Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire

07/29/2025

20 Pounds of hay per day.

07/08/2025

If you are having a hard time downloading vendor apps please email [email protected]

07/08/2025

05/26/2025

Application deadline has been extended to July 15th. The office is closed until June 6th.

04/16/2025

Happy Easter from Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire with a little Easter history!

Early Anglo-Saxons celebrated the goddess of spring and fertility named Eostre, or Eostrae, from which we get the word Easter. Eggs as symbols of birth and life most likely have their roots in both pagan and early Christian beliefs and is the most common surviving tradition of Easter. King Henry VIII received a lavishly decorated egg in a silver case from the Pope, before his break with Rome.

Easter can fluctuate from year to year by what seems like several days. Easter Sunday is chosen as the first Sunday after the full Paschal Moon and comes from the Greek and Latin Word for Passover (Pascha). Romans used different methods to calculate Easter’s date, often relying on the intricacies of lunar and solar cycles, including a 19-year Metonic cycle of the moon. The Catholic church created a fixed date of March 21 known as the ecclesiastical equinox. Therefore, the full moon that happens on or after March 21 decides the next Sunday after it as Easter Sunday.

Queen Elizabeth I was a Protestant, and although numerous traditions of the Catholic Church surrounding Easter were altered, Lent—the 40-day period preceding Easter Sunday—continued to be observed. This period involved fasting, the giving of alms to the poor and parish churches, abstinence from meat, and at times throughout history, abstinence from intimate relations. Easter became one of the biggest feast days and celebrations during the 16th century.

03/13/2025

March Mayhem Madness! We are pleased to announce that Captain Charlie Mason Andrews and the Knights of Mayhem will be returning to Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire September 13-14, 2025! Let’s show the Knights of Mayhem and Captain Charlie Mason Andrews how excited we are to see them again!

Your challenge is to share with us, in the comments below, a picture of your own recreation of a joust. Be creative and have fun! Use Legos, Peeps, or pool noodles-use your imagination!

02/15/2025

The present day we bray out the birth of our beloved fair yond hath reached 29 years fusty. Thee art invited to bray out this momentous nonce with us in the comment section below.

One lucky commenter will win a family 4-pack consisting of two adult tickets and two children’s tickets for our event this year, September 13-14, 2025.

12/31/2024

Happy New Year from the Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire!

While many people around the world end their Christmas season with New Year’s Eve parties, Elizabethan era parties were quite festive and full of traditions that extended to January 6th, also known as Epiphany.

Epiphany marked the last day of the twelve days of Christmas and was often celebrated with elaborate masques which were a combination of opera, ballet, theatrical performances and a ball. There is a theory that Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night, or What You Will” was written and performed for one year’s Twelfth Night celebration somewhere around 1601-1602. Masques were usually allegorical and demonstrated the wisdom and right of the monarch’s right to rule. Lavish gifts were given to the Queen as evidenced by lists of those gifts, including the gifts the Queen gave in return, that can be found at the British Library. These gift registries are a snapshot of royal culture and history in Elizabethan England. Another feature of Twelfth Night was a special cake baked with a bean and a pea in it. Whoever found the bean was crowned Lord of Misrule for the night, and whoever found the pea was named Queen of the Pea. It is believed that these cakes were a tradition held over from the Romans’ festival of Saturnalia. Interestingly, carnival season begins on Twelfth Night and culminates on Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras. King cakes popular for Mardi Gras are believed to be an extension of those early Twelfth Night cakes.

12/13/2024

An Elizabethan Christmas!

A traditional Elizabethan Christmas was celebrated over twelve days. From December 25th- January 6th. These twelve days were filled with traditions that have been carried over to our modern-day celebrations. A “Kissing Bough” can be seen in our modern-day tradition of hanging mistletoe and our traditions of food. Elizabethans would choose a commoner (usually) to be the “Lord of Misrule” whose job was to oversee the planning and ex*****on of the celebrations for those twelve days. His job was to see that games, merriment, processions, and food were different and fun each day. In Scotland he was known as the “Abbot of Unreason” and in Fance the “Prince des Sots.” January 6th was the culmination of the celebration and when gifts were typically given. Someone, or more than one, would be chosen as the “Plough Boys” whose job it was to get everyone back to work the next day. “Plough Day” signified getting back to work in the largely agricultural society of Elizabethan England.

For all of you who like to play in the days of yore, while living in this modern age, Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire has some suggestions to help you celebrate your own twelve days of Christmas in an Elizabethan style with a modern twist. Gather your family and friends to help with this. Here are our suggestions (in the comment section) for making your season bright and memorable. Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire wishes you a Happy Holiday Season!

1. Pick your calendar of 12 days according to your work and school schedules.
2. Designate your own Lord of Misrule or work together with family and friends to choose a person responsible for each of the 12 days’ festivities/activities.
3. Day one- Yule logs were decorated and brought into the hearth to be lit. It had to be large enough to last the entire 12 days. A modern-day twist is to decorate a log with greenery, ribbons, pinecones, and candles that can be safely lit. Use your Yule log as a centerpiece on a mantle or table. Let everyone in the family help make your Yule log.

11/28/2024

November has been called the “month of gratitude,” and Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire would like to share what we are grateful for.

We are grateful to each of our patrons. Faire is not faire without the magic of your smiling faces and presence. So, we want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to you for coming out each year to see what magic has been created. We are grateful that you trust us to entertain and amaze you every year. Thank you.

We are grateful to every single volunteer. Whether you are behind the scenes where patrons never see you, a volunteer who jumps into wherever they are needed, or one of the many guild members who play with the patrons in the streets of Shrewsbury, we are grateful for you. All of you wield a magic that transforms a field (practically overnight) into a bustling village in the 1500’s during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign. Thank you.

To our entertainers and vendors, we are grateful for your dedication to the craft of creating smiles and laughter, along with wonderful and artfully made products for all of us. We are grateful that you return year after year to play faire with us and our patrons. We are grateful that you (as many of you have told us) schedule your shows and events to include us on your rosters. Thank you.

Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire wishes all of you a Happy Thanksgiving.

11/17/2024

Queen’s Day!

Queen Elizabeth I ascended the throne of England on November 17, 1558 just hours after the death of her half-sister Mary I. Elizabeth I’s ascension to the throne has been seen by many as changing the entire course of England’s future. Her ascension to the throne was celebrated with bonfires, ringing of the bells, tilts (jousts), feasting, and giving alms to the poor for over 300 years. There are several accounts of these celebrations during Elizabeth I’s time. While it is not the national holiday that it once was, the village of Berry Pomeroy in Devon resurrected the celebration in 2005.

Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire is set during the years of Elizabeth I’s reign. Our own Queen of Shrewsbury invites you to celebrate Queen’s Day with us by donating shelf-stable food and hygiene products to your local food bank.