Texas Renaissance Festival 2026: What It Means for Todd Mission

"They are pretty much the lifeblood of the city," Stephen Mensing told KBTX in May 2025, when he was about to become mayor of Todd Mission. He was speaking about the Texas Renaissance Festival. He then explained how that works. Festival sales tax, he said, is "how we provide the emergency services."

Mensing replaced George Coulam, who founded the festival and had been the city's only mayor since Todd Mission incorporated in 1982. Almost a year and a half later, the festival is getting ready for its 52nd season. A court has ordered it sold, but the sale has not happened. For people who live along FM 1774 or drive SH 105 on fall Saturdays, the season will look the same as always. The open question is who will own the business that both crowds those roads and pays for the city's emergency services.

The Day Before Oktoberfest, the Court Has a Date

The festival opens Saturday, October 10. On the Friday before, October 9, 2026, the appeal over the festival's sale has a status date on the First Court of Appeals calendar, listed as "Response due." The case so far, in order:

1. 2023. The buyer companies, starting with RW Lands Inc., said they had agreed to buy the festival, its assets, and nearby property for about $60 million. The suit said they learned on April 7, 2023, that Coulam would not close the sale the next day as planned.
2. May 7, 2025. The Navasota Examiner reported that Judge Gary W. Chaney ruled for the buyers. He ordered the sale agreements carried out and awarded $22,350,909 in damages plus $1 million in attorney fees.
3. August 22, 2025. The trial court signed the judgment. A motion for a new trial followed on September 19. The notice of appeal was filed November 19, and the appeals court received it November 21.
4. 2026. Coulam's side filed its brief on March 12 and the buyers filed theirs on June 12. On August 20 the court paused the case and referred it to mediation. The docket shows more filings and orders through September 18.

That is where things stand today, September 30, 2026. No appellate decision or settlement has been made public. The Houston Chronicle reported that Coulam's estate is still in control and that the festival's representatives said the appeal would not keep the 2026 season from opening in October. The buyers' side has also said it wants the festival to keep running. Anthony Laporte, the attorney for the buyers' companies, told the Chronicle:

"Because the festival must continue, for the benefit of all and the community, the parties are working to ensure that happens, while continuing the fight at the Court of Appeals."

The public docket for case 01-25-00980-CV is on the Texas courts website if you want to follow it this fall.

Eight Weekends That Run Regardless of the Ruling

The 2026 season runs on weekends from October 10 through November 29, plus Thanksgiving Friday. Last season was the first one after the ruling. Festival publicist Kelsey McCullough told the Chronicle that 2025 drew one of the festival's highest attendance totals. The Chronicle puts typical attendance at more than 500,000 visitors a season. Each weekend has its own theme:

The festival also hires for the season. Its careers page advertised a 2026 vendor and merchant job fair for more than 400 positions. Applicants had to be at least 16 and able to work eight weekends in a row. Mensing made the same point in 2025 when he spoke of "a lot of hard-working performers and vendors" who work there.

The festival says it is welcoming new acts this year but does not name them. Its published schedule doesn't mark which performers are new. The "Sword of Narwhal" escape room is still labeled new for 2025, so it isn't a 2026 addition.

What Festival Money Pays For in Todd Mission

Because the city's emergency services depend on festival sales tax, the ownership case matters to more people than the parties in court. Todd Mission's own guidance on sales tax recommends, but does not require, that vendors from the surrounding area who work the festival add its location as an outlet on their sales tax permits. That keeps more of the tax credited to the city where the sales happen.

The city's biggest current project is water. In May 2025 the Texas General Land Office announced a $1,277,000 award for Todd Mission water facilities. It covers a new well, a ground storage tank, booster pumps, a pressure tank, and a generator. In May 2026, Mensing said the council had approved a survey and appraisal of land for a future water plant. He said he hoped the plant could move quickly once the legal matters are resolved. Council members also voted to step up enforcement of contractor permits.

So the court calendar and the city's plans are tied together. Mensing has publicly linked the water plant's timing to the legal matters being resolved. Meanwhile, the city's emergency services are funded each fall by tax revenue from eight weekends of festival sales.

The Traffic Pattern Stays the Same

Whoever owns the festival, the drive in and out follows a familiar pattern, and the festival's own guidance lays it out. Most visitors arrive between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Gates open at 9 a.m., and parking opens before that. The festival tells visitors to arrive early and stay through the Royal Fireworks at 8 p.m. to avoid the crowd leaving before dark. If you live nearby and only need to run errands, the same schedule works in reverse. Late morning and early afternoon are when the inbound line is longest.

From the Houston side, the festival's preferred route is SH 249 to the FM 1774/Plantersville exit, then south about two miles. Its other routes come in from SH 105 in Plantersville and run six miles south on FM 1774. One of them starts by taking Highway 6 into Navasota. North-lot and campground traffic turns off FM 1774 onto County Road 302.

The festival also tells visitors to ignore navigation apps when traffic builds. Those apps can send drivers onto residential and side roads that are closed to festival traffic, where law enforcement may turn them around. The festival watches traffic from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day it's open and posts updates on Facebook and Instagram.

A few changes for 2026 affect how people get in:

• Premium Parking replaces valet. These are the closest self-parking spots, first come first served, and the lot stops taking cars at 4 p.m. or when it fills.
• Online tickets are for a specific date. An optional $5 exchange add-on lets you switch dates once if you pay any price difference. It is not a refund.
• The festival has a new Vet Tix partnership. Tickets have been available through Vet Tix since August 31, while supplies last. At the gate, military members, veterans, first responders, and essential workers get 20% off on Saturdays and Sundays with valid ID, up to six tickets per ID.
• Kids get in free on certain days. Children 4 and under are free every day, and children 5 to 12 are free on Sundays.

As for roadwork, we found no published fall 2026 closures on FM 1774. The nighttime paving on SH 105 that used pilot cars and flaggers through Thanksgiving was last season's project, reported by KBTX in October 2025. The larger project, widening SH 105 between SH 6 and SH 249, is still in development, and TxDOT plans to start construction in 2031. Some turn lanes and center turn lanes along SH 105 were finished in 2025. If that schedule holds, the festival will run five more seasons, 2026 through 2030, before widening construction starts.

The appeal has its next date on October 9, and Oktoberfest opens the next morning. Whatever the court decides later, the dates are set through Celtic Christmas on November 29, and so is the 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. peak on FM 1774.

Living near Todd Mission or Plantersville means planning around festival weekends every fall, and that's useful to know if you're thinking about land or a home along the FM 1774 or SH 105 corridor. If you'd like help sorting out how a property's location fits with the festival calendar and the roads around it, Lamanda Jatzlau is happy to walk you through it. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.