The Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival is a Renaissance fair

Renaissance Fair

A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire, or Renaissance festival is an outdoor weekend gathering, usually held in the United States, open to the public and typically commercial in nature, which emulates a historic period for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent theme parks, others are...

 located in West Newton, Pennsylvania

West Newton, Pennsylvania

West Newton, located southeast of Pittsburgh, is a borough in Westmoreland County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Formerly, the manufacture of radiators and boilers were the chief industries. In 1900, the people living there numbered 2,467. In 1910, 2,880 people lived there...

. As of 2011, the fair is in its 17th season. In 2005 the fair had 55,000 attendees. The faire covers 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) and, as of 2008, contained six stages.

The setting for the fair is a village called Morelandshire, sometime between 1533 and 1536.

History

The fair was founded in 1994, and held for three seasons at the Butler County Fairgrounds, while the organizers searched for a suitable property. The present site, an abandoned farm which had subsequently been strip mined and landscaped, was selected for its ideal location and setting, and first hosted the fair in the summer of 1997. In 2006 the fair was canceled due to lack of financing. However, a year later, the fair was purchased by Rocky Mountain Festivals and was reopened under the direction of the company's CEO.