The best outfits we saw at the 49th Colorado Renaissance Festival opening weekend

Thousands of heavily accessorized visitors flocked to the hills of Larkspur for the 49th annual Colorado Renaissance Festival’s opening weekend on June 13 and 14. Attendees dressed as everything from goblins, fairies and witches to gnomes, fauns and even Sauron from “Lord of the Rings” could be found on almost every block.

I went on Sunday, June 14, which turned out to be just about ideal Ren Faire weather. Temperatures stayed in the 50s and 60s, the grounds were busy without feeling impossible to navigate and the crowd offered a pleasant mix of families, couples, friend groups and dedicated festivalgoers who clearly did not throw their outfits together that morning.

That preparation is part of what makes the Colorado Renaissance Festival such a reliable spectacle. The festival itself offers plenty to do, from jousting and period comedy shows to wandering performers, hair braiding, rows of shops and food stands serving the kind of sausage on a stick that justifies the line. Yet the guests remain a central part of the atmosphere. Everywhere you looked, someone had committed to the bit.

Opening weekend’s magical fantasy theme brought out wings, horns, flower crowns, corsets, cloaks, armor, kilts, swords, elf ears and enough layered fabric to make walking uphill feel like an athletic event. Some outfits leaned traditional, with Renaissance-inspired dresses, doublets and boots. Others pulled from fantasy, goth, cottagecore, pirate and and time-traveler aesthetics, proving once again that Ren Faire fashion works best when historical accuracy gives way to imagination.

Check out the full list of themed weekends here, and then get to work on your costumes, because opening weekend got things off to a stylish start. Here are some of the best fits we saw on opening weekend at the Colorado Renaissance Festival.