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For one summer day in Sterling, New York, we traded the modern world for Warwick, England, circa 1585.
The Sterling Renaissance Festival is much more than a collection of people wearing costumes. Spread across more than 35 wooded acres, the festival combines an interactive Elizabethan village with live theater, music, comedy, artisans, food and drinks, games, costumed characters and full-contact armored jousting.
We went with friends during Fantasy, Fairies & the Future Weekend, and by the end of the day I understood why people come back to Renaissance festivals year after year.
There is so much happening.
You can watch a scheduled performance one minute, find yourself interacting with a character in the street the next, wander into an artisan’s shop, grab something to drink and then suddenly realize you need to hurry across Warwick because there’s a jousting tournament about to begin. (Pay attention to event times!)
Welcome to Warwick, England — 1585
The Sterling Renaissance Festival is located in Sterling, New York, between Syracuse and Rochester. Once you’re through the gates, however, you’re entering the fictional village of Warwick, England, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in 1585.
The setting is a huge part of the experience. Rather than feeling like a modern fair with a Renaissance theme applied to it, much of Sterling is tucked beneath the trees, with winding paths connecting stages, taverns, shops and attractions throughout the village. Costumed performers roam the grounds and interact with visitors, so the entertainment isn’t confined to the scheduled shows.
The festival describes itself as an interactive Elizabethan environment, arts and crafts faire, performance venue, food festival, tavern and jousting tournament all rolled into one.
That’s a pretty accurate description.
Mead, Absinthe and Our First Taste of the Faire
Our adventure started before we even entered the main festival grounds.
We stopped for tastings of mead and absinthe, which seems like an appropriately unconventional way to begin a day at a Renaissance faire.
Once inside, our first destination was considerably less glamorous.. the restrooms.
One extremely specific note for my fellow tall people: there is not a lot of legroom in those stalls. Good luck. 😆
With that important bit of business handled, we went in search of refreshments and found wine slushies.
Cold, sweet and very welcome on a hot August day.
Sterling’s drink menu includes a variety of wine slushies alongside wine, beer, mead and cider, with several pubs and taverns scattered around the festival grounds.
Wine slushie acquired, it was time to explore Warwick.
Exploring the Royal Marketplace
The Royal Marketplace is filled with artisans selling everything from clothing and jewelry to leatherwork, pottery, sculpture, metalwork, books, armor and weaponry.
These aren’t simply generic souvenir booths. Sterling operates a juried Artisan Program focused on handmade work, and artisans come from around the country to participate.
We had a great time looking at everyone’s work and, even better, actually talking with some of the people who made it. There is something very different about buying — or admiring — an object when the person standing behind the counter can tell you about how they created it.
There were so many things I wanted.
Unfortunately, we’re saving for a fall trip, and the current economy has opinions about how many beautiful handmade Renaissance faire treasures I’m allowed to bring home.
So I exercised restraint. Painful, responsible restraint.
What I wore:
Scarlet Darkness black Renaissance bell sleeve top ☆ Scarlet Darkness Renaissance high-low skirt ☆ Goodr Pop G New Wave Renegade sunglasses ☆ Dr. Martens women’s Olson charcoal grey tumbled nubuck gladiator sandals ☆ Coach Faye Mini drawstring bag
A Public Execution at Market Cross
As one does on a pleasant summer afternoon, we stopped to watch a public execution.
The Public Execution is part of the ongoing theatrical world created by Sterling’s Wyldewood Players and takes place at Market Cross.
Obviously, this isn’t an actual execution.
It’s interactive Renaissance theater built around the decidedly less enlightened justice system of Warwick, and it’s exactly the kind of absurd spectacle that makes the festival work.
That’s one thing I love about Sterling: you aren’t simply watching actors perform isolated stage shows. The cast is creating a town.
Characters have roles within Warwick, stories unfold throughout the day, and performances such as the Public Execution become part of the larger illusion that you’ve walked into a very strange day in an Elizabethan village.
Aerial Acrobatics with Cirqa Brava
From questionable Renaissance justice, we moved on to something considerably more graceful.
Cirqa Brava took the performance into the air with an aerial show combining acrobatics, comedy and some genuinely impressive physical skill.
Watching aerialists perform high above the stage is impressive anywhere. Watching them surrounded by trees in the middle of a Renaissance village is especially fun.
It was also a good example of just how varied Sterling’s entertainment is.
This isn’t a day where you spend eight hours watching variations of the same historical reenactment. The schedule jumps between theater, music, comedy, circus arts, street performances, jousting and deliberately ridiculous entertainment.
You really can build a completely different day depending on which shows you choose.
Arthur Greenleaf Holmes: The Dirty Poet
And then there was Arthur Greenleaf Holmes. The festival describes his act as wildly inappropriate poetry.
That is accurate.
This is one of Sterling’s bawdy, adults-oriented performances, and if your sense of humor can handle poetry becoming progressively less appropriate for polite company, it’s worth finding him on the schedule.
Calling him the “dirty poet” became the easiest shorthand afterward, but there’s something wonderfully Ren Faire about sitting outside with a crowd of adults while a man enthusiastically performs poetry that would probably get him removed from a respectable literary reading.
