fun fit for a king at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival
Travel back in time to 14th century Europe at The Kansas City Renaissance Festival. Every weekend from September 2nd through October 15th, including Labor Day and Columbus Day, guests can pay heed to the exploits of jousting knights on thundering steeds, roam the village shops for unique crafts, feast on delicious food and drinks from far reaches of the globe, and delight in live entertainment, comedy, music, magic, and more.
The Renaissance Festival has been a local tradition since it began in September 1977 as a benefit to the Kansas City Art Institute. Since then, the festival has grown to be one of the largest in the United States. Every year, 200,000 lads and lasses are welcomed into the 16-acre kingdom for seven back-to-back weekends of medieval madness.
Want to know what to expect when you don your garbs and gowns and enter the castle gates? Here’s everything that awaits you and your family at the festival.
What's
- Throne of Swords Tavern
- Dirty Pickle Liquor Bar
- Highland Hill Scottish Encampment
- Costume rental shoppe
- Colossal mystical dragon of Canterbury
- Plague Escape – Find your way out in 20 minutes to avoid contracting the deadly disease!
Seven weekends, seven themes
One Renaissance Festival, seven different themes. Each weekend, you’ll find yourself immersed in a lively village with medieval entertainment and decor. Be ready to travel back in time and get ready for battle because each themed weekend brings unique games, contests, and fun.
1. Passport to the World, September 2, 3 & 4: The first weekend kicks off with friendly competitions galore, including contests in hula-hooping, jumbo polish sausage eating, belly dancing, fantasy masks creation, and best costume.
2. Highland Gathering, September 9 & 10: Prepare your legs and stomach because this weekend is filled with the Highland Games Championship, best kilt contest, potato sack races, a haggis eating competition, hula-hoop competition, and a costume contest.
3. Ales and Tails, September 16 & 17: This weekend invites your canine friends to join the fun with a dog-costume contest, hot “dog” eating competition, best dog trick competition, Corgi race, and a “sit means sit” competition. There will also be an exciting longbow archery championship.
4. Shamrocks and Shenanigans, September 23 & 24: Prep your fighting skills for the annual fencing competition this weekend. Also happening is a root beer chug, steampunk costume contest, Irish stout sausage eating competition, potato sack races, keg toss, and a best kilt competition.
5. Wine and Romance Delight, September 30 & October 1: This weekend is all about the romance! Join us for our Wedding of the Century event, a couples’ water balloon toss, a longest kiss competition, the newlywed game, and a three-legged race in which you can compete against other couples. There will also be costume and red-wine-sausage-eating contests.
6. Buccaneer Beer Fest, October 7 & 8: It’s time to bring in the pirates. Join in on our beard and tattoo contest among other smaller pirate-themed contests. You can also try one of our daily contests like the hula-hoop contest, costume contest, or the pale ale sausage eating competitions.
Harvest Huzzah, October 9: Harvest Huzzah, an annual tradition for the Kansas City Renaissance Festival, occurs on Columbus Day Monday. Come see the festival grounds turn into a living history book for kids to truly experience what they are learning in school. The special educational event include, a living-history tour where kids and their families get to meet characters from the Renaissance and learn about the unique music, dance, fencing, art, blacksmithing, and fashion of the era. Though Harvest Huzzah is a special day, these occurrences do take place throughout the festival. The festival is open to the public that day and we encourage adults to join in on the fun!
7. Witches and Wizards, October 14 & 15: The castle gates of Canterbury close after this final weekend filled with a hula-hoop competition, the final costume contest, another eating competition, fairy house auction, and kids’ fantasy hair competition.
Daily royal events
In addition to the special themed activities, each weekend offers a lineup of several repeating events. A few popular ones include:
Vine, Vino, and Da Vinci: Unleash your inner artist during a refreshing painting class where you can enjoy a glass of wine and hors d’oeuvres while creating a keepsake masterpiece with the guidance of a knowledgeable artisan.
Chocolate and Mead Tasting: This event is a great fit for the sweet-toothed among us who want to partake in a nectar-filled journey through four pairings of delicious mead and delectable chocolates.
Queen’s Tea: You and the kids can join the Queen and her ladies for a whimsical time of stories and songs during this event. Delight in both sweet and savory snacks upon high tea.
Visit the website to learn more about daily royal events.
Fantastical fun
The realm of fun for little lords and ladies is just as fun for the lads and lassies of yonder years. The stretch of attractions include Scotty Fox the loveable puppet, fairy tale characters, knights in training, Merry men recruitments, wand making and testing, story time, and rides.
Every day, the wee ones can also enjoy Fairy Time Treats in the forest, where they will dine on sweet cakes and lemonade as the fairies tell stories about their magical adventures and merriment while fashioning a creation made with enchanted fairy dust.
Medieval marketplace and entertainment
In the village, you’ll find a marketplace with over 100 artisan vendors and booths selling food fit for a king, like apple dumplings, corn dogs, caramel apples, crepes, bratwurst, burgers, fried mac and cheese, and more.