This weekend, King Richards Faire in Carver, Mass., opens its 26th season, which runs weekends through Oct. 21.

Modern life got you down? Why not step back into the 16th century, at least for a day?

This weekend, King Richard’s Faire in Carver, Mass., opens its 26th season, which runs weekends through Oct. 21. There, you’ll find fair maidens, gallant knights and ridiculous court jesters; jugglers, dancers and puppeteers; artisans, actors and animals on the 80-acre wooded site.

But you’ll also find something new: The Lost Boys, billed as a Renaissance rock band. “They’re four sexy guys who wear kilts and play electric guitars,” says Bonnie Shapiro, the fair’s producer. “We can’t be too authentic. We have to entertain.”

The fair features eight stages for entertainment. Also new this year will be the Aerial Angels, three female acrobats whom Shapiro describes as “kind of Cirque du Soleil,” and The Magical Madrigals, who will perform a mini-musical, “Little Ship of Horrors.” They’ll also do a roaming minstrel show.

Among the fair’s regular attractions are artisans making glass, jewelry, pottery, swords and candles. And everyone involved in the fair wears period attire, which includes suits of armor for the jousting knights.

There’s a royal zoo, with snakes, lions, tigers and jaguars. There’s a children’s area with games and rides. And there’s a food court with brews, stews and spit-roasted turkey legs, among other offerings.

And in the weeks to come, there are opportunities for audience participation in competitions. On Sept. 8, there’s the third annual “Cleavage Contest.”

“It doesn’t mean the whole day is this,” Shapiro says. “It’s on one stage for a half hour. It’s a very popular contest.”

For the record, Shapiro says, the contest is rated PG-13. “We have very definite rules of what part of the cleavage can be exposed and what cannot. It’s not improper, but it is voluptuous.”

On Sept. 15, there’s a tattoo contest open to the public, and on Oct. 6, there’s a queen-for-the-day contest for men, who will dress in drag.

Shapiro has been producing Renaissance fairs since 1972, and says the goal is a balance between history and revelry, favoring the latter.

“We were so authentic back then it was almost painful. Clearly this is an entertainment vehicle.”

King Richard’s Faire, on Route 58 in Carver, Mass., is open Saturdays and Sundays (and Labor Day and Columbus Day), 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sept. 1 through Oct. 21. Admission is $25, and $14 for children, 5 to 12. Parking is free. For more information, visit www.kingrichardsfaire.net or call (508) 866-2311.