2025 Recap

Hello, faire friends! As I sit here writing this post on this 24th day of January 2026, I’m finding it so difficult to wrap my head around the fact that I have yet another year as a renaissance faire vendor under my belt. Once upon a time, this was a pipe dream that little 12 year old Sara thought could literally NEVER happen. And now, here I am, entering what will be my 6th year, already one event done for 2026, and half a dozen applications sent out for more events this year that I’m waiting to hear back on.

So… let’s chat!

CastleFaire 2025

Last year started off strong with CastleFaire, held at Uhuburg Castle in Helen, Georgia, easily my MOST favorite place in the whole world. The castle is stunning, their mission is admirable, and the folks who work there are some of the sweetest, most positive people I have ever met. The event was a bit rough last year weather-wise, but otherwise it was fantastic. Just don’t ask me about the snow.

After CastleFaire came Carolina Carnage, which was a brand new event for me and a learning experience for a couple different reasons. One, this was a ren-themed event but not strictly a renaissance festival. Instead, it is the largest Buhurt event in the western hemisphere and the North American Championships. You can check out more about it on their website. The event was held at a livestock arena (a kind of venue I am very familiar with from showing horses my whole life) so it was up to us vendors to bring the rennie vibe to the event.

Additionally, this was my first, and thus far only, event to attempt to do demonstrations/work on site. I didn’t really do a whole lot in the way of set demos at specific times, and I think maybe this event wouldn’t have been ideal for that, but being able to work on products at what was otherwise a very laid back event was really enjoyable. It also allowed me to custom make several items on site for customers who had flown in for the competition. At this point, I think if I do decide to do demonstrations, I need to spend a little more time really narrowing down what I’d be doing, so I think that was overall a very beneficial experience for me.

Another event I did this year was a single-day fairy festival a little over 2 hours away. If anything, I learned that maybe 2+ hours away is too far for a single day trip. I am definitely not built for driving 2+ hours, setting up, vending, tearing down, and then driving another 2+ hours back. I may consider more events from this coordinator in the future as the event itself was great overall, but only if I am able to plan at least one night in a hotel!

I returned to the Lavonia renaissance festival this past year, which is only about 20 minutes from my house. This is my home faire, first one I ever attended as a vendor, and very close to my heart. I’m especially excited about this coming year as my vendor friend, Lacy, will be stepping into the role of coordinator. She handles CastleFaire and I know she puts on an excellent event!

Mirth & Mischief 2025

Then came the absolute highlight of my year - Mirth and Mischief! I returned to Uhuburg Castle in May for what was absolutely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I wrote a whole post about that, and you can check that out here. It was, in a word, incomparable. If they ever choose to return to Uhuburg, I will be applying most expeditiously and praying for lightning to strike twice.

After Mirth, I accidentally nearly killed myself via heatstroke at a late-June festival. So let this be your reminder, friends - HYDRATE. Otherwise, this event, Midsummer Fairy Fest in Greenville, SC, was a great event to attend and I will be applying as soon as applications open up this year, hopeful to return! With ample water, Gatorade, and fans this time.

On that note, unless I can find indoor events to attend this summer, I am not currently planning on attending anything at all in July or August. If anything else comes up in June, I’ll have to seriously consider it as someone who doesn’t really do well in heat. I think that many other festival and event coordinators know this, though, as aside from the Midsummer Fairy Fest, I haven’t seen any promotions for any outdoor summer themed events where folks would be at all likely to show up in any kind of ren-adjacent costumes.

After the worst of the heat passed us by, I returned to the Upstate Renaissance Festival in South Carolina in September. They were at a new location this year, the Piedmont fairgrounds, and they were able to have a much larger footprint I think. They also had jousting! But sadly I missed it every time I tried to get away to watch it. Alas, perhaps next year. Otherwise, Upstate was a really good year. I had a 10x20 booth again and I tried a brand new layout using grid walls and shelves, which immediately became my preferred layout. I found that I was able to put put a solid two times as much product or more (which unfortunately made my 10x20 booth look a bit sparse even though I had a ton of product), but it ended up working out really well for my 10x10 booths.

To close out the year, I attended two new events, the RockHill renaissance faire and Midgard at the Mill. RockHill immediately became a favorite event. Their festival was small, to be expected for their first year, but I felt it was well-organized and also very laid-back and low-stress. That event was roughly 3 hours away, and the boyfriend and I turned the Monday we drove back home into a mini-vacation. We stopped at the Atlanta zoo and that was great fun, then we stopped at some gaming shops, a music store, and a hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant where I absolutely messed up and got something that was WAY too spicy for me… but everything else was delicious! RockHill is planning on hosting both a Spring and Fall event this year and I am very much looking forward to attending!

Midgard at the Mill 2025

Last up was another new event for me, Midgard at the Mill. This one was a single-day event at a historic mill in South Carolina that was SO much fun! I got to see several of my old vendor friends, made several new vendor friends, had a blast with a bunch of folks who took refuge in my booth during a very random 10-minute downpour, and then boyfriend got way too much pizza so we could share with our vendor friends during the bonfire. I also tried out my new Eurmax canopy with an awning (in the above photo). I loved the idea of the awning, but practically speaking, the design wasn’t great. Even though it did keep some of my exterior product on the grid walls dry, I ended up with a bit of a waterfall during that 10-minute downpour.

Speaking of friends, the friendships I’ve made with other vendors has been amazing. Truly, my fellow vendors are some of the kindest, most positive, helpful, and overall wonderful people I’ve ever had the joy of meeting. They truly do make the atmosphere at these events. Everyone is just so happy to be at these events getting to live our little dreams as vendors (even though a bunch of us still have to have day jobs, too).

This year, I plan on returning to several of these events above, as well as applying to at least two new events, the Appalachian renaissance festival and one more that I’m undecided on yet. Every year, my goal is to find at least one new event to apply to in the hopes of expanding my footprint. I also try to add at least 3-4 new products every year (discontinuing others as needed). This year, I’ve added these fun decorative hip bells and pet armor. I’m also hoping to add some fun dragon and mermaid tails that can attach to belts inspired by some cosplayers I’ve seen at events past.

I try to keep my homepage updated with all my events, both confirmed and pending/hopeful ones, so feel free to check out my portfolio for examples of products I have, then come visit me at any of my upcoming events! I hope to see you soon!