Maryland Renaissance Festival
- Dates
- Expected August 2026
- Status
- Confirmed
- Venue
- Revel Grove, 1821 Crownsville Road
- Price
- $31
- Camping
- None on site
- Last checked
- Aug 22, 2026
Maryland Renaissance Festival returns to Crownsville, MD, Expected August 2026, with Shakespeare's Skum and The Sherwood Forest Singers. Froligo tracks the confirmed lineup, current ticket prices, attendee feedback and travel details.
The experience
What's special
The Maryland Renaissance Festival, marking its 50th anniversary season in 2026, is set in Revel Grove, a fictional 16th-century English village in a natural forest setting outside Annapolis. Admission covers eight stages of shows, jousting, street entertainment, and pub and tavern performances, with roughly 200 professional performers across the grounds and more than 140 artisans exhibiting crafts, since 1986 the festival's craft jury has, with few exceptions, accepted only handcrafted products made by the sellers themselves. It is also one of the harder faires to get into on a whim: the festival is capacity-limited, sells tickets online only through a single official provider with anti-scalping measures, and regularly sells out days in advance, with a Villager membership program for its most frequent visitors and a wedding chapel program in the village
What people love
Attendees repeatedly single out the artisan shopping, handmade wares with little repetition between vendors, along with food that many rate cheaper and better than comparable faires, a rustic, authentic woodland atmosphere, and constant shows capped by the beloved end-of-day pub sing. Regulars describe it as a happy place they attend many times a season, and quieter wooded trails offer an escape when the lanes fill up. The consistent complaints are crowds and their knock-on effects: food and drink lines that can run an hour on peak days, thick dust in dry weeks, porta-potties rather than plumbed toilets (though several visitors note they are surprisingly well maintained), no shade at the jousting arena, and sell-out days that make last-minute trips impossible
See it before you go
See the grounds
On the lanes & stages
Set in the Renaissance period. Event style: faire.
Costumes & what to wear
Do I need a costume?
Dressing up is entirely optional, regulars stress that plenty of visitors come in regular clothes and nobody minds, while others go all-out, and renaissance-inspired pieces of any quality fit right in. A common approach is to start simple and buy nicer garb pieces at the festival itself. On-site costume rentals are available first-come, first-served, with all rentals returned by 6:00 PM each day
Costume rules
Patrons are welcomed to wear costumes suitable for a family-friendly atmosphere; costumes must be family-friendly and may not be offensive, objectionable, or violent, and all headwear must be removable upon entry and thematic to the event
Weapons policy
No weapons, costume or real, are allowed
Joining in
Patrons are not permitted to perform and cannot bring in musical instruments, hula hoops, or other items that could be used in a performance; amplified sound is not permitted. All performers are paid by the King's purse and will not ask for or accept tips
Getting there
How do I get to Maryland Renaissance Festival?
By car
Most people drive to Maryland Renaissance Festival. Check current road and traffic conditions before you set off, and see parking below.
By train
No passenger rail line reaches Annapolis or Crownsville, so the train gets you as far as BWI Marshall Rail Station, which sits next to the festival's nearest airport. BWI's free 24/7 shuttle bus links the airport terminal and the rail station every few minutes, and MARC Penn Line commuter trains connect the station with Baltimore Penn Station and Washington Union Station; Amtrak Northeast Corridor trains also call there from Philadelphia and New York. From BWI, finish the trip to the festival by rideshare, rental car, or the BayRunner shuttle to Annapolis
Book / info →By bus & public transit
BayRunner runs a scheduled shared-ride shuttle between BWI Marshall Airport and Annapolis, with advance online or phone booking. The shuttle serves Annapolis proper, not the festival gate, the Crownsville festival grounds are about 8 miles northwest of downtown Annapolis, so plan a taxi or rideshare for the last leg. No conventional intercity coach (Greyhound/FlixBus) route serves Annapolis or Crownsville
Book / info →Taxi & rideshare
Rideshare pickup at BWI is along the outer curb of the Departures/Upper Level between Doors 5-12. The drive from BWI to the festival grounds in Crownsville is about 20 miles, mostly via I-97 South. On busy sold-out festival days, book the return ride before the end-of-day rush
Book / info →Taxis and rideshare such as Uber and Lyft can be limited near the venue, especially late at night or in rural areas. Agree a pickup point and time in advance and keep a backup plan.
🅿 Parking
On site parking available. Cost Free. Parking at the festival is free for all customers in the festival's own lots, follow parking staff directions on arrival. Handicap parking is available next to the Main Gate; ask the parking crew to direct you. There is no prepaid or reserved parking product
🚙 Car hire
Compare car hire
A rental car is the simplest option for fly-in visitors: the festival sits in rural Crownsville with no transit to the gate, parking is free, and BWI's on-airport rental facility puts the grounds about 25 minutes away
Search car hire →Live price search coming soon.
Where
Venue
Revel Grove, 1821 Crownsville Road
Camping & Accommodation
Where can I stay near Maryland Renaissance Festival?
No on site camping. Here is where to stay nearby.
Budget stays 1
2600 Housley Road, Annapolis, MD
≈ $100-150 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Book direct →Mid-range hotels 1
126 West Street, Annapolis, MD
≈ $140-200 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Book direct →Luxe hotels 1
100 Westgate Circle, Annapolis, MD
≈ $180-260 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Book direct →Airport hotels 1
890 Elkridge Landing Road, Linthicum Heights, MD
≈ $120-160 / night approx, book direct with the hotel
Book direct →Airbnb & private camping
Annapolis has a deep short-term-rental market (historic-district homes, waterfront cottages, and suburban houses toward Crownsville). Festival weekends overlap with Annapolis's busy fall sailing and boat-show season, so book early for late-September and October weekends
Search Airbnb →No camping is offered at the festival itself, but Hipcamp lists private-land tent and RV sites across central Maryland, including options in the Annapolis-Baltimore corridor within an easy drive of Crownsville, a lower-cost base for a multi-day faire trip
Search Hipcamp →Accessibility & comfort
What the organiser or venue publishes about getting around, and what they do not.
The terrain is a natural forest setting with mulch, stone, and soil ground cover, and there are hills. Each privy area has an accessible Port-A-John. Motorized or sport-style wheelchairs are the most suitable; hospital-style chairs are not advised.
Handicapped parking is available next to the Main Gate
Confirm your specific needs with the organiser's access team before you travel.
Pricing
Price history and tiers
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