Oakenmist Renaissance Faire

Oakenmist Renaissance Faire

A Renaissance Hamlet's Annual Faire

Saturday, August 15, 2026 - 10 am to 6 pm
Sunday, August 16, 2026 - 10 am to 5 pm

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Carroll County Agricultural Center
706 Agricultural Center Drive, Westminster, Maryland

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Frequently Asked Questions

Tickets

Welcome all who come to enjoy our humble Faire!  This year all faire-goers must have a ticket to get in to the Faire. Children ten and under are FREE!  Early bird pricing ends at midnight on April 30.
  • Ticket purchased beforehand online: $18/23 (early bird / regular online)
  • Ticket purchased at the door: $25 (cash or credit, credit card incurs additional fees.)
The following are available for online purchase in advance of the event only:
  • Single-Day Family Pass: $33 / $42
  • Weekend Pass: $33 / $42
  • Royal VIP Pass:  $65 / $70
Yes, children ten and under may attend the Faire for free, however each child must be accompanied by a ticketed adult.  
All tickets provide entry to the Oakenmist Faire for fun and merriment for the date(s) purchased.  Weekend tickets are good for both days.
The Royal VIP Pass tickets provide entry to the Oakenmist Faire for fun and merriment on the day purchased plus a 2026 Oakenmist ceramic mug, an included mead pour, 30 minute early entry into the Marketplace, and a special seating area in the mead garden.
Yes, we offer group rates, please contact us at info@oakenmist.com at least two (2) weeks in advance of the Faire for more information.

Yes, you may purchase a weekend multipass ticket that includes both Saturday and Sunday entrance through our online ticket vendor.  These tickets must be purchased online in advance of the faire to get the discounted multipass rate.

Yes, tickets will be available at the door, $25 cash – or $25 plus associated fees if using a credit card.  Avoid the lines and save some money – purchase your tickets in advance!  Even better, get reduced early bird pricing before May 1.

The Carroll County Agricultural Center has ample room for guest vehicles and patrons attending the Faire.  If you mean the lines at ticketing – purchase your tickets in advance. 

Yes, of course!  Guests planning to re-enter the grounds will get their hands stamped for re-entry.

There are no refunds for tickets; Oakenmist reserves the right to refund in extraordinary circumstances.  To prevent the traditional scammers, we strongly suggest that you not purchase someone else’s tickets.

General Information

Yes, the Agricultural Center is ADA accessible.

Not this year, as the Agricultural Center is not air conditioned; however there are HUGE overhead fans to provide a comfortable guest experience.  If the weather is supposed to be extreme, we may bring in portable air conditioning units.

No, WiFi is not available at the Faire.   The Agricultural Center is covered by all major wireless carriers.

Please see map provided.
Changing tables are available in the men’s and women’s restrooms.

Absolutely!

Yes, there are several ATMs managed by the Agricultural Center onsite.

Not for patrons.  There are RV spaces for performers and edutainers near the main entrance.

Yes, the pillory is a fun and unique opportunity for Faire-themed photos!  Put your group’s villain in the stocks for their crimes and let everyone know what they did!

Items may be turned in to the Lost & Found at the Information Booth.

Absolutely!

