33rd annual event already sold out for Saturday; get Sunday tickets online before its too late
FOLSOM—Folsom City Lions Park is transforming into another world. Colorful banners are unfurling, timber stages are rising, merchants are arranging their wares, and actors in Elizabethan garb are beginning to rehearse their roles. By the time the gates open this weekend, the familiar community park will have become a bustling Renaissance village alive with pageantry, revelry, and tradition.
For the 33rd year, the Folsom Renaissance Faire & Jousting Championships brings history and fantasy together in one of the region’s most cherished fall traditions. The event takes place September 27–28 and is expected to draw thousands of visitors from across the Sacramento region and beyond. Organizers stress that demand has been overwhelming this year—Saturday is completely sold out—and Sunday is now the only remaining chance to be part of the experience. With daily attendance capped at 3,500 guests, and tickets sold exclusively online, time is short for those hoping to enter the gates.
If you love Renaissance Faires, this full-scale interactive production is not to be missed. The Folsom Renaissance Faire offers guests the chance to visit the days of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I, lose themselves in the magic and merriment of the Renaissance, and rub elbows with nobility, beautiful ladies, and brave knights. More than 800 costumed performers bring Shakespeare’s England to life with parades, pageants, and townsfolk who offer continuous entertainment across the village. Musicians, jugglers, and actors draw audiences deeper into the illusion, filling every corner of the park with performance.
This year’s theme, “Shakespeare’s Muse,” provides a unique twist to the story that unfolds throughout the weekend. In the midst of the Elizabethan age of entertainment, a rising young playwright named William Shakespeare faces the scourge of writer’s block. Lacking inspiration, he follows the Queen on progress and discovers an extraordinary town filled with colorful characters whose lives and antics become the source of his plays. Their adventures—comic, romantic, and dramatic—spill across the faire, pulling guests into the story and into Shakespeare’s imagination.
The faire is also a festival of sights and sounds, billed as the ultimate Renaissance bash, a lively Dionysian party where guests dine on turkey legs and exotic fare, sip drinks from the ale stand, and banter with performers who wander the streets. With three stages of continuous entertainment, the program includes music, dancing, jesters, Shakespearean vignettes, staged battles, storytelling for all ages, archery, and much more.
Of course, no Renaissance Faire is complete without the joust, and Folsom’s remains a West Coast exclusive. This is not staged theater, but a full-contact battle for purse, honor, and bragging rights. Riders from across the United States, Europe, and Canada—all champions in their own right—face off in the Queen’s Tiltyard each afternoon. They meet head-on in clashes of power and precision, delivering hard hits on horseback as they fight for victory before Her Majesty and her court. It is a one-of-a-kind spectacle and the heartbeat of the weekend.
Surrounding the performances is the bustling marketplace, home to close to 80 merchants offering a wide array of arts and crafts, one-of-a-kind jewelry, woodwork, artwork, ceramics, clothing, historic weapons, and leather goods. The clang of the blacksmith’s hammer, the shimmer of glasswork, and the colors of fine fabrics turn the village square into a treasure trove for shoppers. Many visitors leave with souvenirs as unique as the faire itself.
Food is part of the entertainment as well. The aroma of roasting meats drifts through the park, tempting visitors to indulge in hearty fare. Giant turkey legs remain the signature item, but the menu extends to savory meat pies, barbecue, wood-fired specialties, fudge, funnel cakes, and frosty drinks. The food courts become gathering places where laughter, music, and performance spill into every meal, making it feel less like eating and more like feasting among royalty and revelers alike.
What makes Folsom’s Renaissance Faire so distinctive is the way it welcomes guests into the story. Hundreds of performers build the framework of the village, but the illusion is completed by the visitors themselves. Families arrive in gowns, armor, or fantasy costumes, cosplayers mingle with historical reenactors, and every person contributes to the atmosphere. It is an event where the line between spectator and performer disappears, leaving everyone part of the pageantry.
For more than three decades, the Renaissance Faire has been woven into the identity of Folsom, marking the fall season with a tradition that continues to evolve. Generations of families have returned year after year, introducing new attendees to the spectacle while rekindling their own memories of past jousts, feasts, and performances.
The 33rd Annual Folsom Renaissance Faire & Jousting Championships takes place at Folsom City Lions Park, 403 Stafford Street. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 27, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, September 28. Tickets are only available in advance at www.folsomfaire.com, with Saturday sold out and Sunday tickets expected to disappear quickly. Parking is $15 per vehicle, payable in exact cash, and proof of ticket purchase is required for entry into the lots. Only service animals are permitted on site.
For those who enter the gates, the promise remains the same as it has for 33 years: a feast for the senses, a frolic for the soul, and a passage into another world—even if only for a weekend.
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