King Richard’s Faire is the largest Renaissance festival in New England, set in a wooded village at 235 Main Street in Carver, Plymouth County. Our record has it running weekends from August 29 through October 25, 2026, with costumed performers, jousting, aerial acts and a permanent purpose-built site. It was established in 1982 and draws roughly 150,000 people across a season.
It is also the most expensive single admission in the Massachusetts autumn. Adult entry is $38, child entry is $22, and children under 4 enter at no charge. Nothing else we track in the same window comes close. That gap is the honest starting point for deciding whether to go, so this guide spends most of its length on it rather than on describing jousting.
What $38 looks like next to the rest of the season
Twenty-seven verified Massachusetts events overlap the King Richard’s window. The ones people actually weigh it against are the big agricultural fairs, and their adult admissions are a fraction of it.
The Big E is $20 for seventeen days of programming in West Springfield, September 18 to October 4. Spencer Fair is $18 across Labor Day weekend. Topsfield Fair, the oldest county fair in the country, is $15 for its eleven-day run, October 2 to 12. Marshfield Fair is $12. The Cranberry Harvest Celebration in Wareham is $10.
So King Richard’s costs roughly twice The Big E and about two and a half times Topsfield. The defence of that price is that it is a different product: a built themed village with continuously scheduled performance, rather than a livestock and midway fair. Whether that trade is worth double is a judgement, not a fact, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What we can say plainly is that the Massachusetts autumn offers a great deal between $10 and $20, and King Richard’s is not competing on price.
The child pricing is the part worth doing arithmetic on
Child admission is $22 and under-4s enter at no charge. For two adults and two children over 4 that is $120 at the gate, before parking, food, or anything bought inside the village.
The same family at Topsfield pays $15 per adult. At the Cranberry Harvest Celebration in Wareham, the closest comparable event in King Richard’s own county, adults are $10. Families sensitive to that difference should know it before they arrive, because a Renaissance faire is a place designed to keep selling to you after you are through the gate. Costume hire, food stalls, artisan booths and paid attractions are the model, not extras bolted onto it.
October is when the Massachusetts calendar gets crowded
The Faire’s August and early September weekends are relatively quiet. October is not, and if you are combining a trip you should know what else is running.
Topsfield Fair takes October 2 to 12 in Essex County. The Big E runs through October 4. Salem Haunted Happenings occupies the entire month in Salem, which is the single biggest draw on Massachusetts roads in October and reshapes traffic well beyond Essex County. The Cranberry Harvest Celebration takes October 10 to 11 in Wareham, and Wellfleet OysterFest takes October 17 to 18 out on the Cape.
Because King Richard’s repeats every weekend, none of these force a choice on you. That is the practical advantage of a recurring event over a one-shot fair, and it is worth using deliberately: pick a Faire weekend that avoids whichever of these you do not want to share a road with.
Its own county, and the nearest neighbours
King Richard’s sits in Plymouth County, and two other Plymouth County events fall in or near its run. Marshfield Fair runs August 20 to 30, so its final weekend touches the Faire’s opening one. The Cranberry Harvest Celebration in Wareham is October 10 to 11, squarely inside the Faire’s season and about half an hour away.
Further afield but worth knowing: the North Quabbin Garlic & Arts Festival in Orange takes September 26 to 27 at $12 adult, out in Franklin County.
What our record does not tell you
Two things to confirm with the organizer before committing. First, our data carries an August 29 start with an end date of October 25, but the note attached to the same record describes the season as beginning on Labor Day weekend, which in 2026 falls on September 7. Those two statements do not agree, so we are not going to assert an opening weekend or count the weekends for you. Check the official schedule for the first day.
Second, Renaissance faires of this length typically run themed weekends, and we do not carry the theme calendar. If you are going for a specific weekend theme rather than just going, that information comes from the organizer, not from a directory. The same applies to any advance ticket pricing, which frequently differs from the gate price we record.
