King Richard's Faire
- Dates
- Sep 5 to Oct 25, 2026
- Status
- Confirmed
- Venue
- 7 Eda Ave., Carver, MA 02330 (Edaville grounds; offices at 5 Pine Street)
- Price
- $36 to $46
- Camping
- None on site
- Last checked
- Aug 24, 2026
The experience
What's special
King Richard's Faire bills itself as New England's largest and longest-running Renaissance festival, now in its 45th season on 200 acres in Carver - an easy drive from both Boston and Providence, with free parking and kids under 4 free. The realm is laid out as eight named regions, from the Gaming Glen's hand-powered rides and axe throwing to the Wizard's Glade's forest-canopy shops, with 70+ live shows a day across 11 stages, 110+ artisans, and three jousting tournaments daily on what it calls the largest jousting field in New England. Every one of the eight weekends carries its own theme - pirates, wizards, Highland games, fandom trivia, and a Halloween finale - and each Sunday adds a separately ticketed 21+ pub crawl.
What people love
Fans call this the most lavish faire in New England - big production jousts, top-tier stage shows, beautiful costumes, and kid favorites like the dog trick show and pony rides - and families who arrive at opening report full, happy days. But recent seasons are the most polarizing in the faire's history. The 2025 move to new, flatter grounds won praise for accessibility and for ditching the old food-and-drink ticket system in favor of card payments, while drawing sustained criticism for lost woodland atmosphere, limited shade, unpleasant porta-potties, long food and shuttle lines, and heavy arrival traffic. The most persistent complaint across platforms is price: admission that reaches $46 late in the season with rides, games, food, and drink all costing extra.
Last time around
The 2025 season was the faire's first at its new Carver grounds after decades at its former wooded site, opening in early September with daredevils, acrobats, musicians, comedians, swordsmen, puppets, and a mime across its stages. Reception split sharply: some families found the new location well-run with better accessibility, card payments replacing the old ticket system, and pockets of shaded woods, while many longtime attendees mourned the old site's tree-canopy charm and criticized open sightlines, scarce shade, rough porta-potties, long food and shuttle waits, and admission that felt high for what was included. Late-season accounts described hour-long overflow-parking queues on peak days.
See the grounds
Themed weekends
Open Saturdays and Sundays plus the Monday holidays of September 7 (Labor Day) and October 12; gates 10:30 am to 6:00 pm, rain or shine
On the lanes & stages
Set in the Renaissance period. Event style: faire.
Lineup
Costumes & what to wear
Do I need a costume?
Costumes are optional and plenty of visitors come in street clothes to dress up, people-watch, and eat a turkey leg; the faire publishes a first-timers guide covering what to wear. Note the strict weapons rule: unlike faires that allow peace-tied blades, no weapons of any kind may be carried, and costume weapon props are decided case by case at the gate
Costume rules
Costumes are encouraged and optional, and must be suitable for a family-friendly atmosphere; footwear is required. Costume weapon adornments are handled case by case at the gate
Weapons policy
No weapons of any kind (guns, blades, firearms, explosives, and the like) are allowed on faire grounds. Artisans sell real weaponry, but purchases may not be brandished and must remain in original packaging. Costume weapon adornments are handled case by case at the gate
Joining in
Guest participation runs through the season: themed-weekend contests (costume contests, trivia tournaments, beer runs, Men in Kilts, Highland Games), a vow-renewal ceremony, children knighted on the Fairytale Stage, and separately ticketed 21+ pub crawls every Sunday
Getting there
How do I get to King Richard's Faire?
By train 2
No rail reaches Carver itself, but two commuter-rail stations bracket it: Middleborough station about 8 miles west (Fall River/New Bedford Line) and Kingston station about 10 miles northeast (Kingston Line), both from South Station, reachable from Logan via the fare-free Silver Line SL1. Weekend schedules are thinner than weekday, so check times on mbta.com before building a faire day around one, and plan a rideshare for the final 8-10 miles, no local bus continues to the faire
Book / info →Arriving along the Northeast Corridor, Providence Station puts you about 35 miles west of the faire, T.F. Green airport even has its own InterLink rail stop one hop away. From Providence the last leg is rideshare or rental car; no transit continues east to Carver
Book / info →By bus 1
P&B's long-running coach route connects Logan Airport and downtown Boston with Plymouth's park-and-ride on its way to Cape Cod, Plymouth is about 10 miles northeast of the faire, so finish with a short rideshare. A practical option for fly-in visitors basing themselves in Plymouth
Book / info →Taxi & rideshare 1
From Logan, Uber and Lyft pick up at each terminal's signed app-ride area for the ~45-mile run south to Carver; from T.F. Green the trip is a little shorter at ~35 miles. Both airports also have metered taxi queues. The faire's lots have a designated entrance off Route 58, drivers know Edaville
Book / info →🅿 Parking
On site parking available. Cost Free, on site, first come first served. Arrive by the 10:30 am gate opening for the closest lots. When on-site lots fill, free roundtrip shuttle buses run from auxiliary lots to the front gate. Street parking is banned on surrounding roads and violators may be fined or towed
🚙 Car hire
Compare car hire
A woodland faire in rural cranberry country 45 minutes from either airport, with free on-site parking and no transit to the gates, a rental from BOS or PVD is the simplest plan, and puts Plymouth's waterfront and Cape Cod within easy reach of a faire weekend
Search car hire →Live price search coming soon.
Where
Venue
7 Eda Ave., Carver, MA 02330 (Edaville grounds; offices at 5 Pine Street)
Camping & Accommodation
Where can I stay near King Richard's Faire?
No on site camping. Here is where to stay nearby.
Budget stays 1
Middleborough, MA
≈ $90-120 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Book direct →Mid-range hotels 3
Plymouth, MA
≈ $121-165 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Book direct →Plymouth, MA
≈ $131-180 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Book direct →Middleborough, MA
≈ $175 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Book direct →Luxe hotels 1
Airbnb & private camping
Rentals cluster around Plymouth's waterfront, the Pinehills, and the ponds of Carver and Middleborough. The faire's September-October run coincides with peak New England fall tourism and Plymouth's busy autumn season, so waterfront and pond-side listings price up on weekends, book Saturday nights well ahead
Search Airbnb →No camping at the faire, but Myles Standish State Forest, one of the largest public recreation areas in southeastern Massachusetts, with established campgrounds, borders Carver next door, and Hipcamp lists private-land sites across Plymouth County's pond-and-pine country for tent and RV travelers
Search Hipcamp →Pricing
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