Put on by the Contemporary Theater Company, the festivities are happening Friday through Sunday in Wakefield. The theater and Saugatucket Park will be transformed for the weekend into a Renaissance-era village, complete with a medieval marketplace, tavern, and live music, dance and theater performances happening throughout. This Rhode Island-sized Faire has plenty of events without being overwhelming like some of the giant faires of the Northeast, and at $15 for admission, it’s more affordable too. Afternoon host Mareva Lindo spoke with Faire Director Marissa Dufault about what to expect.
Interview highlights:
How the Faire has grown since 2024
Marissa Dufault: It's actually technically our third year. Back in 2024, we ran a mini Ren Faire to kind of see if there was interest in the community, if this was something we thought had legs, and it was just a small one-day event held on our performance patio, and we were at capacity the whole day. So we decided going forward we're going to make this a full weekend, a big deal. And so we just kind of did it. You know, a friend of mine and I for years had been saying, “someday when we have our own ren fair, someday when we have our own ren fair.” So when we decided we were going to do this, I called her, and I said, "It's happening. We have our own ren fair.”
What sets the Ocean State Renaissance Faire apart from other Ren Faires:
Dufault: We are smaller, which I think works for us because it is a much more intimate event. You get to really interact with the characters. We're going to have an encampment of the house, the Kingdom of the Saugatucket, where people can come and meet the different characters and do activities, and you know, kind of pledge allegiance to the house that they have decided they belong to, and those kinds of things that it's hard to do in bigger fairs. We had a ton of people come who had never been to a ren fair before, and because we are a little smaller, it's a little less overwhelming. We are in a park, and then we're in our theater space. You can just kind of come and check it out and see what it's about. Our tickets are not super expensive, so you can just bring the whole family. And experience it in a low-key way. My favorite thing is kind of the escapism of it. It's so nice to be able to just go and have a day of fun and whimsy and frolicking.
The events and activities attendees can expect
Dufault: There is a lot going on. We have four performance stages. We'll have vendors, turkey legs, of course. We'll have a live (Dungeons and Dragons) going on both days. And we'll have some roaming performers. We'll have somebody doing henna, somebody doing tarot, all kinds of fun things like that. And then just other activities, just things to do. We'll have a community knitting project. We'll have a community puzzle. Just fun little things like that to kind of just get everybody involved. We're working with Black Cat Historical Fencing, and they're going to be doing a grand tourney at the end of the day. Plus, they'll be doing demos and workshops. So, definitely it will be very fun. We will have the costume contest both days, and then we're also going to be doing a rhyming contest. We did this last year, kind of inspired by that scene in The Princess Bride where they're on the ship and doing the rhyming back and forth. So there will be prizes for the winners of both of those contests.
Event Details:
When: Aug. 28 - 30.
Where: Contemporary Theater Company and Saugatucket Park, Wakefield, RI
Details: osrenfaire.com
