The premiere Renaissance Faire in Washington for 2010 will be The Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire (the short form will likely be the Midsummer Faire) at Maris Farms over the first three weekends of August. Last year the Washington Renaissance Fantasy Faire was held over the same time at the same location, but due to challenges of the 2009 team to come to an amicable, ongoing agreement with Ron Cleveland (who acted as the event manager in 2009), the Washington Renaissance Arts and Education Society has elected to continue forward producing an event in cooperation with Renaissance Productions.

Sources requesting to remain anonymous have expressed regret that Mr. Cleveland was not willing to negotiate in good faith with the team that restored the event in 2009 after his failed attempt to move the WRFF to Gig Harbor in 2008. “He pulled away from the negotiating table and attempted to strongarm the team, which was the last straw.”

Vendors not wishing to participate in this new event who had already submitted paperwork/applications can contact the vendor coordinator for a refund. As of the writing of this article no vendors have been identified who have opted to take up on the offer of a refund. One food vendor’s reported, “The [2009] event was an impressive first year at a new venue, especially after failure of the 2008 event to materialize. This new event is effectively the same management team and I don’t expect anything different for 2010.”

An extensive outreach program is underway to contact the vendors, entertainers, guilds, and staff to let everyone know of the changes. If anyone has any questions about the 2010 Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire, they should contact Tracy Nietupski at Traacy1@comcast.net or Amy Forsyth at AmyFaire@aol.com.