The Larkspur Renaissance Festival opens June 6. Here's what's new for 2026 and how to actually do the day right.

The Colorado Renaissance Festival opens its 50th season Saturday, June 6, in Larkspur and runs every Saturday and Sunday plus the July 4th holiday Friday through Sunday, August 2. Eight weekends, 14 stages, more than 200 artisan booths, and the same 350-acre forested site at 650 W Perry Park Avenue that's been the festival's home since 1976. For 2026 the headline programming changes are two new performance acts (a circus-tumbler troupe from Cirque-trained performers and a returning Australian comedy-juggling duo last seen at the festival in 2018), a redesigned children's-village layout that adds a second stage, and the announcement of a 50th-anniversary commemorative ale brewed in partnership with Castle Rock's Bonfire Brewing.

The basics, in case it's been a few years:

• Hours: 10am to 6:30pm, every Saturday and Sunday June 6 through August 2, plus Friday July 3.
• Tickets: $32 adult, $14 child (5-12), under-5 free. Online discount of $2-3 per ticket through the festival website. King's Pass season pass $99 covers all 8 weekends.
• Parking: $10 per car, cash or card. Premium parking $25 (closer lots, faster exit).
• Food and drink: Cash and card both accepted. Specialty sodas, festival ales, mead, and the famous turkey legs are the four most-ordered items.

For the regulars: the Bonfire 50th-anniversary ale (working name "Castle Rock Coronation Ale," a Belgian-style golden ale) launches at the festival and won't be available at the brewery taproom until July. The new circus-tumbler act performs Saturday afternoons at 1pm and Sunday at 3pm on the Glade stage; arrive 20 minutes early for a seat. The redesigned children's-village layout opens the second stage at 11am with rotating storytelling, puppet shows, and child-participation programming through 5pm.

The three things to know if you've never been:

1. Get there before 10am. The lot fills 10:30am-12:30pm and the queue at the gate adds 20-30 minutes. The 9:30am arrival lets you park in the main lot, walk in at gate-open, and hit the headliner stages without crowd density. The 11am arrival is the worst slot on the day.
2. Plan around two stage shows, not five. Most first-time visitors try to hit every stage and end up tired and sun-burned by 2pm. The right plan is to pick two stage shows you want to see (the joust is the obvious choice; the Glade circus-tumbler act for 2026 is the second), schedule the rest of the day around the booth-walking, and eat the turkey leg between shows.
3. The mead is real and the festival ales are good. Mountain Rangers Meadery has the festival mead booth and the orange-blossom variety is the consensus first order. The Bonfire 50th-anniversary ale launches this season as the festival's house ale and is worth seeking out.

The joust: runs four times daily (11:30am, 1pm, 2:30pm, 4pm) at the joust arena. The 1pm show is the prime slot and fills the bleachers; arrive 25 minutes early. The 11:30am and 4pm shows run with shorter waits.

Costume note: roughly 20-30% of attendees come in some level of Renaissance, fantasy, or steampunk costume; full pirate, full elf, full lord-and-lady, full faerie. The festival vibe rewards the participation, and the photo opportunities at the entrance gate are a real thing. If you've been considering it, this is the year. Costumes for sale at the festival booths if you want to commit on arrival.

Sun, water, weather: Larkspur sits at 6,500 feet and the sun at festival latitude is brutal by 1pm. Bring a brimmed hat. Refillable water bottles are allowed and there are filling stations throughout the site. The forecast for June 6 (opening Saturday) is currently warm and partly cloudy; check the festival's weather alerts page if storms are in the forecast (the joust and outdoor stages run unless lightning is within 5 miles).

For the broader DougCo summer schedule, see our [2026 summer preview](/news/douglas-county-summer-2026-preview). For everything else Larkspur this summer including the Sandstone Ranch trails and Rainbow Falls, see the [Larkspur area page](/areas/larkspur).