CARVER – A trip back in time is just a drive away in Massachusetts. For decades, the family-owned King Richard’s Faire in Carver has been entertaining New England crowds.
Massachusetts Renaissance Festival
“When you walk through our gates, you are literally transported back to the 16th century,” General Manager Aimée Shapiro-Sedley told WBZ-TV.
She was only two years old when her parents started what would eventually become the annual festival, which she and her mother still run today.
Throughout the fairgrounds you will find entertainment, food and art of all kinds. Elizabeth Moore and her mother, Deborah Mezker, are behind the shop Heart’s Delight. They design, manufacture and sell Renaissance clothing.
“I love making it. I love choosing a fabric that I love and that all of my kids have been a part of at some point in the business,” Mezker said.
“It’s very satisfying and exciting to see that every once in a while you see someone on stage wearing your shirt and you really feel part of the 43 years that have passed here,” Moore added.
Kirk Simpson has played King Richard XI for the past five seasons and he still can’t get enough of the fair.
“It’s a magical place that you can come to and basically escape reality. You can enter another world and just be who you are, be who you want to be, be who, you know, who you always wanted to be,” Simpson said.
When is King Richard’s Faire open?
Over the decades, families have shared the tradition, allowing the fair to continue to thrive.
“Kids came with their parents when they were young, and then they came as teenagers, and then as young adults, and now they have families. We see all these different generations here, and everyone has fun because we have something for everyone,” Shapiro-Sedley said.
King Richard’s Faire is open weekends from Labor Day weekend through October 20, plus Monday, October 14.
David Wade
