Carver Select Board Emergency Meeting Friday to Discuss King Richard’s Faire Issues

CARVER (WBSM) — After some controversy surrounding its ticket policy and other issues in recent weeks, King Richard’s Faire has drawn the attention of the Carver Select Board, which will hold an emergency meeting Friday morning to discuss the problems.

According to a meeting agenda posted on the Town of Carver website, an “emergency hearing” will take place at 8 a.m. on October 6 at Carver Town Hall “to hear complaints about traffic, parking and overcrowding conditions and determine whether to modify, suspend or revoke common victualler and alcoholic beverage licenses,” the agenda reads, noting that “votes may be taken.”

A common victualler license is issued in Massachusetts for businesses that wish to sell food; essentially, the select board could vote this morning to take away the popular Renaissance fair's ability to sell food and alcohol, if the five-member board decides to take that course of action.

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The complaints have come about as frequent rainy weekends throughout this year’s King Richard’s Faire season have limited the number of days the Faire has been open. Many ticket buyers may not be aware that they can actually adjust the date of their ticket up to 11:59 p.m. the day before it is originally dated if they have concerns about the weather forecast or for any other reason.

Now in its 42nd season, the Faire has also moved to a system in which all tickets purchased in advance are dated for a specific day of attendance only, something that the select board had pushed for back in January when meeting with Faire representatives to address parking and other issues in advance of the 2023 season and following similar issues last season.

The King Richard’s Faire Facebook page has been inundated with comments, especially on Sunday, October 1, from people who purchased tickets in advance for that specific date but arrived to find no available parking. Cars who park along Route 58 outside of the Faire’s parking lot are subject to tow.

The Faire posted to Facebook Sunday at 1 p.m. that it was already sold out for the day, leading to many complaints for those who had purchased tickets but had arrived to find that there was no room for them in the parking lot. The Faire asked for anyone who could not use their ticket to contact the Faire through its website to resolve the issue, but many commenters noted the solution was just a transfer of dates and not a refund.

On Thursday, October 5 just before 1 p.m., King Richard’s Faire posted the following to Facebook:

“Dear Valued Guests,

After a rainy season so far, we were happy to see some beautiful weather last Sunday – and beautiful crowds.

We have been working hard this week to streamline our operations after last weekend. After 41 years, we are all adjusting to the “new normal” for New England destinations post-COVID and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we adjust to a new online ticket system with dated tickets.

If you did not gain entry to our Faire with a ticket in hand, please email us at info@kingrichardsfaire.net to remedy the situation. We want to help and make your experience a magical and merry one.

Warmly,
King Richard’s Faire Management”

The only remaining 2023 dates are October 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 21, and 22 with many tickets already sold in advance, so it would seem unlikely that the select board would vote to revoke either of the Faire’s licenses for the remainder of this season.

However, it is reasonable to assume there will be more discussions of ticketing logistics and parking ahead of the 2024 season.