The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced a localized bubonic plague outbreak in western Washington. Sixty four cases and twenty seven deaths have been confirmed across four counties. Fifty seven people who contracted the disease attended the Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire located near Monroe between July 17, 2025 and July 19, 2025.
The bubonic plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis that mainly spreads to humans through bites from infected fleas living on small animals. Common symptoms include buboes (infected, enlarged, and painful lymph nodes), chills, fever, muscle cramps, seizures, necrosis on one's extremities. The disease has a mortality rate of 30% to 60% without treatment and is responsible for causing the Black Death pandemic that killed an estimated 50 million people across Europe during the 14th century.
The Faire is discussing the possibility of closure, per mandates by the state and federal governments. But locals and disappointed ticket-holders are pressuring staff to continue the Faire’s operations; they argue that the Black Death outbreak “enhanced” their experience of the renaissance festival by giving them a realistic portrayal of medieval times.
Attendee Jack Hardload says it was “thrilling” to discover his friend Stevie McStevens was infected.
“When [McStevens] was throwing up, I just assumed it was because he was hungover from the night before. But when I noticed his skin turning black, I knew it wasn’t just his margaritas coming back up the shoot. ‘My liege, what ails you, sire? Have you contracted the black death? Such perils astonish thee!’ I had never been more excited in my life.”
Another Faire-goer, Leia Lani, not only supports the Faire continuing operations but believes the outbreak was intentionally started by the festival planners. “The way they were able to encapsulate medieval miasma is nothing like I’ve ever seen,” says Lani, who attended the Faire under the alias ‘Äela Gentlemeadow, Born of the Wind and Sea.’ “I’m so grateful to have been part of such a fun and immersive limited event.”
Even people grieving the loss of a loved one resist the Faire’s closure. “She wouldn’t want the Faire to close just because of what happened,” explains Edie Snutts, whose daughter, Dee Snutts, succumbed to the plague. “She died doing what she loved most—LARPing.”
As news of the outbreak spread, some were quick to capitalize on the attendees’ enthusiasm. Vendors sold “I Survived the Bubonic Plague” T-shirts and other memorabilia in the grounds’ parking lots, and during the week after the Faire’s closure, plague doctor masks were the number one sold item on TikTok Shop. Social media platforms are also abuzz with news of the outbreak: The hashtags #bubonicrealness and #bubies2025 reached number two and five on X’s trending tab, and many users are branding the bubonic plague as the “sickness of the summer [tongue_pop emoji].”
Despite protests and the sensational media surge, Faire organizers announced during a press conference that they have no intentions of reopening the event this year. Ticket-holders were not refunded due to the “incineration of all cash and corpses, per company sanitation policies,” the Faire staff stated in an official press release.
This is a developing story. Follow News Adjacent for updates and future coverage.
