Renaissance faires in Texas
Texas is home to the largest Renaissance festival in the United States: the Texas Renaissance Festival, founded in 1974 when brothers George and David Coulam purchased 15 acres of a former strip mine northwest of Houston, and grown into a roughly 55-acre grounds with about 400 vendors and 25 stages that regularly draws over half a million guests across eight weekends in October and November. Founder George Coulam and others incorporated the surrounding land as the city of Todd Mission in 1982, and he served as its mayor from 1982 to 2025 while playing 'King George' at the festival until his death in early 2025, a saga examined in the 2024 HBO documentary series 'Ren Faire.' The state's other purpose-built grounds is Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade: the company was established in 2008 by George Appling and Eric Todd, its first festival ran in 2010 set in the year 1189, and its 23-acre permanent village now hosts around 170 artisans and 150 daily live shows on weekends in March and April, with a separate Celtic Music Festival & Highland Games on the same grounds each December. On the coast, Galveston Historical Foundation has hosted Dickens on The Strand, a Victorian holiday festival in downtown Galveston, each December for 50 years. In Dallas, the North Texas Irish Festival began in 1983 as the 'Texas Céilí' at a lounge on Oak Lawn and is organized by the Southwest Celtic Music Association, formed in 1984; the Texas State Historical Association calls it the second-oldest Celtic festival in the United States, drawing about 40,000 people to Fair Park on the first full weekend of March. Taken together, the state's flagship costumed festivals span most of the calendar — autumn weekends at Todd Mission, December events in Galveston and at Sherwood Forest, and spring runs in Dallas and McDade.
Sources: Wikipedia — Texas Renaissance Festival · Wikipedia — George Coulam · Wikipedia — Sherwood Forest Faire · Galveston.com — Dickens on The Strand · Texas State Historical Association — North Texas Irish Festival