The Minnesota Renaissance Festival began its journey in September of 1971 on a 22-acre field in Jonathan, MN. More than 25,000 people visited the two-weekend grand opening of the festival then named A Celebration of Nature, Art, and Life! That celebration has since relocated to Shakopee, MN and has grown to be the largest Renaissance Festival in the United States with an annual attendance of 300,000.

Mid-America Festivals is the nation’s largest producer of outdoor themed events. In 2019, we entertained nearly one million people in a wide variety of locations across the country.

Mid-America Festivals currently devotes its time towards developing some of the best festivals in the country. Mid-America Festivals, along with affiliated entities, owns and operates the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, the Trail of Terror (located in Minnesota), the Bay Area Renaissance Festival at MOSI (located on the grounds of the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa Bay, Florida), the Kansas City Renaissance Festival, the Michigan Renaissance Festival, the St. Louis Renaissance Festival and many other events. The company demonstrates its event production and promotion leadership by embracing all aspects of event production from specialty merchandise and corporate sponsorship to ticket sales and multi-media marketing.

Based in Minneapolis, Mid-America’s staff is comprised of talented managers’ experiences in all aspects of entertainment. Mid-America Festivals began producing Renaissance Festivals in 1976 as a natural extension of its president’s career in major venue promotion and production. The company’s background ranges from rock and roll events like the Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, and Prince to event management for concerts like Rock the Garden in Minneapolis.