How to Start Radahn Festival & Enter Redmane Castle in Elden Ring

Triggering the Radahn Festival and gaining access to Redmane Castle are two essential steps along the path to defeating Starscourge Radahn, a Shardbearing boss who, in turn, gates off some of Elden Ring‘s best content. Let’s take a look at how to start the Radahn Festival and enter Redmane Castle in Elden Ring.

Before heading to Redmane Castle (which is located in southern Caelid, the entrance is pictured below) we need to trigger the Radahn Festival, an event that causes various NPCs to travel to Redmane Castle in order to participate in the Festival. For the sake of clarity, the Festival itself is actually a trial of combat, in which participants are given the opportunity to defeat the legendary Starscourge Radahn.

Triggering the Radahn Festival in Elden Ring

There are actually two different ways you can trigger the start of the Festival, by either progressing through Ranni’s questline, or by activing any Site of Grace on the Altus Plateu.

The most straightforward episode is the latter, and in order to do that you will need to activate the Grand Lift of Dectus in order to reach the Altus Plateu.

Alternatively you could go via the Coward’s Path in northern Liurnia, and ascend the Ruin-Strewn Precipice. It’s a treacherous road, and ironically, you have defeat a pretty tough boss, the Magma Wyrm, in order to do so, so it can be tough at lower levels.

Entering Redmane Castle

Redmane Castle exists in two states, depending on when you reach it. Before you trigger the Festival it wil be a large dungeon, replete with its very own boss encounter (Lion Misbegotten Warrior + Crucible Knight).

After the trigger, Redmane Castle will be devoid of enemies, and the central Plaza will instead be filled with NPCs you can interact with.

In order to reach Redmane Castle, enter the region on foot from Limgrave and follow the main road in Caelid south until it forks, and again, turn south. You will encounter a pitched battle battle between Redmane Soldiers and a large pack of Monstrous dogs.

Beyond the melee you will see a tower guarding a long bridge, and by the bridge will be a waygate. If you have triggered the Festival, you will be able to teleport directly to the Plaza and face Radahn. If not, as pictured below, you will be unable to do so.

You can actually fight your way into the castle before the Festival is triggered by climbing the castle walls via the south-eastern cliffs, and while you can clear it of enemies and gather valuable loot, you will not be able to face Radahn until the Festival has been triggered.

Thats it, everything you need to know about how to start the Radahn Festival and enter Redmane Castle in Elden Ring. For more helpful guides, check out our expansive wiki or the relevant guides below.