Ren Faire, a new three-part series available on streaming service Max, is wilder than your average docuseries. Billed as a real-life mash-up of Succession and Game of Thrones, the show from director Lance Oppenheim follows an epic power struggle at the world’s largest Renaissance fair, the Texas Renaissance Festival.
The annual festival, which takes place over a staggering eight weekends in October and November in the tiny city of Todd Mission, brings together hundreds of thousands of costumed fans keen to immerse themselves in an alternate reality – and drink plenty of mead. The event’s name is something of a misnomer – while Renaissance outfits are certainly on display, there’s no claim to historical accuracy here and you’re also likely to see haphazardly thrown-together elements of medieval Europe, Victorian England, the Scottish Highlands, the Wild West and even fantastical steampunk creations.
