Our Story
My name is Melanie Huard and I am the Owner Organizer of the Maine Renaissance Faire. My earliest business venture was selling my own art work and handmade crafts at Renaissance Faires and similar events. In 2018, I started organizing the Maine Renaissance Faire and set out to hold a one weekend event at the Acton Fairgrounds in July of 2019. Since then, the Maine Renaissance Faire has evolved into a two-weekend event that brings friends and families from across New England and beyond.
After 4 years of growing the Maine Renaissance Faire into one of the summer’s most anticipated events, we had hoped to add another weekend; however, we aren't able to expand any further at our current location or create a more immersive experience for our patrons. Therefore, we have embarked on an adventure of epic proportions, building a permanent site for the Maine Renaissance Faire!
The Plan
For the last four seasons, the Acton Fairground has been the site of the Maine Renaissance Faire and although it has been a wonderful place to start and grow, we want to take it to another level and move the faire to a permanent site as enchanting and mysterious as a Renaissance Faire should be. Just imagine...strolling through a wooded lane as a harper passes by, a beautiful stone wall borders a row of merchant tents selling all manner of handcrafted wares, in a wooded setting, cries of "God save the Queen!" echo in the distance, the smell of scrumptious faire food and ahead, the joust field, where the clash of knights on their mighty steeds begins as the crowd roars! This is the vision we hope to create for all!
While the Maine Renaissance Faire will be our primary focus for the site, we have plans to use the grounds for other community, spiritual and educational events. Some of the ideas that we are considering are:
- Spiritual Retreats
- One Weekend Fantasy Faire in the Spring
- Halloween event in October
- Norse Viking event in November
We are also working on starting a non-profit organization called "The Friends of the Maine Renaissance Faire". This organization's mission will be to offer free training in the arts, including:
- Improvisational Acting
- Theatrical Fighting
- Set design and building
- Historical Consume Making
And so much more! The plan includes a building on site that can be used as our Tavern during the Ren Faire and to host our programs and other events during the rest of the year.
As you might imagine, building a fairground is a very expensive proposition. We are super excited to have found and purchased a 58-acre parcel of land in Springvale, ME and started planning, permitting and prepping the site but funds are quickly running out. I’m working with Kennebunk Savings Bank to help finance the project with a loan, however, we are going to have a significant shortfall in funds to be able to bring the dream to life and that’s where you come in!
How You Can Help
And now for the mundane stuff! In order to keep the construction work moving forward I've launched this fundraiser in the hopes of raising $50,000.00. The fairground needs all the basic infrastructure built before we can hold the faire on site. We need access roads, parking lots, electrical and water services, as well as permits. It's not very exciting and romantic but it's what helps make the magic happen. Every penny of your donation will go straight to construction costs so that we can build you an amazing and wondrous Renaissance Faire for all to enjoy!
Thank You
There is no more amazing community of people than the Renaissance Faire Community. I am so blessed to be a part of it and we have the most wonderful patrons. I want to personally thank all the performers, merchants, volunteers, friends and family that have helped me make this dream a reality. If you can afford to help out it would mean so much to us all and please pass this along because it takes a village to build a Renaissance Faire and I couldn’t do it without all of you.