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User:Viracoachella/List of incidents at Merrie Faerie Renaissance Faire

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This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at Merrie Faerie Renaissance Faire in Goodnight, Texas. Several people have died or been injured while riding attractions at, dining in, attending, or seeking to attend Merrie Faerie Renaissance Faire. Since 2020, state authorities have required Merrie Faerie to report such incidents for investigation. While the Texas Department of Public Safety has ruled that some guest-related incidents are Merrie Faerie's fault, some incidents were the result of negligence on the guests' part.[1]

This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that have a significant impact on the parks or park operations, or are otherwise significantly noteworthy. The term incidents refers to major accidents, injuries, maulings, abductions, ravishments, deaths, disappearances, disfigurements, and similar events that occur at a park. While these incidents were required to be reported to regulatory authorities due to where they occurred, they usually fall into one of the following categories:

  1. Caused by negligence on the part of the guest. This can be a refusal to follow specific ride safety instructions, or deliberate intent to violate park rules.
  2. The result of a guest's known, or unknown, health issues.
  3. Negligence on the part of the park, either by ride operator or maintenance safety instructions, or deliberate intent to violate park rules.
  4. Act of God or a generic accident (e.g., lightning strike, slipping and falling, plague of locusts), that is not a direct result of an action on anybody's part.

General incidents[edit]

Construction accidents[edit]

  • On June 29, 2018, a 32-year-old construction worker was fatally injured when struck by a front end loader. Workers tried to perform CPR, but the man died six hours later on-site, after requesting not to be taken to a hospital due to suspected immigration status concerns.[2]
  • In August 2018, workers digging the park's septic system discovered the chapel of a Spanish Mission intact beneath the proposed drain field.[3] A tunnel into the chapel was dug by an outside contractor after workers refused to continue construction on the site and were dismissed. Park owner George "King George" Barlowe offered paid admission to select art dealers, academics, and friends through November 2018. The chapel was destroyed in January 2019 when historic preservation funding failed to be secured. [4]6 of the 12 people known to have visited the site have since died of unrelated causes.[5]

Guest altercations[edit]

  • On November 11, 2031, the Wotansvolk Alliance (“Volksfolk”) held a promoted rally called the “Neo-Althing” at Merrie Faerie, with the intent to “restore Western values” to the faire.[6] The event coincided with the park-sponsored Viking Adventure theme weekend, and park officials cited confusion with Official Festival Performers in security briefs concerning the entrance of more than 50 Wotansvolk members through employee-only gates.[7] Wotansvolk members incited riots among patrons and set fires in the Xanadu, Gypsy Caravan, and One Thousand and One Knights park areas before the Midland Police Department arrived and evacuated the park.[8] At least 22 Volksfolk and unaffiliated park guests were arrested for violations such as trespassing, property damage, and cruelty of non-livestock animals for an attempted sacrifice of a petting zoo goat.[9][10][11]

Public health and infectious disease outbreak[edit]

  • Between December 15, 2027 and December 20, 2027, visitors to the park's Montezuma's Revenge attraction were exposed to a novel strain of chickenpox, resulting in an outbreak that affected residents of 5 US states as well as Mexico.[12] The Texas Department of Public Health was first notified of a suspected outbreak on January 5, 2027 and by February 22, 2027 at least fifty-one individuals who had visited the Faire during the exposure period had become ill.[13] In addition to this likely direct exposure, secondary and unknown transmissions were likely numerous, but unverified due to lack of testing.[14]

Power outages[edit]

  • In August 2022 Hurricane Clive caused power failures that stranded more than forty guests in the faire.[15] Merrie Faerie had offered discount admission for a Monsoon Season theme weekend.[16]

Merrie Faerie Renaissance Faire[edit]

Castleton Village[edit]

  • On July 11, 2019, the owner of the Drench-a-Wench booth was found dead after having been locked in the dunking chamber overnight. The death was ruled an accident.[17]
  • A 50-year-old man pictured at the Executioner’s Block Photo Op on January 7, 2022 collapsed that evening on Faire grounds and later died at Midland Memorial Hospital.[18]
  • On September 23, 2024, a 34-year-old woman was severely injured after falling 15 feet into the Castleton Moate.[19] The woman survived the fall itself with minor injuries but had to be hospitalized for gunshot wounds after fellow park-goers attempted to deter the Moate’s live crocodiles with personal firearms.[20] The incident was filmed and uploaded to YouTube.[21][22]
  • In May 2027, several longterm park guests who had opted into the Simple Life Authentic Peasant Program for Digital Abstinence and Weight Loss (SLAPPDAWL) were hospitalized for malnutrition after ingesting only carrot broth for three weeks. [23]The program was featured in Women's Health Monthly before being discontinued in 2028.[24][25]

