Faire Tidings

10/09/2026

New in the Faire Tidings Crier: One Booth, Many Rulebooks.

If you sell at more than one faire a year, you already know no two faires write the same rules. New Jersey wants modern metal masked and coolers covered. Arkansas wants pop-up tents with replacement tops and no logos. Georgia wants $1,000,000 per occurrence in liability coverage and costumed staff. Texas only sells full eight-weekend contracts.

This week's issue reads six faires' own vendor pages and turns them into one plan: build to the strictest page, keep a paperwork folder per faire, pack stakes and weights, and check the calendar before the contract.

https://fairetidingscrier.substack.com/p/one-booth-many-rulebooks?utm_source=faire-tidings-crier

10/09/2026

“What do people wear?”
“What happens at a Renaissance faire?”
“Will I feel out of place?”
Every faire regular had a first visit. Your questions belong here.
With Age of Chivalry coming to Sunset Park in Las Vegas October 9 to 11, this is a good week to let curiosity win.
Faire Tidings Crier explores faire history, lore, language, and practical planning advice, helping you get to know the world beyond the costumes. Faire Tidings Crier
Start exploring with a FREE subscription:
https://fairetidingscrier.substack.com/
What’s the one thing you wish someone had told you before your first faire?

A Herald's Call to the Faire Folk of the Realm The weekly newsletter bringing verified news, profiles, and craft from across the US Renaissance faire circuit. Click to read Faire Tidings Crier, by Brian Colburn, a Substack publication. Launched 5 months ago.

10/06/2026

With Sherwood Forest Faire – I just made it onto their weekly engagement list by being one of their top engagers! 🎉

10/02/2026

Of the Vendor's Whole Reckoning, Wherein the Crier Setteth the Booth Fee Beside the Road, the Roof and the Long Winter

Booth fees are only the first line. Here is how a faire vendor's whole year adds up, and the one number worth knowing before next season.

10/01/2026

The lines form. Shields rise. Then the battle begins.

Hynafol brings hundreds of players together for large scale fantasy combat where you can charge into the action and become part of the battle yourself.

Hynafol: The Grand Gathering
November 8–15, 2026
Located at Sherwood Forest Faire
Just 35 minutes east of Austin
https://Hynafol.com

09/30/2026

Your next Las Vegas adventure could use fewer neon lights and a little more imagination.
Age of Chivalry Renaissance Festival returns to Sunset Park October 9–11. Explore artisan wares, wander through guild encampments, and discover a different way to spend the weekend. Lvrenfair
Never been to a Renaissance faire? Let this be your invitation to get curious.
Faire Tidings Crier is for the first-timer asking “What is all this?” and the longtime faire-goer answering “Come see.”
Learn more about the world of Renaissance faires by subscribing for FREE:
https://fairetidingscrier.substack.com/
Who would you bring along for the adventure?

A Herald's Call to the Faire Folk of the Realm The weekly newsletter bringing verified news, profiles, and craft from across the US Renaissance faire circuit. Click to read Faire Tidings Crier, by Brian Colburn, a Substack publication. Launched 5 months ago.

08/26/2026

January in Florida. February in Arizona. Bristol in summer. Maryland in fall.

Issue 17 of the Faire Tidings Crier is the seasonal calendar issue: where to go when, and how to plan a faire year that does not collide with itself.

Arrives Thursday morning. Free to subscribe.

08/21/2026

Consent first. Composition second. Timing always.

We read the published photography policies at four Renaissance faires this week: Michigan, Minnesota, the Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Southern California, and Ohio. No two of them said the same thing. One bans tripods outright. One bans only the tripods that block a walkway. One forbids filming any free show without written permission. One holds that walking through the gate grants the faire permission to use your likeness.

One rule runs through all four, and Ohio says it plainest: ask permission before taking a picture with a performer.

Tonight's Crier has the four rulebooks side by side, three habits that fix most faire photos, and how to photograph a working performer without making it weird.

08/19/2026

Mark the light, mind the rules: Issue 16 of the Faire Tidings Crier is the faire photography issue. What to shoot, when to shoot it, and the consent rule everyone should know before pointing a camera at a performer.

Arrives Thursday morning. Free to subscribe.

08/13/2026

The Royal Tier is the headline. The hidden gems are where the regulars find their next favorite.

Today's Faire Tidings Crier commends five lesser-known faires to you, every one verified in our directory and checked against the faire's own site this week: a third-year festival in Bozeman, an 8-dollar charity faire in Janesville, a 28-season overachiever in Connecticut, a permanent medieval village in Washington, and six themed weekends in Arkansas. Four of the five still have 2026 dates ahead.

Which one are you most likely to visit? Vote in today's poll, and tell us YOUR hidden gem below.