California Renaissance Faires 2026

With a Side Order of Medieval, Celtic, Pirate, Viking, and Dickens’ Faires

Updated Jan 6, 2026

Huzzah! The 2026 California Renaissance Faire season is already taking shape 🎉
We’ve rounded up 16 California Renaissance Faires that have officially announced their dates or early plans for 2026. No matter where you live — north, central, south, east, or west — there’s a faire (or three) waiting for you.

Below you’ll find dates, locations, and official websites for each California Renaissance Faire so you can start plotting your garb, your travel, and your turkey-leg budget.

And if one faire is never enough: Renaissance Faires are a nationwide phenomenon, with events happening across the U.S. and abroad every year. It all began in Los Angeles in the 1960s… but we’ll share that story at the end.

Renaissance Faires CA 2026

March – April 2026

CALVERAS: 37th Annual Celtic Faire
March 6, 7, and 8, 2026
Calaveras County Fairgrounds, Angels Camp, CA
Featuring a medieval tournament with horseback riding stunts, jousting and hand-to-hand combat with swords and other medieval weapons. The Celtic Faire celebrates the cultures of Brittany (Breizh), Cornwall (Kernow), Wales (Cymru), Scotland (Alba), Ireland (Éire), Isle of Man (Mannin, or Ellan Vannin) Galicia (Galiza), and Asturias, (Asturies).

Friday, March 6th, is a special educational day called Celtic History Day. The focus is on families and students and thus no alcohol is served.

@dressmeupscotty from Instagram in a Raven Fox Capes Signature Cloak in Riding Hood Red

IRWINDALE: The Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire
Saturdays and Sundays April 5 – May 18, 2026 
Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area minutes outside of Pasadena, CA
The Renaissance Faire that started them all — this faire attracts a quarter-million people annually, reenacting a 1580s English market faire.

VISALIA: Tulare County Renaissance Festival
April 11-12, and 18-19, 2026
Plaza Park, Visalia, CA
Featuring The Knights of Mayhem. Come cheer on your favorite knight as he competes for the queen’s honor in an exciting full-armored joust.

ESCONDIDO: Renaissance Faire
April 25-26 and May 2-3, 2026
Felicita County Park
Travel back in time and witness the Battle of Hastings, fought on the 14th of October, 1066. This re-enactment captures the battle between William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy) and Harold Godwinson (King of England).

Raven Fox Hooded Men’s Cloak with POCKETS in Ranger Green / Available in Black, Red, Green and Brown

May – June 2026

GRASS VALLEY: KVMR Celtic Festival
May 1, 2, and 3, 2026
Nevada County Fair Grounds, Nevada City, CA

FRESNO: Nexus of Worlds / Pirate Festival May 16 – 17, 2026
Kearney Park, Fresno, CA
Interactive, educational, and entertainment about varied pirate and privateer eras.

SHASTA: Renaissance and Fantasy Faire
Memorial Day Weekend, May 23 – 24, 2026
Shasta District Fairgrounds, Anderson, CA
Renaissance historical re-enactment. Climb aboard the Viking ship, play games with the pirates, meet fairies, ogres, mermaids and more!

CORONA: Koroneburg Old World Festival
See website for information
Riverview Recreation Park, Eastvale, CA
Features a beautiful facsimile of a 16th Century German village.

VALLEJO: Northern California Pirate Festival (on haitus)
Vallejo Waterfront

Raven Fox Hooded Women’s Cloak with POCKETS in Robin Hood Red / Available in Black, Red, Green and Brown[/caption]

July – August 2026

SAN LUIS OBISPO: 37th Central Coast Renaissance Festival
July 18-19, 2026
Laguna Lake Park, San Luis Obispo, CA
It is the year 1585 and Queen Elizabeth I is England’s magnificent monarch. Here you’ll find legendary characters like William Shakespeare, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, and a host of famous Dukes, Earls, Lords, and Ladies. See knights in full battle armor fighting with steel swords, axes, and pole arms.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE: Valhalla Renaissance Faire
August 15-16 and 22-23, 2026
Good News! After a lengthy hiatus, the Valhalla Renaissance Faire returns. Step back in time and immerse yourself in a world of chivalry, enchantment, and merriment at the Tahoe Valley Campground. And there will be Jousting!

@itssewbecca in a Raven Fox Capes Signature Women’s Cloak in Ranger Green; has POCKETS, machine washable, available in 3 Lengths.

September – October 2026

VISTA: Viking Festival
September 19 & 20, 2026
23nd Annual Viking Faire – The Year of the Valkyrie
Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum (AGSEM) in Vista, CA

FOLSOM: 33rd Annual Folsom Renaissance Faire
September 27-28, 2026
Folsom City Lions Park, Folsom, CA

MOUNTAIN CENTER: Idyllwild Renaissance Faire
September 13-14 (2026 dates awaited)
Hurley Creek Park, 56375 CA-74, Mountain Center, CA (near Lake Hemet, CA)

Raven Fox Hooded Men’s Cloak with POCKETS in Ranger Green / Available in Black, Red, Green and Brown

BLUE LAKE: 11th Annual Medieval Festival of Courage
October 4-5, (2026 dates awaited)
Celebrating Agricultural Traditions
Perigot Park and Blue Lake Arena in Blue Lake, CA (Humboldt County)

HOLLISTER: Northern California Renaissance Faire
Weekends September 13 thru October 19 (2026 dates awaited)
Casa De Fruta, Hollister, CA

November – December 2026

SAN FRANCISCO: Great Dickens Christmas Fair
Five weekends from November 22 through December 21 including the Friday after Thanksgiving
Cow Palace, Daly City, CA
Enter the winding lanes of Victorian London and immerse yourself in a world of music halls, theaters, pubs, dance parties, and little shops filled with hand-made holiday gifts. Discover holiday revelry in this lamp-lit city with hundreds of lively characters from the imagination of Charles Dickens.

___________________________________________________________________________

Renaissance Faires Go Back to the 60’s

The idea for Renaissance Faires originated with an LA schoolteacher. She had the idea to throw a Renaissance-theme party for her high school students. The following year she and her husband, a movie art director, threw a Renaissance fair as a fundraiser for a local public radio station. That fundraising event grew into the Original Renaissance Faire that today plays out over 7 weekends every year in Southern CA and sparked interest in Renaissance Faires across the US.

As to entertainment, you’ll be treated to jousting, carousing, and on-stage and spontaneous street performances of all kinds. Don’t expect to go hungry. Food vendors sell meat pies, tea and tea sandwiches, scones, tarts, turkey legs, and beef ribs to approximately match the time period. (As well as all kinds of contemporary American fair foods.) Many attendees are costumed, in addition to the paid actors. Additionally, all faires have vendors of Medieval or Renaissance cloaks, trinkets and gifts.

New Twists on the Ren Faire Theme

The Original Southern California RenFaire ups the ante with RenQuests. Guests travel throughout the faire grounds to decipher clues, solve problems, perform daring tasks, and avoid dastardly villains. It’s a unique immersive, interactive adventure — a festival-wide escape room, if you will.

Renaissance Faires Themes

The majority of Renaissance Faire’s focus on the Reign of Elizabeth I and Shakespeare. That’s also known as the 1500’s AD and same as the first RenFaire in Los Angeles. Some Faires go back in time to Viking Times, Medieval Times, Robin Hood (1100’s AD), Chaucer (1300’s) or Arthurian Times. A few faires vary the location and take you to olden Scotland, France, Italy or Germany. And there’s at least one faire that goes forward in time, forward from the Renaissance that is! That’s the delightful San Francisco’s Great Dickens Christmas Faire!