Step back into the 14th century at Arizona Renaissance Fair 🫅

For 37 years, the Arizona Renaissance Fair has prided itself on hosting one of the largest Renaissance festivals in the United States, not just in size but also in spectacle.

Walk along the main path of the 50-acre festival grounds, and you will find yourself thrust into another world where women wearing long flowing gowns reminiscent of the 14th and 15th centuries and men donning heavy armor are the standard attire, and giant turkey legs constitute a meal.

Just when you think you have your bearings or have seen it all, the path turns, revealing a dozen more shops, games, shows and people.

Located in Gold Canyon, just east of Apache Junction and about two hours from Tucson and Phoenix, the village separates itself from other fairs by featuring a dedicated year-round event space with permanent buildings. Most Renaissance fairs are seen as a “traveling event” with tents going up and being struck down over the course of a season. Having a dedicated space allows craftspeople and performers alike to fully immerse in the fair. It also creates a sense of continuity for guests, many of whom make the festival an annual pilgrimage.

Christine Crossen has been visiting the fair since her parents first brought her when she was 4 years old. She now attends with her boyfriend, Jeff Dusenberry.

“This is like a big part of our relationship,” Crossen explained. “Last season we came like eight times.”

This year, on the fair’s opening weekend in late January, Dusenberry, wearing an outfit matching Crossen’s, proposed in front of a wall of flowers; she said yes.

“This is my person. She makes me feel safe and comfortable,” Dusenberry said afterwards. “I feel very happy with her, able to be nerdy and everything.”

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One of the big draws of the fair is the market where craftspeople sell homemade products from authentically forged swords and period-themed items to hand-blown glass and jewelry directly to customers.

During opening weekend, Paula Lynch was manning the stand for Leslie Post’s handmade leather journals that were stacked neatly on a table.

“She has a variety of styles but the main two is one that has a whole punch where the papers are laced in so a person can refill it and the others are hand stitched and bound,” Lynch said. “Those can take anywhere from eight to 12 hours each, and it’s all done by hand.”

Many different types of handmade leather notebooks are among the items for sale at the Arizona Renaissance Fair.

The Ren Fair also has dozens of shows that take place on 16 stages throughout the grounds. The largest are the jousting matches where knights in armor charge at one another on horseback to win glory for their house, or in this case, their section of the audience. As the knights charge at one another, dust flying from their horses’ hooves, it’s easy to forget you’re in the middle of a desert and not 14th-century England.

The fair  continues  from 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through March 29 at 12601 E. US Highway 60 in Gold Canyon, To get there, take Pinal Pioneer Parkway (Hwy 79) to Florence Junction then go west 7 miles on Hwy 60 to the Festival Village.

Admission is $36 for adults, $24 for children 5-12 and is free for children 4 and under. Tickets can be purchased at the fair box office or online at  arizona.renfestinfo.com.

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.