Have you been outside, in the middle of August, in Maryland, wearing actual period garb?  There’s a reason that multi-weekend RenFaires offer reduced cost tickets the first few weekends of their runs in August and September – heat and humidity among them.  Also, don’t like the weather in Maryland?  Wait a bit, it’ll change, right?  If it wasn’t pouring rain before, it will be soon. As a one-weekend event, weather can have a huge effect on attendance and participation, and that presents a risk to us.  There are plenty of cases where weather ended up forcing events of our type to cancel, or outdoor areas become unsafe – and in some cases, that event has not continued the following year. What happens at most RenFaires when it really rains?  Everybody flees under cover.  Why not just have that addressed to begin with?  Vendors and performers are generally much happier indoors, too.  We have performers who, when told we were indoors, dropped their costs to us, because the risk to their equipment due to poor weather is much smaller (and that reduces your costs.)  Performers generally don’t like paltry groups – they get energy from and give energy to the crowd.  Patrons also tend to stick around Oakenmist longer than the norm, which makes performers (and vendors, especially) happier.  It’s more straightforward to secure the site at night.  It’s also much easier for folks with wheelchairs, strollers and the like – the entire facility is accessible.  We could continue, but you get the idea. It’s not just us that think this. Our 2025 post event survey of patrons revealed an extremely high percentage of people that appreciated the indoor event versus an outdoor one.  If you take a look at the layout, we have a mix as it is – some edutainers have to be outdoors because of the amount of space they need, and things like fire-driven acts don’t work well indoors.  We may continue to expand the outdoor area – but we’ll always have an indoor setup. But we’ll grant you – it’s certainly a different experience!  If you want to go play in the rain, heat and humidity, we encourage you to do so – play is good for the spirit.  We’ll stay dry, sitting on dry benches, drinking our mead and listening to the music while we watch you!

Parking & Directions

General parking is in the gravel lots to the right as you come into the fairgrounds.  There are designated parking attendants with reflective vests to assist you with parking. 

Guests requiring accessible entry or handicap parking, please notify one of the parking attendants when you arrive onsite. 

No, parking at the Carroll County Agricultural Center is free for all guests.

This will get you a Google Map to the Carroll County Agricultural Center.

Food & Drink

There will be approximately 10 food trucks in front of the Main Hall; check the vendor list for a current list of them.  A mead garden is available for guests 21 and older at the far end of the Main Hall (also serving non-alcoholic beverages), coffee, soda and related drinks in the kitchen area straight back from the main entrance.  There are also vendors selling baked goods tasty snacks at booths within the Main Hall.
We highly recommend sampling the tasty treats brought to you by our food vendors.  They are here to delight your tongue and taste buds!  However, you are also welcome to bring snacks or food from home.
Whether you’re salivating over a dish from one of our food vendors or brown bagging it from home, there are several seating areas with tables available around the Faire.

Merchants, Performers & Edutainers

Performers and edutainers with demonstration or performance times for
Saturday, August 15
and Sunday, August 16

See the Vendors page for more information about current vendors, and

See the Performer list for more information about the current performers and edutainers.

We have a Main Hall map here that lists our participants by area.  (This link will become active when the map is complete.)
The Proper stage is at the left front of the marketplace and the Bawdy stage at rear of the mead garden.

Yes, for the most part our merchants accept credit cards.  The Agricultural Center has 2 ATM machines available by the main entrance.

Oakenmist Faire is particularly unique in our close relationship with a group known as the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).  The SCA has a considerable presence in the Maryland area and promotes the study and sharing of historic arts and crafts, weaponry, lifestyle and culture from the medieval period.  There are many SCA folks participating in our event who are here to answer questions and share their knowledge of this period in history.  These educational entertainers provide an interesting and unusual opportunity for those attending our Faire to experience and learn about our past.   SCA will be based in and around the combat arena in the middle of the Faire on Saturday.

Folks we need to thank

We appreciate all of our volunteers, some of whom we’ll highlight here as we move forward.

There are numerous folks within the Faerie realm who have provided direct assistance, advice and suggestions along our journey.    They include Nina from Big Whimsy, Katie from the Enchanted Fairy Festival, and Cat from Mythicon.

Policies

Oakenmist is a welcoming, inclusive, accepting, family-friendly event. We believe in the right to self-expression and strive to be a safe space for all. Behavior that is disruptive, profane, threatening, violent or bigoted will not be tolerated.  Any guest behaving in such a manner as determined by Oakenmist staff may be expelled without refund. We thank you for your cooperation!
Smoking is not permitted in any of the buildings on the Center or in or around the food truck areas. Smoking is permitted outdoors but please be considerate of others and please discard smoking materials in appropriate receptacles.   These rules and conditions also apply to those using electronic cigarettes or vapes.

