“It's a milestone, we're not the oldest festival in the country, but we are by far the biggest and most prestigious one, attendance-wise, because in our 17 days of operation, we'll have over half a million people [visit],” Baldwin said.
How it started
Founded by George Coulam in 1974, Baldwin said the Texas Renaissance Festival started as a traditional festival replicating the 16th-century European village with only dozens of on-site shops and fewer guests. In 1980, the festival recorded 222,263 guests, which has almost doubled to date.
“I came out here with my eighth-grade drama class—the second renaissance festival ever—and was so delighted by the whole experience that within three years, I was working the festival, and have been working it ever since,” Baldwin said. “So I've kind of seen that growth happen firsthand.”Though the festival continued to be centered around the re-creation of the 16th-century experience, Baldwin said in the late 1980s the Texas Renaissance Festival switched gears to take literally the meaning of the term renaissance, adding weekend themes to bring back everything classical that came before the namesake time period.
“We stopped letting a 300-year span of history define us, and we started glorifying everything classical that came before us, and allowing our audience to wear different costumes,” Baldwin said.
How it’s going
Today, the Texas Renaissance Festival has shifted to become more family-oriented and has over 500,000 guests annually, Baldwin said. There are over 400 shops on-site, over 200 acres of camping facilities and an average of 50 weddings are held annually.
“I, myself was married at the festival. My wife and I have been married 27 years now, and we were married here in the chapel. In fact, we even did a vow renewal several years back here at the festival,” Baldwin said.
Don Doering, city administrator of the city of Magnolia, said the Texas Renaissance Festival has also had an impact on Magnolia's economy through sales and hotel tax revenue earned through visitors spending money on gas, food and accommodations.
"I think we've had a lot to do with building this area and helping the economy for both Magnolia and Plantersville,” Baldwin said.To kick off the season, a free event celebrating the Texas Renaissance Festival's anniversary will be held at Unity Park on Oct. 5 from 3-7 p.m. with food trucks, beverages and activities.
Baldwin said this season people can expect new entertainment, new acts and new food options. In addition, to honor the 50th anniversary, the festival is welcoming back older acts including Merlin the Magician, who performed at the festival for 26 years; The Duelist; and Wine Women in Song.
This season, the Texas Renaissance Festival will take place from Oct. 12-Dec. 1.
- 21778 FM 1774, Todd Mission
- www.texrenfest.com