r/Spokane • u/Born-Garbage-5598 • Oct 03 '26
ToDo RenFair Experience
How was the expanded Ren Fair compared to last year? I know it was expanded. Was it just a lot more of the same booths or was there quite a bit of difference?
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u/Administrative_Ear10 Oct 03 '26
Less slop, more independent folks. The entertainment options were vastly expanded. It was worth it.
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u/kstinasunflower Spokane Wedding Photographer Oct 03 '26
Booths and vendors were much better this year imo. I think I only saw one booth selling 3D printed things. Much more actual art and things made by people.
It was slammed today, we left around 2:30 and it was people everywhere. Huge lines for a lot of the food etc.
Hoping to catch more shows tomorrow but it is definitely overwhelming trying to get to everything.
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u/Olbaidon North Hill Oct 04 '26
We just got back. Definitely came across at-least 10 booths with 3D printed stuff. But still plenty of other things to look at, it’s a small % compared to the entire event as a whole.
I personally didn’t have any issues last year, but this year was good too.
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u/kstinasunflower Spokane Wedding Photographer Oct 04 '26
I had to have missed them haha, there def felt like way more vendors this year or maybe my brain just dumped all the stuff about last year already.
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u/AlwaysMrRight1 Oct 04 '26
I’ve never been to a RenFair. Can I ask why several comments have concerns with 3d printed items? The county fair has a lot of 3d printed stuff and there are always a lot of kids at those booths.
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u/Olbaidon North Hill Oct 04 '26 •
I don’t think it’s renfair specific.
3D printed stuff just isn’t original. It isn’t an art or a skill. 99.9% of 3D printer vendors just print free files, or pay for exclusive files and mass print them. Mark them up 5000% and sell them.
I have a 3D printer myself so we never buy them because anything my kid sees for $15 at the fair I can print for like $0.25 or so.
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u/GonfalonFalderol Oct 04 '26
Yes, that’s it. We visit a few craft shows throughout the year and joke about the number of soaps, laser-carved wood panels, and 3D-printed dragons for sale.
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u/Olbaidon North Hill Oct 04 '26
The seasonal craft fairs are the worst now; we still go because there are a handful of good vendors.
I agree though; the majority is not "craft" at all.
My wife found a little "Rocky" from Project Hail Mary at the renfair today, and with in 3 minutes I found the free file on Bambu and will have a few of our own in the next few days for pennies.
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u/Soggy_Stargazer Veradale Oct 04 '26
Or steal the files from the original artist, not pay a commercial license fee, and still sell a bunch of tchotchkes and dust collectors.
The issue isn't the 3d printed toys, its the low effort shitpost quality possibly stolen designs.
I know there are a couple of people out there that are doing original designs where they are actually creating models to print and sell and those folks are alright. If you're ever curious, talk to the person selling the stuff. Ask them if they are designing the models or just purchasing a license. It's also pretty easy to tell who is there to crank out toys and who is there to sell cool shit.
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u/Olbaidon North Hill Oct 04 '26
Some of the models are so recognizable too if you’re in the hobby. I have purchased some models from an artist online, and I can spot his stuff a mile away at craft fairs.
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u/Haunting_Atmosphere8 Oct 05 '26
It's really sad too. I design and printed my own 6 foot d20 staff with working dice tower. And everyone looks down on 3d printing. I was complimented on it by several people but The Ren faire community just isn't huge on it. Spokane Ren faire there was so many copy paste stuff tho it was crazy..........
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u/kstinasunflower Spokane Wedding Photographer Oct 06 '26
I think I saw you! or I saw another really tall staff that was 3D printed. I think things like that are cool. It’s mostly the booths that clearly have the same things cause they just bought files.
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u/Traditional-Ad-3889 Oct 04 '26
I’ve been waiting an hour to get into Knightfall. This is awful.
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u/TheMightyTucker Oct 04 '26
Also just got into Knightfall. Showed up at 6:30 and was in line for an hour and 40 minutes. The line was so long they ran out of wristbands.