No pets are allowed unless they are a trained service animal that does work or performs a task for a person with a disability.  Some performances and exhibits at the Oakenmist Faire may include animals specifically engaged for education, exhibit or performance purposes.  Owners with permitted animals must retain control of their animals at all times and must keep them on a leash or harness while visiting.

Animals whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act and at this time may not be allowed in the Faire per fairground policy.

For more information about service animals, please review the following:
Frequently Asked Questions about Service Animals and the ADA

Please do not leave any pets in your vehicle while you are visiting the Faire.

Metal weapons may not be drawn except for the small number of those used by event demonstrators and performers; wooden weapons are allowed but must remain sheathed or peace-tied (meaning “it is part of your garb or persona and cannot be drawn at the event”); foam weapons are acceptable.  There are a small number of vendors with metal weapons – these must remain on your person and peace-tied or bagged/boxed during your visit.

Many of our performer, vendors, staff, volunteers and guests wear period-appropriate dress called garb; others wear street clothes as may be worn every day IRL (in real life). Period garb is certainly not required to attend the Faire, but if you would like to don costumes or period-appropriate attire, we encourage you to wear your own or to purchase garb and/or accessories from our talented merchants at the Faire.

Regardless of whether you wear garb, we kindly request that your dress be appropriate to wear in public.  Proper attire is required for the duration of your visit to the Faire, and we must maintain an environment suitable for guests of all ages.  Footwear is required; clothing that depicts vulgar, offensive or bigoted language or images as determined by Oakenmist staff will not be permitted, and Oakenmist reserves the right to deny admission to or remove any person wearing inappropriate attire or attire which is overly revealing.  We encourage period and creative dress which meets these criteria.

Oakenmist Faire is a family-friendly event and draws patrons of all ages, including those under the age of 18.

For all faire-goers 21 years of age or older, mead and similar beverages can be sampled, purchased and consumed inside the draped-off mead garden located at the far right of the marketplace.  This area also offers an opportunity for faire-goers to taste and purchase some of the best craft beverages that the area have to offer.  Any bottled or canned items purchased from the vendors at the mead garden must remain unopened while you are at the Faire or on the fairgrounds, from the point of purchase until no longer on the fairgrounds. Consumption of open containers of alcohol at the Faire is permitted anywhere inside the Faire spaces; this is different from previous years where the restrictions by the facility were different.
Photography for personal use is permitted.  DSLR, cellular telephone and other handheld cameras are allowed.  All film and recording rights reserved. Commercial film and sound recording rights with respect to the Oakenmist Faire are expressly reserved. Commercial use of photographs, movies, tapes or video recordings of the Oakenmist Faire without written consent of Oakenmist Faire management is strictly prohibited. All production and promotional materials © by the Oakenmist Faire, any reproductions in any form without written permission of the Oakenmist Faire is strictly prohibited.  Please email info@oakenmist.com to discuss any questions associated with photography, sound or audiovisual recordings.

There are literally two dozen Renaissance-adjacent events within about two hours’ drive from us.  RenFaire, Faerie, Steampunk, Celtic, Combat – you name it.  As a group, we don’t tend to compete with each other – we complement each other with our education, performers and vendors.  We have no issue with other events cross-advertising the event itself – posting their events on our Facebook pages, for example – on Oakenmist pages, assuming that policy is reciprocal.

What we can’t do, though, is have other events advertise their performers, edutainers or vendors on our pages – that does a disservice to our vendors, especially those that have compensated us to put on an event.  To that end, we will remove posts and comments that promote other specific vendors or performers for other events, and take further steps as warranted.  We think that’s as fair as we can be to both our participants and the communities at large.  We, of course, abide by that approach in our actions as well.

We thank you for your consideration and cooperation and look forward to seeing you at the Faire!