Minnesota Renaissance Festival — Local services in Jackson Township

There are 2 entrances. The original front gate (King's) has the front gate show at 8:30am. Gates open at 9am and close at 7pm. There are shuttle busses from the parking lot to the gate, or you can walk through "the pit" to get to the front gate. ADA parking is available with a shuttle, so please ask to be directed there if necessary. The newer back gate (Queen's) is next to Crown Stage, where Johnny Phoenix and the Tortuga Twins perform. It has a very steep dirt path to get up and down, so I would not personally recommend for anyone with difficulty walking, those in wheelchairs, or those using scooters.

The grounds are outside with no paved paths. Wear good shoes and expect mud, ruts, roots, rocks, etc.

Toilets are port-a-potties with running water.

Since 2023, you need a parking pass. Order online in advance for the day you plan to go (current deadline is at 2am the day of). It's about $17 in advance or $30 day of on site IF there is parking available.

You can use Park and Ride from 8am to 8pm for $6 per person (some ride free) from various transit stations and Canterbury (more details online).

MNRF runs 7 weekends (3rd weekend is Labor Day weekend). It is open 2 weekdays: Labor Day Monday and the last Friday of the run. Friday is basically school trips and people who prefer to avoid crowds. Not every shop and performer is out on Friday, so it's a different experience. The first 3 weekends are the least busy. The last 4 weekends are increasingly busy, especially when the weather is nice.

Fest is open rain or shine, so dress for the weather (I've been there in snow - MN has weird weather). I've only seen it close once for very heavy rain because the roads were washing out.

Don't bring weapons (real or toy) without checking the rules and having it "peace tied" for safety. I know an Ale Tender who had to"peace tie" a bottle opener in a leather sheath, so it's at the gate employees' discretion. If you buy a weapon there, the shops will help with wrapping it, holding it, and/or having you walked to the gate by security to bring it to your car.

There are different themes each weekend with different events and activities, and they change annually. Past themes have included belly dance/silken road; highland fling; wine, chocolate, and romance; Oktoberfest; Woofstock/pets; etc.

Buy admission tickets online or at the gate. Check the website for available deals which have included free or discounted admission for kids with adult ticket, students with good grades, residents of certain cities, educators, current and former military, first responders, Boy & Girl Scouts, motorcyclists, those who donate blood at the mobile station on site that day, and more. There are also discount coupons available at the MNRF booth at the MN State Fair, Speedway gas stations, and other places. There are discount packages available at Costco and Sam's Club for 2 tickets and 2 turkey legs for about $46. Check the website for family 4 packs, weekend (2 day) passes, season passes, and other options.

Service Dogs are allowed per ADA regulations. Please remember that it is illegal to misrepresent an animal as a service animal. In general, dogs over 6 months old are allowed, but please see the website for rules and see what is required for entry. If the dog doesn't like crowds, children, other dogs, loud noise, etc or if they like to eat food on the ground or they don't listen to you very well, I would leave them at home. It's hot, dusty, noisy, crowded, and there's lots of turkey leg bones thrown on the ground (among other things). A friend's child was severely bitten on the hand by a dog after its owner told her she could pet it because it was overwhelmed. Many booths have water bowls and dog treats. DO NOT leave your dog in the car!

Lazy Dragon/Gliven has best gluten-free, allergen free and vegan food.

If you lose something or find something, check with Lost and Found at the Information booth at King's Gate. Call the office if it isn't turned in before you leave as it can take a while to be found...

TLDR: fun and unique place, take the MTVA transit and arrive early for the best experience, gets chaotic after 3p. Cash preferred, potential cc fee at the shops.

MN RenFest Guide: (based on my 2022 closing weekend Saturday experience)

Parking/traffic: TAKE THE MTVA/Marschall Road Transit Station Park and Ride!! $3 exact cash covers you round trip. We tried to arrive at RenFest at 9:30am but parking line was already backed up for miles on 169 - not to mention Google maps kept routing us down roads that were actually closed/residential. We finally gave up and routed to the transit station. This was still a ~40 min bus ride there due to cars sneaking onto the closed bus routes, but the return bus at 4pm was a short wait and only 20 min ride. It looked like the station parking lot could also get full later in the day, but we had no issues parking there at 10am.

Crowds: We arrived at 11am. It was easily navigable before 2pm, then got really busy, dirty, and crowded with long lines after 3pm.

Attractions: Jousting is a crowd favorite, try to see this early and/or arrive 20+ mins before a show if you hope to find a seat. PSA dog Races are also at 2:30 on the jousting track! Mermaid cove is another busy one to hit early. Lots of fun shows happening everywhere, you can probably catch 1 every hour just by wandering around and checking the local stages at the hour/30 marks.

Food: Get a turkey leg early if you want one, these tend to sell out. Otherwise, there's quite a variety of options clustered in different areas.

Alcohol: You can only purchase 1 drink per person per trip (meaning you can't grab a 2nd for a friend/partner alone unless you get back in line).

Water: Hard to come by. Unclear if you're allowed to bring in an outside water bottle, but we saw some people had them. You can purchase water bottles but only at some places, so be on the lookout for signs.

Sanitation: Starts off fine but quickly goes downhill after 3pm. Bring some hand sanitizer/wipes if you can in case they run out. There's only portable toilets here.

Health: Paths are made of dirt. I could see this being an issue for anyone with respiratory concerns or asthma, as even I blew brown snot and had an itchy throat after 5 hours there.

Costumes: Probably ~60% of attendees participated, ranging from casual to all out - come however you feel comfortable! There are a few shops you can buy or rent clothes for the day as well. Wear comfortable shoes you don't mind getting dusty on the dirt paths.

Shops: Many private vendors with cool, eclectic collections. Most charge a 3% fee for credit card payments. It's smart to bring a reusable shopping bag or drawstring backpack in case you buy anything bulky/awkward to...

I have always loved going to the Renaissance Festival every year. It’s always been a wonderful and super fun experience that I loved….until this year. I went with my boyfriend on September 4th. I was in costume and he wasn’t. Which I don’t think was the problem cause I don’t think they do the thing in the Fairy Forest where they attack you or ask you to leave if you’re not in costume (which if I remember correctly, they have had signs for that in the past). We entered one of the main forest scene areas before the bridge and waterfall scene. This nymph-type creature (purple skin and hair, pointy ears but no wings), she gave me two quest options. Both were to find objects and bring them right to her so she could reward me in coins or whatever. I chose to find the three objects she described very clearly that she needed to make something. I went and found the three objects around the forest (and she told me they were in the area specifically), and my boyfriend and I found all three of them together—or what we assumed were the right objects. She never confirmed or anything. I could’ve asked, yes, but you’d think she would say something if she saw me taking things from the forest, not knowing I wasn’t supposed to. I feel like she could’ve helped us a lot more and the situation could’ve been avoided. When we found the last object, thinking that’s what it was, a tall, green gnome man came up to us aggressively and started yelling at us, accusing us of stealing. He pulled out his walkie talking, almost called security and told us to leave. I tried to explain to him what we were actually doing and that we were literally told to do it. I tried to tell him I would never steal anything and I had absolutely no reason to. But he didn’t care, he wouldn’t listen, he just kept yelling at us and forced us to leave. The nymph girl never said anything else nor did she give an explanation at all. I left The Renaissance Festival in tears. Worst experience there ever. I probably won’t ever go in the fairy forest again. There weren’t even that many fairies, it was ridiculous. I’m sorry to anyone who gets harassed and falsely accused by a gnome man like I did. I’m genuinely scared to...