A tiny Texas town that is home to the largest Renaissance festival in the US has been thrust into the spotlight after a new series charted the wild power struggle between its sex-obsessed ‘king’ and his rivals.
Around half a million festivalgoers descend on the theme park-like event at the town of Todd Mission over eight weekends from November to January every year.
Located 50 miles outside of Houston, about 130 residents who work at the festival live there year-round and are ruled over by founder George Coulam – better known to thousands as ‘King George’.
But as the new hit HBO series ‘Ren Faire’ regales, the king, 86, now wants to retire so he can focus on art, gardening and ‘chasing p****’ – leading to a fierce battle for the crown he’s worn for 50 years.
George Coulam, known to the thousands as King George, has reigned over the The Texas Renaissance Festival for fifty years
His Kingdom – the Town of Todd Mission in central Texas – is seen here, and has been the home of the two-month annual event for 50 years
‘[Coulam] functionally… actually is a king,’ series creator Lance Oppenheim recently told Variety. ‘He’s created a real-life fiefdom.’
Coulam began his push to incorporate the stretch of woodsy terrain around 42 years ago after founding the Texas Renaissance Festival in 1974.
In 1982, he succeeded, expanding the fair and its influence in the process.
He was elected mayor that same year and employs his own police force.
Today, his mansion, Stargate Manor, sits on 200 acres of land in the village’s center – as his creation continues to draw about half a million people each year to eat turkey legs and set up campsites.
It bills itself as the nation’s largest Renaissance event and more, with a village filled with themed performances, foods, and displays.
Now Oppenheim’s three-part drama follows his quest to cash out the medieval monopoly.
His tyrannical reign and the ensuing battle for the crown has led many to compare the series to ‘Succession’, Game of Thrones and even Willy Wonka, as Coulam vets a select few flamboyant employees to take on the fantastical festival.
These included the general manager of the faire, Jeffery Baldwin – or self-professed ‘head Oompa Loompa’ to Coulman’s Wonka.
Red Bull-swigging Louie Migliaccio, the festival’s so-called ‘Lord of Corn,’ was also considered – after years of serving up hot and fresh kettle corn to attendees.
The HBO show captures the King Lear-esque dynamic between Coulam and his candidates, who included the general manager of the faire, Jeffery Baldwin (left), and ‘Lord of Corn’ Louie Migliaccio
Coulam began his push to incorporate the stretch of woodsy terrain around 42 years ago after founding the Texas Renaissance Festival in 1974
His tyrannical reign and the ensuing battle for the crown has led many to compare the series to ‘Succession’, Game of Thrones and even Willy Wonka, as Coulam vets a select few flamboyant employees to take on the fantastical festival
The group, however, failed to sway Coulam by the show’s conclusion – with the saga continuing to this day.
Oppenheim said on X that his two biggest inspiration points for Ren Faire were Vanderpump Rules and There Will Be Blood – and later recalled how difficult it could be while filming the king in his castle.
‘The challenge of filming with him was just like, how do we match the ferocity of how he’s moving?’ he told Vanity Fair this week.
‘Especially when my cinematographer, Nate Hurtsellers, is operating a 60-pound camera in a hundred-degree weather.’
The millionaire king’s love life also features prominently throughout the show, as he seeks out a ‘companion’.
One of his workers has even created a spreadsheet to keep tabs on potential love interests after signing up to as many as 15 dating sites – including those reserved for Sugar Daddies.
Throughout the show he also talks at length about how much testosterone and Viagra he takes and his desire to die with an erection – or better yet be ‘scr**** to death’.
These scenes have led some viewers to dub the king as ‘creepy’ and ‘gross’.
Coulam has said his search for companionship seeks a specific type – ‘a nice thin lady between 30 and 50 years old.’
Oppenheim recalled to Variety: ‘The first thing he said to me was, “I used to play the king, but now I’m a horny old man. I want to find someone that can take care of the festival.” These were the things just flowing out of him.’
‘He was maybe looking for an outlet – somebody that he has no control over,’ the director continued.
‘He doesn’t have any friends that he doesn’t employ.’
His creation continues to draw about half a million people each year to eat turkey legs and set up campsites
It bills itself as the nation’s largest Renaissance event and more, with a village filled with themed performances, foods, and displays
Scenes have led some viewers to dub the king as ‘creepy’ and ‘gross’, due to a desire to procreate. He is seen outside his mansion in 2019, which he plans to turn into a museum
Some of the king’s considered successors spoke to Vanity Fair this week, including general manager Darla Smith – a former elephant trainer
‘Most faires are kind of crazy,’ she told the magazine of the fair’s growth into a de facto fiefdom over the years.
‘But honestly, George has got the biggest fair – and he’s got the biggest craziness.’
In the show, she talks about how Coulam ‘molded her to be the assistant he needed’ – to the point where she will always be by his side.
She held the role of director’s assistant from 2014 to 2022, before jumping up to assistant general manager.
General manager Baldwin, meanwhile, had been a performer at the historical event for the past 17 years, and entertainment director for the ‘last quarter of a century, he said in the show.
Migaliaccio, however, has aspirations for change – proposing the addition of EDM festivals, a university, and new and immersive technology to ‘elevate [the faire’s] game.’
‘It seems like capitalism has a negative connotation nowadays,’ he said of the notion of a more laissez faire, well, faire. ‘But I don’t see the negativity in it, I see the beauty in it.’
For now Coulam continues to preside over his unconventional kingdom. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
But for now Coulam continues to preside over his unconventional kingdom.
And despite predicting he will die aged 95, there is little doubt he will live it up until then. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.