2011 Festival Presented by Bud Light & Coca-Cola Welcomed Nearly Half A Million Patrons, Setting A Series of Attendance Records Across Eight Themed Weekends of Family-Friendly Fun

Plantersville, Texas (November 30, 2011)—The 37thAnnual Texas Renaissance Festival presented by Bud Light and Coca-Cola (www.texrenfest.com) ended the 2011 season on a record-setting high note, welcoming nearly half a million patrons through the Royal Gates over the eight weekend run.  The final attendance count of 490,934 was up 9% from 2010 attendance, which welcomed 450,000 patrons.

The Celtic Christmas three-day closing weekend, held November 25, 26 & 27, set a new closing weekend attendance record of 81,685, up 6% from the previous year’s attendance count.  While the weather was sunny and chilly on Thanksgiving Friday and Sunday, there was rain throughout much of the day on Saturday, however, 14,000 guests braved the wet conditions in order to attend the event.

“We have had an amazing year and are thrilled that we have welcomed so many new faces to share the fun and magic of the Texas Renaissance Festival,” stated Terre Albert, general manager.  “Our new management team had some lofty goals for this season and I am proud to say that we have not only met those goals, we surpassed them this season!”

Albert continued,  “While favorable weather always impacts our attendance, and we were blessed with mainly sunny skies almost every weekend during the season, we also believe that our family-friendly programming including our Family Day Sunday events, discounted ticket packages, improvements to the festival grounds, unique vendors, artisans and craftsmen, and the dedication to making the atmosphere and entertainment as authentic as possible, along with our new marketing campaign, social media and year-round community outreach and promotions played a vital part of this season’s record setting attendance numbers.”

Albert also noted that key partnerships, including the City of Magnolia, known as the gateway to the festival, Bud Light, Coca-Cola, DeMontrond, Prestigious Event Rentals, media partnerships with KPRC Channel 2, the Houston Chronicle and Cox Radio, and ticketing partners H-E-B and Woodforest National Bank also helped build the 2011 season into the biggest and best in the festival’s history. 

“We had to re-focus our marketing efforts going into this season so we targeted families and patrons in our own backyard by developing primary media partnerships across print, radio, online and TV outlets in Houston and in the Bryan/College Station area,” said Director of Marketing & Media Relations, Gina Rotolo.  “We needed to go back to basics and the marketing campaign we launched this year reinforced who we are and what we do as a brand, which allowed us to introduce the festival to the next generation of fans.”

“Our goal was to reach people by adapting to how they live which is in a highly interactive, online manner so key outlets, including our website and social media like Facebook and Twitter, were tremendously successful, inexpensive tools allowing us to communicate instantly with our fans throughout the year and on festival dates,” Rotolo stated.  “We may be a 16thcentury themed event but we have to market to the public in a 21stcentury manner.”

Online followers increased by more than 5,000 people in a matter of days during the tri-county fires, which reached within 100 yards of the south side of the festival grounds just weeks before opening weekend.  The festival, along with other key emergency groups in the area, posted up-to-date information on the fires, evacuations and volunteer efforts during the wild fires that hit the area in June and again in the fall.  To date, the festival’s Facebook page has grown from 25,000 fans at the end of 2010 to over 73,000 at the close of the 2011 event.  The festival plans to roll out 2012 ticket offers, additional cast appearances and more throughout the year through social media.

The festival set a series of attendance records across the season, including a weekend record of 70,000 patrons onNovember 12 & 13.  Highland Fling weekend, the sixth weekend of the festival’s eight themed weekend run, welcomed 42,088 guests on Saturday, November 12, which was a new single day attendance record,and27,514 guests in attendance on Sunday, November 13.  The festival reached a single day attendance high on the same weekend back in 1998 with 39,722 people in attendance, however; the new single day attendance record increased by over 2,300 people and wasup 47% from the 2010 attendance number.

The 7thAnnual School Days presented byRadio Disney, held on November 1 & 2, also set attendance records welcoming 34,000 students & educators from across Texas and Louisiana.  The unique educational event, which increased attendance from 2010 by 7%, allows public, private and home school kids from grades K through 12, and their teachers, the opportunity to experience the art, science, theater, history, music and culture of the 16thcentury.  Students stepped back in time providing programming through various music, theatre, English, art, history & science competitions as part of the festival’s events.  The 8thAnnual School Days event will take place November 6 & 7, 2012.

The festival partnered with Prestigious Event Rentals (www.perentals.net) who managed the booking and coordination of this season’s weddings & group events.  The festival held 30 weddings across the season and welcomed countless private and corporate groups.  In addition, the partnership, which will extend across the 2012 season, provided discount tickets and transportation services including the King’s Royal Carriage Limousine package and a party bus package to festival patrons. 

The festival had great success with advance and online discount ticket package sales originally created to promote Family Day Sunday events.  The festival tailored Sunday programming to be all-ages appropriate in order to encourage families and kids to attend by offering a series of G or PG-rated shows and a variety of contests, games and activities.  Discount Family and Adult 4-packs of tickets, offered for the first time this season, were some of the most purchased ticket bundles this year.  In addition, the festival offered online-only discounted weekend passes, season passes for adults and kids, as well as discounted individual tickets for adults and kids available through ticketing partners as well as online at www.texrenfest.com. 

The festival also utilized mass group discount ticket offers through key discount services and saw increased ticket sales earlier in the season as a result.  “Working with online services to provide specific, advance ticket offers, prior to our August on-sale date, helped us market the festival to a new audience in a variety of markets across Texas, as well as allowed people to make their plans early to come the event this season,” said Rotolo.

“By offering discount packages and online discount prices, we were able to increase advance ticket sales by 47%.  Having a newly designed, more user-friendly website and a comprehensive ticketing page, which included the option to purchase festival merchandise, made a difference in our customer service experience,” said Albert.

Campground construction and improvement plans are currently underway with the final development phase coming in 2013.

The 38thAnnual Texas Renaissance Festival will take place Saturdays, Sundays & Thanksgiving Friday, from October 6 through November 25, 2012.

The Texas Renaissance Festival (TRF) is the Nation’s largest and most acclaimed Renaissance theme park where the sights, sounds, tastes and beauty of the 16th Century come alive for eight magically-themed weekends.  TRF welcomes nearly half a million guests annually and features nearly 500 costumed performers on 17 stages; 340 shoppes including international food purveyors, unique artisans, merchants and craft vendors; human-powered rides; an abundance of strolling performers and the Royal Finale at dusk.  The Festival is held Saturdays, Sundays and Thanksgiving Friday.  TRF is located 50 miles Northwest of Houston on more than 50 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds on FM 1774, between Magnolia and Plantersville, Texas.  For more information, visit www.texrenfest.com.

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