Carolina Renaissance Fair Masquerading As Logistical Nightmare

HUNTERSVILLE, NC — The Carolina Renaissance Festival has been growing and features eight weekends between Oct. 2 and Nov. 21 of medieval period play and activities, but that growth is choking Huntersville traffic patterns.

The festival grounds are more than 300 acres off Poplar Tent Road which quickly bottles up with renaissance fair traffic, also impacting exit 25 and NC 73. There are three separate driveways to the property and the festival organizers have very specific directions on their website for drivers, but there's a huge problem for those who don't ever see that webpage.

GPS directs people through local neighborhoods and even into the emergency vehicle entrance to the festival, creating a safety hazard. The festival's website advises that people not use their GPS at all, and instead follow those website directions and lit signs along the routes.

Even following those directions, bottleneck is frustrating local Huntersville residents on the two-lane roads leading to the grounds.

"I think most people are not trying to get rid of the festival," said resident Joy Corbitt. "They just want the traffic nightmare to go away."

The frustration for people living off Poplar Tent Road and NC 73 near the grounds stems from having to plan their weekend activities around fair hours. Residents say they know they have to plan to add as much as two hours to normal errands for all eight weekends.

"I came from I-85 south around noon to get to the Harris Teeter on Poplar Tent," said resident Jen Dunham. "An hour and a half to go over just one mile," she recounted.

Festival organizers have been involved with planning meetings regarding logistics as well as North Carolina Department of Transportation officials, their most recent meeting Nov. 9.

With just one more Renaissance weekend left this year, there are limits to what can be done to ease the burden of traffic gridlock on residents in the short-term.

"The Carolina Renaissance Festival, in its once rural location, 28 years later finds itself surrounded by hundreds of more recently built homes and with seasonal event traffic causing concerns for nearby residents. The festival agrees traffic mitigation improvements are needed and efforts are being taken for the near term and long term," said Matt Siegel, director of marketing and entertainment with the Carolina Renaissance Festival.

The festival's organizers say they are already looking forward to next year and making changes to smooth logistics and ease tension.

"For 2022 and beyond, the festival is proposing the relocation and upgrades to its entry on Poplar Tent Road, updating its traffic and parking management plans, and will increase staffing. The festival intends to work with and be a good neighbor to its surrounding community," said Siegel.

To try and beat traffic this coming weekend, a pre-opening gate show begins at 9:30 a.m. and the gates open at 10:00 a.m. both Saturdays and Sundays. The festival closes at 5:30 p.m.

To get those specific driving directions, visit the festival's website here.