A guide to the Georgia Renaissance Festival 2026 Fall Fling, After Dark
The Georgia Renaissance Festival is extending its season for the third time with the Fall Fling, an autumnal take on the Renaissance Festival featuring six themed weekends with cooler weather, fewer crowds and adults-only evening festivities.
The Fall Fling runs on six Saturdays and on Black Friday. For the first time, the entire festival grounds will be open in the fall.
Fewer tickets are sold for the Fall Fling, meaning the crowds are much smaller compared to the spring festival.
“(The Fall Fling) really is completely different, especially with costumes,” said Elizabeth Clay, the festival’s communications coordinator. “Everyone goes full out. If you think that people are fully dressed up in spring, it takes another level at the Fall Fling because it’s cooler, people can have more layers.”
There are also more autumnal-themed food and drink offerings, interactive experiences and a new lineup of performances. As the sun sets earlier, the After Dark portion of the festival will kick off on Fridays with DJs and dancing.
Fall Fling 2026 themed weekends and performances
The theme of this year’s Fall Fling is Robin Hood and Nottingham. More than 30 actors will play the parts of this classic story as they roam the festival grounds, looking for attendees to involve in their antics.
Clay said they’re hoping to make the interactions immersive as Robin Hood and his merry men crack jokes and offer small quests to festivalgoers.
Beyond the Robin Hood theme, each weekend will have its own focus. The opening weekend, Hallowtide, is already sold out, and the second-highest-selling weekend is Harvest of the Old Gods on Nov. 7 with a fae and Celtic folklore theme.
The full list of themes include:
- Oct. 31: Hallowtide, the opening night with a spooky, Halloween theme.
- Nov. 7: Harvest of the Old Gods, themed after woodland magic and the fae.
- Nov. 14: Feast of Fools, a celebration of jesters, absurdity and chaos.
- Nov. 21: Tournament of Champions, a day with knights, warriors and battles.
- Nov. 27-28: Royal Market Days, with festive merchants and makers for a holiday market.
- Dec. 5: Yuletide Revel, featuring winter magic, holiday festivities and Santa.
New acts at Fall Fling include the Fortress Dwellers, a family of entertainers that has built a considerable following on social media for music that combines bagpipes, tin whistles, saxophone, drums, guitars and violins.
“A lot of the national acts talk about how the Renaissance Festival is one of the last places where you can really see live entertainment,” Cate Osborn said.
Osborn and her husband, Chris Moneymaker, are the Georgia-based actors who play Catherine of Aragon and King Henry VIII in the spring, and Sister Mary Jane Merlot and the Sheriff of Nottingham in the fall.
Osborn began working for the Georgia Renaissance Festival about eight years ago. Moneymaker was offered the role of king because of his background in theater and his likeness to King Henry VIII.
Both Osborn and Moneymaker also work as the “village creative leads,” meaning they’re responsible for selecting, training, costuming and directing the dozens of cast members who play the residents of Nottingham and roam the festival grounds.
The couple first met while working in theater, so performing together in the festival, “I kind of do feel like newlyweds again,” Osborn said.
The Fall Fling is a completely different experience from the spring festival, Moneymaker said. It starts later, which means attendees can see the festival grounds transform with lights in the evening, and several of the acts are performing at the Georgia Renaissance Festival for the first time.
Osborn recommends the Pub Crawl, which brings guests 21 and older through three pubs at the festival with quips and storytelling from Friar Tuck and Sisters Mary Jane Merlot and Jezebel.
There is also a VIP, behind-the-scenes jousting experience, as well as a Nottingham Walking Tour for those hoping to get a complete lay of the land.
Closer to the holidays, the Fall Fling recruited a longtime Renaissance Festival regular, also known as a “playtron,” to take on the role of Santa, Osborn said.
“I think the big thing that I would say is, we often advocate for a well-rounded day at the Ren Fest,” Moneymaker said. “There is so much that can be done, period, so find something unique to eat, take in a show that you can’t see anywhere else.”
In the years that Osborn has worked with the Renaissance Festival, and with her experience as a full-time content creator on TikTok and Instagram, she’s seen a rise in Ren fair content and a new generation getting excited about the festivities.
“As things have sort of started to feel less connected, I think that there are a lot of people who really just want that connection,” she said. “And the Renaissance Festival, from its very origins, the way that it started, was to bring people together for a common cause, and so I think right now people are really looking for that connection.”
A preview of the Georgia Renaissance Festival After Dark
This year’s Fall Fling will bring five 21-and-older After Dark parties on Friday nights. This is the second year the evening festivities will come to Georgia.
“It gets dark so early that you’re able to experience the festival grounds under twinkling lights at night,” Clay said. “Everything just feels a little more magical.”
After Dark is hosted by DJ Blake Ward of High Fantasy Events. Ward is based in Texas, where he’s worked as a DJ for more than 20 years. He started hosting fantasy-themed parties at venues in Texas, and that side of his career grew into gigs at comic book conventions and various renaissance fairs, including in Oregon and Washington.
Ward hosted two After Dark events for the first time in Georgia last year, and he’s back again for five nights.
“There are not a lot of Ren fairs that throw nighttime after-parties, and it’s a really fun event that is somewhere in between a traditional Ren fair, where you get the cute daytime experience, and a massive dance party with drag queens and burlesque and circus,” he said.
At After Dark, Ward will DJ throughout the night on the Thistle Kirk Stage with MC Paolo Garbanzo. Traveling and local drag performers will join them on stage during their set.
Performances on other stages will include an evening show from the Fortress Dwellers, and plenty of nighttime Renaissance fair acts across the festival grounds. There will also be two nightly jousting performances at 8:30 and 10:15 p.m.
The music will include a mix of traditional Renaissance performances and throwback dance hits from Ward.
Food and drinks will still be available, including a menu of cocktails like blackberry bourbon lemonade, blood orange vodka fizz and Cutwaters.
“A lot of it is going to be driven by the crowd and that, for me, that’s kind of my favorite part,” Ward said. “Because if you show up to a party in a costume, you are there to have fun.”
IF YOU GO
Fall Fling
1-9 p.m. Saturdays from Oct. 31-Dec. 5, and Nov. 27. $34.88 for adults. $17.28 for children 6-12. 6905 Virlyn B Smith Road, Fairburn. garenfest.com/fall
After Dark
7 p.m.-midnight Fridays from Oct. 30-Dec. 4. $50-$60 per person. 6905 Virlyn B Smith Road, Fairburn. garenfest.com/afterdark