Defining the UX for your Festival

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“In essence the Renaissance was simply the green end of one of civilization’s hardest winters.” (J. Fowles, 1969)… a quote from John Fowles that has inspired my subject for this project, choosing to focus on UK based Renaissance Faire’s or Ren Faire’s.

Let’s start by defining what exactly a ‘Ren Faire’ is. A Ren Faire is an event that aims to recreate and celebrate the culture, arts and activities of the European Renaissance period, spanning from the 14th to the 17th century (K. Rembacki, 2023) . The events usually include artisan products, costume events and craft fairs.

When it came to researching, I found that the event pool was shallow. ‘Renaissance Faire UK’ (Renaissance Faire UK, 2025) was one of the only companies I could find that solely provided a renaissance experience. This was an issue, as when it came to identifying problem spaces the list was ever growing. With the largest issue being the lack of a companion app. Forcing the user to be completely reliant on the website, not ideal for a festival that is usually held in large grasslands with minimal Wi-Fi. This is a problem I hope to solve by designing an app that allows you to access your event information without the use of broadband.

The four additional steps needed before being able to access Renaissance Faire UK’s website. (Renaissance Faire UK, 2025)

Another key issue I had with this company was accessibility. The user journey to finding the website required at least an additional 3-4 steps to your average search and forced the user to navigate through several links. Whilst social media links is not something I can control for my project, for a legitimate business I feel a more direct route is needed. However, something I do have power over is my users journey. In this case, that means making clearer signs and tabs on how best to access key information. When it comes to designing my website/app, whilst aesthetic is important, usability is the element I feel needs to be the main focus. 

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