Perennially-adored Bay Area Renaissance Festival is in Dade City through March

The greater Bay area has been hosting its annual Bay Area Renaissance Festival for the past four decades, but organizers have only been at their recent home in Dade City for the past couple years.

The fairgrounds right next to the Withlacoochee River provide a lush, green background for March’s installment of the Bay Area Renaissance Festival, which takes place every Saturday and Sunday until the end of the month.

Live your best Middle Aged life at this “meticulously recreated 16th-century village” and enjoy the festival’s wide range of old timey activities like jousting, birds of prey demonstrations, dancing, mermaid performances, pony rides, axe throwing, jugglers and more.

While the festival doesn’t allow outside food or drinks, there’s a plethora of eats to indulge in—from expected turkey legs and street corn to classic festival fare like fried pickles and chili cheese dogs—in addition to 80-plus vendors slinging handcrafted souvenirs and baked goods. Each weekend of the Bay Area Renaissance Festival also boasts different themes, with this weekend featuring a St. Patrick’s Day theme with Irish jig dancing, beard competitions and a leprechaun costume contest.

The Bay Area Renaissance Festival happens Saturdays and Sundays in Dade City through March 31, and tickets start at 20.95 & up.
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