Kitsap Medieval Faire Review: by an ex-WMRF enjoyer

Last year my boyfriend and I went to the Washington Medieval Renaissance Faire and had a mostly great time but felt robbed by the prices and cooked in the sun. This year after seeing this post as well as https://www.seattlemet.com/news-and-city-life/2025/06/washington-midsummer-renaissance-faire-nightmare we decided to go to the Kitsap Faire instead. Here is my review, but if you stop reading here my verdict is you should go next year!

Cons:

The KMF was really far away from us. This is of course just the way the cookie crumbles, but it was 3x the drive that the WMRF is- almost two hours.

It was a little bit smaller, and a little bit more child-oriented. No bar, performers more childish like storytelling and singalongs, the “quest” system which seemed really cute but was definitely for occupying little ones. We did miss the caliber and amount of performers that the WMRF has.

Overall organization. Please event organizers if you read this, two things you can do really easily is hire someone to organize your website and buy some megaphones. For example trying to learn the food lineup the morning of was impossible, as well as understanding what activities on the fairgrounds were for visitors and what were member-only. My boyfriend is big into archery but had no way of knowing he wouldn’t be able to participate until we found a person to talk to that day. We also could barely hear some things happening on the field, like the knighting- you just need a megaphone or mic system.

Pros:

Other than the lack of strong performers, literally everything was better.

The price! $20 and free for under 17. I felt compelled to spend a little more on the vendors because it was more reasonable, and I could tell they were putting the money to a good event.

The food! The food was amazing. There were just under a dozen options and we felt like everything we tried was actually really yummy. We tried the BBQ, ice cream, and the biggest yummiest funnel cake ever. There were lines but they were moving and nothing was anywhere near as miserable as the coffee line at WMRF. The prices felt comparable to food of that quality at a traditional restaurant.

The vendors! There were fewer but they were all real artists and craftsmen with amazing work. I was so happy to not see a single drop-shipper with those stupid fake crochet flowers. I spent maybe $20 on little trinkets- I’m moving soon so can’t buy too much, otherwise I would’ve easily spent $100+.

The “arts and sciences!” I have never seen a real loom in action, and it was so cool to watch and have someone so kind and excited to talk about what she was doing. Similarly the pottery wheel and the woodwork were really cool to have live right there. There were also so many rounds of battles and everyone was so excited to talk about their armor. Everyone was so passionate to share what they do. I think the fact that this faire is only a day helps keep energy high, but also you can just tell everyone loves putting this together.

The accessibility! The Kitsap fairgrounds are just so much nicer than that big muddy empty field WMRF has. Plenty of paved areas, a chill-out tent, and a golf cart shuttle that had a route around the fairgrounds. It was a gross cloudy day but they had shade tents set up just in case, and some real inside areas. I was really impressed at the care they took to make it open to all. And having real bathrooms was so nice. And parking was incredible easy, no huge two hour line.

My boyfriend and I agreed that this faire is just one megaphone and one web designer away from being a real gem. We had a great day and really enjoyed this community, despite the drive. I would definitely recommend checking out this faire to anyone who may be a tired of the big business vibes at WMRF and wants to be around people who are really excited to create this experience.