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November 2024 by Stephanie Lucas
Somehow in my many years of being a nerd- I've never been to this Renaissance Faire. We drove together early on a Saturday morning expecting rain and easily found free parking at the time the faire opened.
The faire is a high quality immersive experience with plenty of character actors that you can follow around all day. Its incredible to me how many plots are happening if you really pay attention to what's happening around you. I really think there's something for everyone.
The faire has a great selection of shows, tournaments, magic, food and games. The bathrooms were clean. Shops are expensive- but most feature unique items that are of quality. Don't come here on a budget- you're going to spend.
Drinks were great. The food was good. I would come back and would have loved to stay longer.
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November 2024 by J B
Some of the most fun I've ever had in my life. Also shout out to the lady at the horns booth. She said she's a pet groomer and I'm sure she's great at that too.
And she let me switch the horns (still perfect condition) a few hours later when I wanted a different pair, and the horns are very durable. I sat on them and they didn't break which was pretty dope. Worth the price.
There are a ton of free and paid things to do. Take your friends, take your family, hell take yourself.
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November 2024 by Maria Petrivski
Amazing place to visit with kids. We're going there every year. Food is so authentic and delicious. We enjoyed every single show and performance. Make sure you'll be dressed up.
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November 2024 by Larisa Oldano
One of my family's favorite event to attend. So many great shows to watch. Great place to bring kids and have a blast. Items are a bit pricy to buy and you will wait in long food lines. So fun to see all the costumes people wear and how into character the staff is. Get there early even if you have to sit in the parking lot because the traffic does build. We go every year and never had a bad time.
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November 2024 by Rosa bella
Long time attendee. Each year it gets more and more disappointing. Way too many vendors, super long lines, in spite of the added on eateries and vendors, bare bones music and villagers. We used to go every weekend, now once is more than enough.
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November 2024 by Jenny Gartshteyn
We came the last day of the season and had a wonderful day. It started in the parking lot where the parking staff were incredibly friendly, which is so unexpected from a busy place like this! We had little kids with us, and the parking staff were so kind with helping us park close to the exit and unload. The rest of the day was just as lovely with great shows and wonderful personalities all throughout the park. The people working here really do seem to enjoy it, which makes it a wonderful event to attend!
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October 2024 by Demitri Tubito
The organization, management, and convenience is absolutely terrible. The only good part were the shows/performers. The main food stand did not have sign that said stated it was cash only, but then you'll wait in line for 30+minutes only to get to the front of the line for them to say "sorry, only cash." They haven't even thought to include a big sign that says "cash only" for convenience. Come on.... Not to mention everything has its own line. If you want a Turkey leg, it's one line. If you want a soft pretzel, different line. You want pizza? That's another line.. Want drinks? That's another line... Imagine going with family and having to wait in multiple lines, taking 2 hours just to get food and drinks. It doesn't make sense. You should be able to order multiple/various items on each line.
There are many other things I can complain about including the parking, extremely overpriced small cup of mead that you'll wait 30 min on line for.
The only reason I gave it 2 stars were because of the performers. Otherwise I would give it 1.
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October 2024 by A.W. K
NYRF is a mere shell of what is was. Every square foot now has a vendor! It is an outdoor shopping mall. There are no villagers roaming around in character interacting with the visitors. Barely any music!! So boring! You just walk amongst the masses of patrons, passing shop after shop, heading to a show 20 minutes early in order to get a seat. You do not feel as if you "travel back in time" at all. Getting there at 9 and waiting an hour at the front gate with a huge crowd and absolutely no entertainment except for a FIVE minute boring routine recited by Maid Marion and the Sheriff is torture. The maypole has moved to a ridiculous spot so as to put MORE vendors in the previous maypole area. The peace of roaming down Queens Highway is now gone too as there are, yep , more vendors and a new stage. The show entertainers are the only redeeming part of the faire, but for 50 bucks a person plus tips, seeing them once is enough. Each year it has been disappointing more and more and this year, 2024 was the worst so it will be our last which is sad since we have been going since 1997. Spending the entire day at the faire as a magical escape from the "real" world was our summer highlight, now it is a day of stress and boredom and greed. NYRF will always get the numbers since they are so close to major cities so I doubt they will put any money into better music or hiring more actors to roam as villagers now that the bar is set so low and they are still selling out. And BEWARE! the traffic will NEVER cease to be a problem because they have to continually stop the traffic in order for the patrons to get across the road!
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October 2024 by Adrián Ramírez
It is a magical place that transports you to the renaissance era , people are dressed in costumes and that gives it a more magical touch, exhibiting free shows with their respective schedules. They have delicious food and souvenirs at very good prices. It is a place to go with the family and enjoy the whole day. Some suggestions are:
Go in costume (optional)
Wear comfortable tennis shoes to walk around a lot
Bring sunscreen and insect repellent.
