2026 New Jersey Renaissance Fair- Our Best Visit Yet!

On June 6th, 2026, we visited the 2026 New Jersey Renaissance Fair in Columbus, New Jersey. This was my third time attending the Renaissance fair, but Josephine has gone many more times than me.

Upon entering the New Jersey Renaissance fair, we went under the same castle used in previous years but quickly noticed that this year’s fair was a lot larger. The northern part of the field used for the New Jersey Renaissance fair had many more booths compared to previous years. The booths that we visited were mainly places to pick up food, soaps, oils, and Renaissance props.

One booth that we really enjoyed had a gentleman playing a dulcimer, and we enjoyed talking and listening to him play so much that we bought one of his dulcimer music books to play on the piano.

This year, I saw more animals than I’ve ever seen at previous Renaissance fairs. We were able to walk up and see many horses up close, there was a petting zoo with goats, and a falcon. Some guests even brought their own pets to the event, and we saw a goose and dog dressed in Renaissance clothing!

Finally, something else we must mention that we loved was Dragon Breath’s ice cream. If you’ve never tried Dragon’s Breath ice cream, it is best described as Dipping Dots with larger individual pieces, but every time we took a spoonful of this ice cream, you would see the gas from the nitrogen come out of our noses.

In my opinion, 2026 was the best year I’ve ever had at the New Jersey Renaissance fair. During my 2024 and 2025 visits, I left the New Jersey Renaissance fair having a great time but wishing it was larger like the New York Renaissance fair. I wondered if maybe they had more volunteers or employees to participate in this year’s event compared to past years. Nevertheless, I commend everybody who helped put on such a wonderful renaissance fair, and I look forward to revisiting again next year.