Harassment & Safety Policy

Our Commitment

The Georgia Renaissance Festival is committed to providing a safe, respectful, and welcoming environment for guests, employees, performers, artisans, vendors, contractors, volunteers, and participants.

Harassment, intimidation, threatening behavior, and unwanted physical contact are not permitted anywhere on Festival property.

These standards apply to everyone on the grounds.

What Is Not Acceptable

Conduct that may violate this policy includes:

Discriminatory harassment, slurs, or degrading treatment directed at another person
Unwanted physical contact
Sexual harassment, unwanted sexual advances, or sexually explicit comments directed at another person
Following, stalking, or persistently pursuing someone who has asked to be left alone
Threats, intimidation, or menacing behavior
Verbal abuse or degrading language
Photographing or recording someone in a harassing or intrusive manner
Repeatedly targeting, confronting, interrupting, or disrupting another person's experience, performance, or work
Retaliation against someone for raising a good-faith safety concern

Please note

This list is not exhaustive. GARF may address other conduct it reasonably determines to be harassing, threatening, unsafe, or materially disruptive to another person's ability to enjoy, work at, or participate in the Festival.

Consent & Personal Space

Ask before touching another person. That includes hugs, placing an arm around someone for a photograph, and touching costumes, props, hair, accessories, instruments, equipment, or belongings.

If someone declines, steps away, ends an interaction, or otherwise indicates they do not wish to continue, respect that boundary and move on.

No means no. An ended interaction stays ended.

Costumes Are Not Consent

A costume is never an invitation to unwanted physical contact, sexual comments, harassment, or intrusive behavior.

Attending in garb, performing a character, or dressing elaborately does not waive anyone's personal boundaries.

These expectations apply equally to guests, performers, cast members, vendors, artisans, employees, and other Festival participants.

Photography and recording must also comply with GARF's Photography & Filming Policy.

Performers, Cast & Participants

Interaction with performers and characters is part of the Festival experience and should be enjoyable for everyone involved.

Performers are working. They may end an interaction, decline a photograph, step away, or move to another location at any time, and that decision must be respected.

Guests may not touch a performer, their costume, props, instruments, animals, or equipment without permission.

Guests may not follow performers into backstage, preparation, employee-only, or other restricted areas.

Our standard

A performer's character, dialogue, flirtation, comedy, or invitation to participate in a scene does not imply consent to physical or sexual contact.

Employees, Vendors & Artisans

Festival employees, artisans, vendors, contractors, volunteers, and other participants are entitled to the same respectful treatment as guests.

Abusive, threatening, or harassing behavior toward someone working at the Festival may result in Festival intervention or removal.

Members of the Festival community are also expected to meet these standards in their conduct toward guests and toward one another.

Alcohol & Adult Events

Alcohol, an adult-only event, or the nature of a performance does not change these standards.

Consent, personal boundaries, and respectful behavior apply at every Georgia Renaissance Festival event, including GARF After Dark.

Reporting a Concern

If you experience or witness harassment, threatening conduct, unsafe behavior, or another situation that raises a safety concern, please tell us. You do not need to determine whether something formally qualifies as harassment before bringing it to our attention.

Who to tell, onsite

A Fairburn Police Department officer onsite
Guest Services
A GARF employee or manager
Any GARF beer or soda stand — every one has a radio
Festival management

If the nearest person is a performer or cast member, they can help you locate Guest Services, Festival management, or law enforcement.

If your concern involves the person you would normally report it to, please contact another member of Festival management, Guest Services, or a Fairburn Police Department officer onsite.

For non-emergency follow-up after the Festival, contact us by email or through our contact page.

Email GARF Contact Us

How Reports Are Handled

GARF reviews concerns based on the information reasonably available and determines what response, if any, is appropriate based on the circumstances.

Depending on the situation, GARF may:

Speak with those involved
Separate individuals
Ask someone to stop specific conduct
Involve Festival management or law enforcement
Refuse or revoke admission
Remove a person from the property
Restrict future access
Contact or coordinate with law enforcement when appropriate

GARF handles reports as discreetly as reasonably possible and limits sharing of information to those who need it to respond to the concern, maintain safety, review what occurred, or comply with legal obligations. GARF does not promise complete confidentiality.

We appreciate guests bringing concerns to our attention. Because reports may involve private information, personnel matters, security considerations, or internal Festival decisions, GARF does not guarantee that a reporting party or other third party will receive details about the review, findings, or any action taken.

Removal for violating Festival policies does not qualify for a refund.

Good-Faith Reporting & Retaliation

Retaliation against anyone who reports a concern in good faith, or who participates in reviewing one, is not permitted.

A good-faith report does not become improper simply because the available information does not ultimately establish a policy violation.

Knowingly making a false report or using the reporting process to harass or target another person may itself violate Festival policies.

Emergencies

In an emergency

If someone is hurt or in immediate danger, tell the nearest GARF employee.

Every GARF employee carries a radio, and so does every beer and soda stand on the grounds — there is one within a short walk of nearly anywhere in the Village. Radio reaches the emergency medical personnel and Fairburn Police Department officers stationed onsite, and lets Festival staff guide responders straight to you.

Emergency medical personnel and Fairburn Police Department officers are on duty on the grounds during Festival hours. Medical personnel are city emergency responders with a direct radio link to dispatch, so an ambulance or additional support can be requested from the grounds without delay.