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October 2024 by John Prudente
Renaissance Faire day was one of the few days I look forward to each year. This year was a disappointment. The entertainment was great as always. The issue was the cost. The ticket prices have gone up like they do every year and the cost of food is ridiculous. $10 for 8 dry nuggets. That’s $1.25 per nugget! Wtf! I couldn’t even feed the $16 Mac and cheese to my kids cause of the amount of pepper in it. It just seems the faire caters to drunks more than families. I’ve been going to this fair since the 90s and I hate to say it but I might have to find a new faire next year. I can’t afford the cost of tickets, preferred parking(because traffic was over an hour and I felt it was worth the $20 for parking to not miss any more of our abbreviated day) and the outrageous food costs. I’m used to event gouging but I feel like I need a counselor to help me through the trauma I’ve endured. They’re going to get all my money anyway but it didn’t need to be just at the concession. I was left with nothing for the vendors and games.
$5 water, $6 soda, most food was nearly $20 per person. New York Renaissance Faire you have forsaken us.
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October 2024 by Meagan Clark
Overall a cute venue and fun time once BUT it is wildly mismanaged. We waited 40+ min in congestion traffic to enter the parking lots with other visitors (traveling about one mile on the road to their lots). It’s cash only once inside for some reason (why?). It was very very crowded so that if you want a bottle of water you wait in a long line, and that’s a separate line from something else like say ice cream or coffee (why?). Much or all the lines were logistical knots they’ve created for themselves and made worse with staff that didn’t seem motivated or well resourced to handle these crowds. There are not enough spaces to sit and eat or rest at. There is also no seating reserved at shows like the jousting for elderly, pregnant or disabled people, only first come first serve. Overall there are many things the people in charge should improve but it seems to be against their incentive to do so when people willingly pay high prices to pack this place. Other renaissance fairs I’ve attended have had much more staff to visitor ratio and interacted with you, acting and making the experience more rewarding and less commercial ick.
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October 2024 by No No
So I never write reviews but I felt the need to write about the parking situation. We payed for preferred parking (20$) and we came early to make sure we got good parking but they ended up situating the parking lot in a way that we were boxed in. There were other people complaining about the safety of the operation as well. Not to mention the parking lot attendants were rude when we asked for help with the situation. I’d say don’t waste your money on preferred parking and to the faire coordinators please educate your employees on proper protocol when situating the parking lots, or just stop over selling “preferred” parking spots when you know you don’t have enough room to safely park cars.
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October 2024 by Nicholas Zito
Been coming for years. Overall it’s good seems they updated the acts since I last came 4 years ago. Have to say, though, it’s absurd they don’t allow credit for food and drinks. The lines move at a snail pace, and considering many folks are here with their kids (myself included) it can be extra frustrating to have to wait on a massive line. Cards would speed everything up. Even the ATM lines get pretty long because of this. And, $4.25 for an ATM fee? Give me a break. They also need more tables for eating.
The ticket price is absurd, too. I feel like it used to be $25 or somewhere around that. Wound up spending $350 on tickets + food + a vendor or two and most of that time was spent waiting in line.
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October 2024 by Yuzeth
I have visited the NYRF previously and last time I did, there were more actors roaming the fair, which made you feel like you were actually in a real village with real locals; there were also more fun shows and activities to do which added to the fun but unfortunately this year, it was just not it! I left quite disappointed, I left wanting more. The prices are ridiculous on everything! The entrance fee which is $50 per person would have been ok if once inside you had that feeling of really entering a village surrounded by locals and lots of fun but instead if was just a bunch of vendors everywhere trying to sell, sell! Also the food, the food sucked and it was overpriced...$12 for a smoothie, $5 for a water bottle, $18 for nachos...salty, mediocre food. It was just bad. The parking was another issue, and charging $20 for preferred parking as if it was any better than the free parking, it was not! Overall, my experience a few years back was better, this year it sucked big time. On a positive note, kudos to the performers of the shows, who were skillful, talented and funny, that's about the only positive thing I have to say about the whole NYRF experience in 2024. NYRF you have to do a lot better, it used to be awesome but now it was boring and overpriced what happened? Make it better. I wish I could get my money back!
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October 2024 by Matthew Lyons
It seems like this was once a great place for children and families to have a great, fun time. It is now taken over by men in dresses and people like that. That's all fine and good for adults, but I don't think we should have that around children. This should be a place where children can pretend and have fun. If you're an adult who wants to play pretend, maybe find somewhere not geared towards children to do so. I was shocked, that's why I share this so other families who don't want their children near that stuff are informed before going there.