Definitely not the children’s poetry hour.
Armored Jousting at the Field of Honor
Of course, if there’s one thing I couldn’t leave this Renaissance festival without seeing, it was the jousting.
Late in the afternoon, we made our way to the Field of Honor for the Armored Joust to the “Death.”
This is one of Sterling’s signature spectacles: armored competitors on horseback charging across the arena as a crowd surrounds the field and cheers them on.
There are the horses themselves, the armor, the pageantry and the riders — but also the sound, the crowd and the dust rising from the arena as the horses thunder past.
It feels big.
The horses were beautiful, and seeing the performers ride into the arena in costume before the competition gave me some of my favorite photos from the entire day.
Once the armored riders began charging one another, though, everyone was watching the field.
It’s theatrical spectacle mixed with actual horsemanship and physical skill, and it was easily one of the highlights of our visit.
Especially the part afterward, when we got to pet two of the horses.
Ending the Day With the Final Pub Sing
After hours of exploring, shopping, drinking, laughing and watching people do increasingly questionable things in the name of entertainment, Sterling had one more surprise for us.
At 6:30, the day’s entertainment comes together for the Final Pub Sing at the Festival Stage.
The cast gathered together and the day ended in music.
After spending hours seeing these people scattered across a 35-acre village — as royalty, townspeople, musicians, performers and assorted agents of chaos — it was genuinely lovely seeing everyone come together at the end.
As the crowd made its way toward the exit, members of the cast lined the path, waving and thanking everyone for coming.
It could have been a very ordinary theme-park exit. But instead, it felt like Warwick itself was saying goodbye.
And yes, when I passed the Queen, I curtsied. Obviously.
You Can Have Tea With the Queen
Speaking of Her Majesty, this is something I discovered that I would seriously consider doing on another visit.
Sterling offers a separate Queen’s Tea, where guests join the Queen and her court ladies for afternoon tea at the Festival Chapel Pavilion.
It’s open to adults as well as children, and includes English Breakfast tea and cookies along with a decorated teacup and saucer that guests get to keep.
So apparently curtsying to the Queen on my way home doesn’t have to be the extent of my royal social calendar. Noted for next time.
What I Loved Most About the Sterling Renaissance Festival
Going into the day, I expected costumes, shops, performances and jousting. What surprised me was how much I liked the people.
The performers commit to creating this ridiculous, funny, immersive little world for thousands of strangers. The artisans aren’t simply filling booths with mass-produced souvenirs; many are sharing things they’ve actually designed and made. And the guests themselves become part of the atmosphere.
Some people arrive in everyday clothes. Others show up looking as though they’ve spent six months preparing to be summoned into an enchanted forest. Both are completely welcome.
There is something refreshing about being surrounded by adults enthusiastically participating in something because it’s fun. For a few hours, everybody agrees to play along. I love that.
Is the Sterling Renaissance Festival Worth Visiting?
For us, absolutely.
I’d especially recommend the Sterling Renaissance Festival if you enjoy fantasy, history, live theater, handmade art, unusual experiences, costumes or simply finding interesting things to do in Upstate New York.
You don’t need to dress in Renaissance clothing to attend, and you don’t need to understand Ren Faire culture beforehand. We saw everything from elaborate costumes to completely ordinary summer clothes.
But if you’ve been waiting for an excuse to dress up? This is it.
One day also isn’t enough to see every performance. Sterling has multiple stages and attractions operating throughout the day, and part of the fun is deciding what you want to prioritize while leaving enough unscheduled time to explore.
If I went again, that’s exactly how I’d approach it: choose a handful of must-see performances, then let the rest of the day happen around them.
Sterling Renaissance Festival: Know Before You Go
Location: Sterling, New York, approximately 45 minutes north of Syracuse and about an hour east of Rochester.
Setting: More than 35 acres of wooded festival grounds transformed into Warwick, England, circa 1585.
Season: Sterling Renaissance Festival is a seasonal summer attraction. Dates vary by year, so check the festival’s official website for the current season before planning your trip.
Hours: During our 2026 visit, the festival operated Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., rain or shine. Check current hours before visiting.
Parking: Parking was free during the 2026 season.
Tickets: Admission prices can change from year to year, so I recommend checking current ticket prices directly through the festival rather than relying on an older blog post.
Food & drinks: There are numerous food stands, pubs and taverns throughout the grounds. Alcoholic options include beer, wine, mead, cider and wine slushies. Outside food and drinks are generally not permitted through the main gate.
Shopping: Leave room in the budget if handmade goods are your weakness. The Royal Marketplace includes juried artisans working in mediums including clothing, leather, jewelry, pottery, sculpture, metalwork and more.
Accessibility: This is a large outdoor festival in a natural setting. Wheelchairs and motorized wheelchairs are permitted, and accessible parking and restrooms are available, but some areas have stone or grass surfaces. And there are hills!
What to wear: Costumes are optional. Wear whatever makes the experience fun for you, but comfortable shoes are a very good idea for spending a full day exploring the grounds.
Planning your day: Look at the performance schedule before you arrive and identify a few shows you don’t want to miss. Then leave some open time for shopping, food, wandering and interactions with the roaming cast.
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