[RIP] George Coulam, the wench-loving King on ‘Ren Faire,’ Dies at 87

Right? Honor what the man loved

 

He had some controversy in his later years:

• Multiple sexual harassment lawsuits were filed against him by employees. These suits were settled in 2019 and 2021.
  
  
• The HBO docuseries Ren Faire (2024) portrayed him as manipulative, erratic, and at times petty, depicting a power struggle at the festival and painting a picture of a man both controlling and out of touch.
  
• In 2023 and 2024, internal disputes and a failed $60 million sale of the festival led to a lawsuit and a court-ordered sale. A judge later awarded over $23 million in damages and fees against Coulam and his trust.

 

Was George Coulam the Kevin Porter Jr of the renaissance festival world?

 

Yeah...this guy

15 others

and others...

 

After growing up with it, I thought the TX renn fest was so amazing and because it's texas it has to be the best in the world.

Then I brought my wife here and I was embarrassed at how awful it is compared to the ones we've went to in the northeast.

Not sure if nostalgia goggles or it actually has gone down hill.

 

Going to it as a kid = ****ing amazing
Going to it as a teen-30ish = different kind of fun
Haven't been back since 2004, or to any other RenFaire, so I have no comparison.

 

First attended the Texas Ren Fest in '76 in it's 3rd season. Man, A LOT has changed...no permanent structures back then, just tents in an open field and no jousting just lancing an iron ring. LOVED it from the beginning and went every year until I moved to Germany in '91. Went to Faires in Germany and France. Moved to Maryland and, as much as I hate to say it, the Maryland Ren Fest is perfection! The site is almost completely wooded and is the perfect size. Been to Faires in MD, PA, VA, WV and NY. Since that original Texas Ren Fest in '74, I've been to at least one Faire every year except our first year back in Texas in 2010. Haven't been to Texas Ren Fest in 5 or 6 years, but we've hit up Scarborough Faire in Waxahachie every year since. Sadly, it's not nostalgia @DonnyMost, it was better back in the day. It's just gotten way too big and commercial now.

 

We went to RenFest in it's first year, went first 5, nowadays we go to Sherwood Forrest in Austin, smaller and more like what the Ref faire used to be about.

DD

 

One of my brother's newish hobbies is being a "falconer" but with owls and eagles too, at Sherwood. I've never been, but he loves it.

 

This is exactly my experience. MD is by far my favorite, and TX is absolutely the worst of the lot. It's gigantic, it's hot, it's boring, it's expensive, it just ain't it.

 

Is his name Ken and was he an advertising executive before he found his true calling?

 

I was waiting for someone to post that.

Only took you 2 hours.