Kansas City Renaissance Festival

The Kansas City Renaissance Festival is a Renaissance fair held each fall in Bonner Springs, Kansas. Each year the fair begins on Labor Day weekend and continues for seven weekends, open on Saturdays and Sundays as well as Labor Day and Columbus Day. The faire began in 1977 as a benefit for the Kansas City Art Institute, and became a stand-alone event in the late 1990s. Presently, the fair has 165 booths and 13 stages, entertaining 180,000 patrons annually on 16 operating days. In keeping with its artistic beginnings, KCRF features over 150 shops and vendors, many of which sell original crafts and artwork. The site itself is artistic, featuring winding tree-lined lanes, painted murals, and banner-strewn, fancifully decorated buildings. In particular, the Institute for Historic and Educational Arts (IHEA) maintains a large presence. Its artisans demonstrate a variety of textile, wood and metal crafting techniques, even operating a fully functional blacksmith shop. KCRF offers a free Living History Tour in which patrons can view some of these craftspeople at work as well as hear presentations by costumed characters about Renaissance art, science, medicine, and warfare.