The Fields of New Market Campground — Hotel in Todd Mission

History

1. Attending Renaissance Festival almost yearly for the last 30ish years
2. Began camping 4 years ago and now come to camp 1-3 times per year
3. We always have fun camping. Even when it was windy, cold and we returned to our tent to find it flipped over.

Pro Tip for oldies like us and families that want a good night's sleep and have easy setup/packup:

1. Bring earplugs if you plan on going to sleep before 2 AM. On Saturday, After Dark (think night club) will be blasting music (which can be faintly heard from our usual camping spot) until 2 AM and the activity near the bonfire can go on nearly all night.
2. Location, Location, Location! If you actually want to get a good night's sleep, have access to real toilets, showers, food, drinks, supplies, wood then I suggest camping towards the rear end of the campgrounds, far away from the festival entrance in the "family and staff" area that is just next to the main campground entrance. To get there, enter the campground after purchasing your camp pass and take the first right past the general store and find a spot to camp in over in the open field. If you were to take the first left instead, you will be close to After Dark After our first camping experience, we decided to camp nowhere near all of the fun activities going on all night because there was so much noise and activity that we had a hard time getting rest, which led to a rough day at the Ren Fest. Also, the wife is not a big fan of port-o-potties and neither am I.
3. Moisture in the morning! Give yourself extra time to dry out your camping equipment. We often wake up and our tent is covered in moisture that settled in over night. That means that either a) you dry out everything in the sun b) towel everything off or c) pack it all up wet and dry it out at home. We usually dry by sun while drinking our coffee.
4. Expect your phone to have lousy reception! Take screenshots of your tickets if they're digital, download local copies of media, notify friends and family, etc. There are usually a lot of people and the local towers don't seem to be able to handle the bandwidth. It also may depend on your carrier. We use Cricket. We haven't tried other phones. Best to just plan ahead.
5. The bonfire area should be considered as an adults-only area beginning at 6-7 PM. Trust me. If you want your kids to remain innocent until they've reached puberty, maybe avoid this area. If you don't care, take em! They're your kids, of course. :D

New in 2019: Only Camping Pass Needed. They are no longer requiring that you purchase a ticket to the Ren Fest to camp, which is a HUGE plus for us. We typically will go to After Dark and camp afterwards, meaning that we arrive at 3-6 PM, go to After Dark at 8 PM, sleep by 2-3 AM and leave by 10 AM.

Improved Customer Service. This year, we noticed there seemed to be an uptick in engagement by camp staff. We had multiple staff checking in on us to see if we needed assistance with setting up our tent (it was dark when we arrived) and received an invite to a campfire event that was being held for kids in the area we typically camp. This had not happened in previous years, though customer service has never been a problem. I especially enjoy talking to the folks who run the general store. (The Drag On Inn?)

In short, if you are going to the Ren Fest and haven't tried camping, you definitely should. If nothing else but to experience the throngs of costumed people that descend upon the area annually and the large, seemingly endless array of tents, events, and wild nighttime activities.

Update: Added more photos!

2023: Camping pass and ticket needed. However, camping pass is now per individual and not...

First time ever attending the festival and we chose to camp since its a 4 hour trip and they say the earlier you get there the less traffic and people. First off...ZERO problems using google maps and getting right to the correct gate. I was a bit concerned that we would be getting in so late (12am) and that itd be fumbling in a dark , unfamiliar place that we had very little info on. That all was set at ease instantly. Although the drive in was dark and country roads, as we arrived there were traffic cones and a well lit area. The attendant was lovely and took the time to answer my questions that couldnt be answered by the website, without rushing us on. We drove directly straight down a gravel road very slow as there were people about and we saw clearly that further ahead there was a cluster of campers that was well lit but where we were was dark so we assumed this must be the fam side so we turned in the second row and began to set up. You pull your car right up to a site so theres no long walk through other campers to unload/setup. There were some small trees here and there , the sites were very clean . There was a trash recepticle and portapotty very close and all outpr neighbors were clean and quiet. The walk in the morning to the fest was nice and we then discovered how thick with campers the more wooded area was. It was very cool the set up but they were very close to each other. We plan on returning with rugby teammates and enjoy the party side but for this trip with my nephews the dark quiet side was perfect. So dont drive into the obviously crowded part , set up camp and expect peace and quiet. Its obvious that you should set up very close to were you are admitted it. So if you have a bad time id assume it was your own fault. Theres also a convience store and food places set up around the area. But id suggest camping even if you live near by to experience the fest after hours and also to be able to simply walk to the entrance to be first wave at the gates. We will be attending this way for years to come. Thanks to the people of renfest for such a...

This was my 1st year camping for the Renaissance Festival, and we had a great time.

I got there Thursday afternoon and had my tent setup before dark. It was "relatively" quiet. More on this further down.

The porta-potties were spotlessly clean. This was not the case Satirday morning after about 20,000 of my closest friends arrived. Word is that the sanitation company had a truck out of commission, and the result was a few unusable (I won't paint a graphic description) toilets. But, the company made the rounds cleaning, and they were better - for a while. Sunday morning was even worse. I typically used them first thing in the morning and last thing before bed. The group camping next to us had rented one of their own just for their group - something we may do next year.

I bought my shower tokens ($5/5 minutes) at the camp store & walked into the building full of perfectly clean unused showers. It took a few seconds to get hot water, but it was as hot as anyone could want. The shower spray was adjustable for spray and aim, so that made it better. That was Thursday night. The next shower was after the campgrounds were full, and there was much humidity in the shower room despite the open door and blowing fan. That shower stall had a difficult time shutting the door because it was sticking, & it was difficult to lock the door because there is nothing to grip tp pull it closed. A simple drawer pull would solve that.

There are a number of different camping options, & it is best to arrive early. We prefer the modicum of privacy afforded by camping in the rows. We still had vehicles surrounding us plenty of loud generators. The generators were loud, but their constant piston firing out the exhaust quickly drowned out all but the loudest music, & that didn't shut down till 4 am. I am definitely not complaining tho we were in bed by 11 pm each night. I slept well. Lime I mentioned earlier ... about 20,000 folks camping, and some were onto the more adult games.

I had a great experience and am already looking forward...