The Maryland Renaissance Festival, the fantasy and music extravaganza staged each fall in the woods near Annapolis, announced Wednesday it will not open this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Jules Smith, president of the Maryland Renaissance Festival, said he was prepared to open with people wearing masks along with their costumes and plenty of hand sanitizer around. But ultimately the event could not overcome the challenges posed for the kind of up-close and interactive experiences that are a hallmark of the festival held in a wooded area in Crownsville dubbed Revel Grove.
“We’ve never lost a season,” Smith said. “We’re no different than any other business going through a very tough time. We’re not exceptional in that regard but nobody likes that for their business and we certainly don’t.”
The festival was set to open for its 43rd season Aug. 29 and run weekends through Oct. 30. Smith said his team will focus that time on promoting vendors who get their business from the festival, matching each weekend of the fair with promotion of the teams that would have been there.
The announcement follows by just six days an announcement by the Anne Arundel County Fair committee that it would not hold its annual event this year. The fairground is located on property just two miles from the festival grounds. Anne Arundel County Schools laid out its plans Monday for online classes, citing the risk of the virus.
The 27-acre compound is filled with 10 stages, dozens of shops and a 3,000-seat arena for jousting. Each year it is populated by roaming acts and a full schedule of music and Shakespeare performances. It draws more than 15,000 people a day and 300,000 in a season.
“Obviously this is devastating news,” Visit Annapolis and Anne Arundel County acting president Dani Botcher said.
“I understand their concern for the safety of all the attendees. They have been a great partner of ours and we look forward to supporting them in 2021. I wouldn’t want to hear about any other events being canceled but I think that’s where we’re heading and it’s unfortunate.”
The Renaissance Festival, known to many simply as Rennfest, started in Columbia but soon moved to Crownsville, where it has remained ever since.
Maryland is currently under phase two of its reopening plans after an ebb in coronavirus infections, which bans in-person theater performances.
Monday, Anne Arundel County Health Officer Nilesh Kalyanaraman said the county is considering rolling back its limited reopening steps out of concerns of a resurgence in the number of cases.
Kalyanaraman and health officers from Montgomery, Prince George’s, Baltimore and Howard counties as well as Baltimore City expressed concern about the situation in a letter sent to Maryland’s Deputy Health Secretary Fran Phillips. They said they are ready to make changes to reopening permissions individually but would rather the state take a more unified approach to respond to the increase in cases.
The health officers suggested closing indoor dining; indoor amusement facilities; indoor recreation facilities and restriction of travel to areas deemed COVID-19 “hot spots.”
Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday in an interview that it’s too soon to tighten restrictions on businesses.
The Republican governor was asked during a CSPAN-2 appearance whether he might consider “shutting down certain aspects of business again.”
“Our goal would be to try to keep business open and the economy unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Hogan said.