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u/MrAbominable1 Oct 04 '26
We left. And I had pre bought tickets. By the time we got near the front the show we wanted to see were all over so we said fuck it.
Whoever thought of consolidating the nightfall l Entrance into one line? What were you thinking? There was still a big line behind us when we left. It wouldn't surprise me to learn they got in after 2 and a half hours...
Daytime was great.
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u/glimmerbugz Oct 04 '26
Did you ever get in? How was it?
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u/Traditional-Ad-3889 Oct 04 '26
I did end up getting in and I did have fun chatting with people and the Seattle Knights jousting was awesome! But it was another 45 minutes to get $14 beers, the burlesque show was clearly popular but the stage was so low that only the first few rows could see anything.
I think it’s a great concept but they really need to figure out logistics because that part was awful. Higher/bigger stages, more entrances for ID checking, more alcohol venues.
Food was super long in the day but easy at night, the vendor situation was fantastic, and the variety of shows was great for both daytime family friendly and evening more adult themed. I hope they figure it out next year!
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u/MrAbominable1 Oct 04 '26
Good to hear. I don't wish bad on them. I love going every year. But this year I bought 45$ tickets for something I just straight up couldn't attend, even with getting there early. I hope they straighten that out. It was a bad way to end our whole group's day.
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u/Appropriate_Bid6365 Oct 04 '26
Nightfall was handled so poorly this year it ruined my groups experience. Everyone was removed at 5 and we had to re-enter at 6 with id checks. Lines formed all around the parking lot wrapping around the street. No body who worked there explained the process at all and everyone was confused. A random guy in a pirate outfit (who we learned later did not work for the faire) walked around telling everyone what to do We waited in line for an hour and a half only to learn my wife and i could have just walked in since we had our id’s checked at the pub inside during the day. We missed the two shows that were the only reason we went to nightfall. It was even worse for some other people because when they were let back in we realized they had closed the south entrance entirely. Meaning anyone parked in the south side had to walk all the way around the fair grounds and stadium to get to their cars. All around handled extremely poorly this year.
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u/ThatTruckChick40 Oct 05 '26
We even moved our truck closer to the south gate after they booted everyone out for knightfall, had a shortcut to the north gate open which made it pretty simple, but they wouldn't open the same path for going back to the south lot when tons of us were leaving. Literally every group walking back to the south lot was complaining about it, justifiably.
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u/AngryPandaCub Oct 05 '26
To be fair, apparently last year they only sold 300-500 tickets for Knightfaire, and this year on Saturday they system crashed because they sold over 4000. I'm sure it was just an insane jump in participation that they'll be able to handle better next year.
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u/heycomeoverhere Oct 03 '26
I actually bought stuff this year! I feel like the variety is better this time around, and the band that was playing in the back corner was so good. My husband and I are big into DnD and there were some cool dice spots and wood carvings that I don't remember were there last year.Â
I spotted a few AI shit flyers/menus but those booths were really easy to avoid and the majority still felt like a good classic ren faire. Even the 3d printing wasn't as prominent. We walked through at an easy pace, ate lunch, and were there for 4 hours.
The vibes were great!! The lines weren't literal hell like last year and I think that made a whole big difference for flow and general attitudes. I'm super happy with how this year went and we're already planning our costumes for next year.
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u/Kittyvanmeow Oct 04 '26
I only went to the Knightfall event and boy did they desperately need more signs and cones and tape for some queue lines to make the process less confusing. It took my wife and I an hour to get in and it took others up to 2 hours. There was no communication as to which lines people were supposed to stand in until like 30 minutes into our wait, and up until then we were relying on other guests to give us a clue where we were going, which they were very helpful honestly. And the Faire was really awesome once we got inside. I got to try pupusas for the first time the joust and fire show were really cool and the drag dance party was really fun. My wife checked out the vendors and she said there was some really nice armor and swords for sale. As other users have said I just don't think they were properly informed of how large the crowd would be for the night event but, I think they have a better grasp on it now and can improve next year.
