Overview Scarborough Renaissance Festival stages King Henry VIII's visit to a recreated 16th-century English village outside Waxahachie, 30 minutes south of Dallas and Fort Worth, every spring weekend, with full-combat armored jousts, more than 20 stages and 200 village shoppes of handmade goods. It runs Saturdays, Sundays and Memorial Day Monday from April to the end of May, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., rain or shine, on a 35-acre site. On site A pre-opening show starts at the village gates at 9:45. Inside, a performing company of more than 100 works the stages and lanes, and the Birds of Prey show, presented by the Last Chance Forever Birds of Prey Conservancy, flies raptors with the Royal Falconer at the Falconry Stage. A Mermaid Lagoon, Renaissance rides and skill games fill out the lanes, and in 2026 Cirque du Sewer, a trained-rat-and-cat act seen on America's Got Talent, played the Crown Stage. Five food courts feed the village, 17 pubs and taverns serve guests 21 and over, and beer and wine tastings run every day. Each weekend carries a theme; in 2026 they ran from an Easter opening and an Artisan's Showcase through Barbarian, Celtic, Chivalry, Flights of Fantasy and Legends of the Seas weekends to the Last Huzzah, three closing days ending with a Memorial Day veterans parade and Fallen Heroes Tribute. About 20 weddings a season are held in the Wedding Garden. Audience Guests come in costume, and the weekends are built around it. Family-friendly costumes are welcome at the gate and weapons must be peace-tied; in 2026 Barbarian Weekend ran feats of strength and themed contests, Flights of Fantasy leaned into cosplay and fairy folklore, and Legends of the Seas held sea-themed costume contests. Celtic Weekend put select performances into American Sign Language for Deaf Awareness Day. Track record The festival first ran in 1981. USA Today's 10Best list ranked Scarborough the No. 2 family-friendly Renaissance faire in the country, and the festival has been featured on the Travel Channel, CNN.com and Food Network. Brand presence Sponsorship runs across the full run of weekends: parking lot rights, presenting a themed weekend, presenting the Birds of Prey show, an annual sponsorship of the daily wine or beer tastings, and activation space bundled across several weekends. The festival distributes more than 25,000 brochures and 20,000 souvenir programs a season. Its 2026 thank-you page named Dallas-Fort Worth radio and TV stations, the Dallas Observer and Fort Worth Weekly, Waxahachie hotels and the Waxahachie Convention and Visitors Bureau among its sponsors.