RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Thousands arrived at Recreational Springs Resort Saturday to celebrate the fourth annual Black Hills Renaissance Festival.

This is the festival’s first year at the resort, and Lead Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jami Grangaard said the relocation was necessary due to the festival’s popularity.

“As much as we wanted to keep this event in the city of Lead, we basically outgrew the locations that we were able to have it,” Grangaard said. She also mentioned ticket sales on Eventbrite doubled last year’s totals.

Most attendees were dressed in medieval clothing and moved from attraction to attraction. The festival was originally supposed to debut in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic made Shareece Tatum, the festival’s executive director, need to change plans. When the Lead Area Chamber of Commerce members reached out to her the following year about creating an event, Tatum took her chance.

“I was like, ‘Well, I have a half-baked ren fair that was supposed to happen in 2020, you want me to give it a shot?’ And they’re like, ‘Let’s do it,’” Tatum said.

While Grangaard had received lots of positive feedback about the festival, she said some attendees had been frustrated by limited parking space. Grangaard explained attendees can ride a free shuttle bus to the festival from Lead, and they should not park alongside U.S. Highway 85, where they risk parking tickets and their cars being towed.

More information and a link to purchase tickets can be found on the Black Hills Renaissance Festival’s website.

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