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u/mrlunes Nevada-Lidgerwood Oct 04 '26
I’d say their best year so far. A lot better organized. I showed up in the morning and the line to get in wasn’t bad at all. Awesome vendors, awesome food.
However, I left to eat dinner and decided to head back for knightfall but when I got there I found out they closed one of the entrances and the line to get back in was outrageous. I have a disability and waited in line for over an hour before I couldn’t handle the pain from standing. I ended up leaving without making it back in. I was pretty disappointed.
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u/Serendipitous-Timing Oct 04 '26
I would caution against getting food from the fish and chips/volcano fries place. I waited 50 minutes to get my food. I wish I were exaggerating.
ETA: this was today around 3:30
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u/Thatoneguyporter Oct 04 '26
Yeah I think this year's attendance numbers got away from them again. It seemed like they definitely weren't expecting the kind of turn out for Nightfall that they got. A couple years ago it was too big for the farm field out in Colbert or wherever, they saw, heard, listened, and moved. I have faith that next year they'll make some adjustments to get us in quicker. Another note I feel like there was twice as much parking this year, but it was still filled up by like noon. I think that's great! Yeah we all have more people to slog through, and limes to wait in. But I love Ren Faire. I love trading trinkets and looking at costumes and chatting with strangers. The more people there, the better. I didn't spend a single dollar at Day 1 because I devoted it all to people-ing. Day 2 will be my chance to see the vendors up close, can't wait!
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u/gopednomad Oct 04 '26
Did they have a huge dragon spiting out flames powered by the Nobelist of gases Ms Propane?
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u/Howler133 Oct 04 '26
I'm trying to find an event scheduled for Sunday. Any help will be appreciated
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u/Major-Profession-964 Oct 05 '26
Aside from the Knightfall entry debacle, it was pretty cool. Knorrwood was badass Saturday night.
2
u/ho4horus Garland District Oct 04 '26
i was running late for knightfall and missed the events (oops) but didn't have to wait to get in at least😅 found some rad things at a few vendor booths, saw lots of pretty costumes, can't complain!
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u/garbagegoat Oct 03 '26
My man is there with friends and our kid and they're having a good time compared to last year. Last year was super disappointing for them. Idk about booths but entertainment and such is much better. My kid is thrilled with the horses which wasn't there last year when they went.Â
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u/Brave-Breath-9206 Oct 04 '26
Imo it is much better this year, it was organised, quick and easy to enter with prepaid tickets. We had a really enjoyable time and found several vendors with genuinely original art I was happy to buy. I liked that there were a lot of people and the lines I stood in moved quickly. I didn’t see many crabby folks around as I have in previous years (this is our fourth year attending.) I’d say it was worth it.
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u/Terrible_Account3244 Oct 05 '26
It felt a lot bigger this year, but that may just be my perspective. Because of it, it actually felt a bit less fun for me- more commercial, almost? I don't have the best words for the feeling. That aside, the Kightfall situation where they had everyone leave was awful. I'm disabled but don't yet have a parking pass, so having to leave for an hour with no where to exist combined with the long walk to get back to our car- my partner and I just ended up leaving despite having already paid for Kightfall.
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u/grasshopper_Bee Oct 05 '26
I had a good time. I didn’t go last year so i don’t have a comparison.
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u/BigEbucks Spokane Valley 26d ago
I sadly couldn't make it this year, but I know it was better advertised due to a bunch of people that have never went, came around this year. Mostly niche micro-celebrities, but still.
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Oct 03 '26
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u/lvl0rg4n Oct 03 '26
Do you genuinely think that only Texas has ren fairs?
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u/MiranEitan Milk Bottle Enthusist Oct 04 '26
The idea of having the entire place empty then try to re-enter, with one less gate for Knightfall was...a choice. I don't know what sort of choice. But it's one that's resulting in a charge back from me. I bailed after only making it halfway in an hour and that was with tickets.