# Ren Faire

Ren Faire is a three-part American television documentary series directed and produced by Lance Oppenheim that premiered on June 2, 2024, on HBO. The series explores a succession crisis at America's largest Renaissance fair, the Texas Renaissance Festival.

## Premise

Ren Faire follows an epic power struggle at the Texas Renaissance Festival, after its founder announces his retirement. The festival's general manager and heir apparent faces off against a kettle-corn kingpin and a former elephant trainer, all vying to reshape the festival in their own vision.

## Cast

Featured personnel in the documentary are credited as themselves (in order of appearance):
* George Coulam
* Jeffrey Baldwin
* Louie Migliaccio
* Darla Smith
* Brandi Baldwin
* Lauren Croft

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Original release date |
| 1 | "Daddy’s Dyin, Who’s Got The Will?" | Lance Oppenheim | June 2, 2024 (2024-06-02) |
| During the 2021 Texas Renaissance Festival (TRF) season, founder and octogenarian George "The King" Coulam considers retiring. General manager and former stage actor Jeff Baldwin is steadfastly loyal to George and believes he will be selected as heir; his lack of business experience is a concern. Meanwhile, vendor Louie Migliaccio, owner of the Kettle corn stand, plans to purchase the TRF from George. However, the matter is further complicated by George's cantankerous and fickle personality; he spends his days in his eccentric mansion being waited on and using online sugar dating sites. Jeff is distraught to learn that George and Louie are discussing a buyout. ||||
| 2 | "Make Big Choices" | Lance Oppenheim | June 9, 2024 (2024-06-09) |
| As the 2022 season approaches, Jeff plans to hire his wife, Brandi, as the entertainment director, but George disallows it. Assistant general manager, Lauren Croft, supports Jeff but remains subservient to George to avoid losing her job. Meanwhile, as Louie prepares his offer, vendor coordinator Darla Smith, believing that neither Louie nor Jeff will be able to successfully run the TRF, makes a play for a promotion. George has an unsuccessful date with a 24-year-old woman. He immerses himself into the operations of the TRF, also selling some of his shares to longtime employees and vendors. Jeff convinces George not to sell to Louie, and Darla is promoted to co-manager. ||||
| 3 | "We're Done!" | Lance Oppenheim | June 9, 2024 (2024-06-09) |
| During the 2022 season, Darla and Jeff compete for George's attention. After a contaminated drinking water hoax makes the news, George fires Jeff. Jeff falls into a deep depression, but returns for the 2023 season, having begged George to let him return as the entertainment director. Darla struggles to work directly under the authoritative George. After another unsuccessful date, George reconsiders selling to Louie, but also considers an offer from a family of Greek food vendors. At the end of the 2023 season, Jeff recommits himself to the TRF, Lauren decides to go back to school, and George once again rebuffs the buyout offers. He fires Darla and names himself the general manager. ||||

## Release

The film had its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 9, 2024.

## Reception
### Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 19 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.9/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 79 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.