King Richard’s Faire in Carver, Mass., was inaugurated in 1982 and is the longest-running renaissance fair in New England. Joseph Prezioso/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images June 15, 2026 As renaissance fairs become big business, can they retain their counterculture roots? Katrina Stack, University of Tennessee and Reagan Yessler, Pellissippi State Community College To what extent has the line between playful community space and commercial spectacle been blurred?