Spoils of War Bazaar[edit]

  • On September 21, 2021, a 46-year-old man was blinded at Forge-etaboutit DIY Swordcraft when he removed protective eyewear he considered inauthentic.[26]
  • Chainmail vendor You’ve Got Maille was sued in November 2022 by a customer suffering heavy metal poisoning incurred via longterm wear of chainmail intimates, claiming the vendor had not adequately warned customers the pieces were not suitable for daily wear.[27] The suit was settled out of court.[28]
  • On February 15, 2024, the Seraglio Gentlesirs' Club was stormed by mens rights' extremists after park officials permitted a "Return of Kings March" on faire grounds [29]under the alleged assumption it was a historical reenactment event.[30] No injuries were reported.[31]
  • A patron in the Happie Bee Meadery died of anaphylactic shock on April 1, 2025 after toppling a hive in the on-site apiary while inebriated and triggering a swarm.[32]

Enchanted Foreste[edit]

  • Social media personality Geraldine Holloway claimed an Oberon’s Court Tea Party attended by her 15-year-old son Henry on June 15th, 2021 brainwashed him with homosexual tendencies and sued for emotional distress.[33] The suit was dismissed.[34]
  • Over a period from August 3, 2021 to June 20, 2022, 12 children from ages seven to thirteen were reported missing after failing to reemerge from the Faerie Maze attraction.[35][36] In each case, the minor entered the attraction unaccompanied. Missing persons searches of the Maze and surrounding property in each case surfaced none of the victims or their bodies.[37] In January 2024, Merrie Faerie settled with the victims’ families for an undisclosed amount[38]; Merrie Faerie was not required to accept blame.[39] In 2028, plans were made to permanently close the maze.[40] Despite significant protest from Friends of the Fair Folk against the destruction of an alleged Faery Door,[41] the maze was removed in a controlled burn and replaced with a beer garden.[42]
  • On April 2, 2022, a 23-year-old man was found near the northwest corner of Merlin's Tower, and was pronounced dead at the scene. At the time, it was investigated as a suicide, but there were no witnesses that had seen him jump.[43]
  • In 2023, it was alleged that an employee playing mascot character Bernie the Dragon slapped a 5-year-old child and caused bruising, recurring headaches, possible brain damage, and emotional trauma.[44] The worker testified that the girl was tugging on the costume's tail from behind and collided with the costume's wings when he turned around.[45] At one point, the employee entered the courtroom after a recess wearing the Bernie costume and responded to questions while on the witness stand as Bernie would, including blowing bubbles and dancing a jig.[46][47] Appearing as Bernie persuaded the jury that the costume's arms were too short to slap a girl of the victim's height.[48] The jury acquitted the worker after deliberating for 21 minutes.[49]
  • The character of the Pied Piper of Hamelin was eliminated from the performance crew in 2026 after multiple instances of children having to be surrendered to Protective Services when legal guardians did not return for them.[50]

The Maharaja's Menagerie[edit]

(Main Article: The Great Hunt )

  • On October 8, 2022, Merrie Faerie Renaissance Faire officials informed the public that the west side of the park would be closed after the Menagerie’s two leucistic Bengal tigers, Hare and Krishna, were found missing from their enclosure on October 6.[51] Menagerie staff stated the animals escaped after an animal rights extremist posing as a Tiger Maiden released both cats from their enclosure.[52] There is evidence the tigers remained on Faire grounds for a period of at least three months, in which the remains of seven pigs, three goats, and a miniature horse named Nugget were found on or near park property. On condition of anonymity, a sanitation worker reported in December 2022 that a human femur was also found at this time.[53] A forensics report commissioned by Merrie Faerie maintained the remains were “consistent with burial sites in the region and unlikely to be associated with a mauling.”[54] On January 8, 2023, park director Jeff "Jefe" Simms announced that Merrie Faerie would be closed beginning January 13 for the Great Hunt, a limited-time engagement in which big game hunters could purchase a $500 season pass to hunt the tigers on park property.[55] The Great Hunt remains one of Merrie Faerie Renaissance Faire's most lucrative events to date, with over three hundred hunters traveling to faire grounds from 16 US states and 8 countries to participate.[56] After a night-vision video of Dallas cosmetics dentist and hunting hobbyist Walker Whitaker being attacked by an unidentified predator went viral on the night of January 23, streaming rights to the park's security cameras sold to ESPN for a reported $4 million.[57] At its peak, HuntTV drew more than 98 million simultaneous viewers, beating Super Bowl LVII. [58]Through March 15, forty-seven men and women were hospitalized for gunshot wounds incurred in the park. On March 18 at 7:03 p.m., Russian big game hunter Michail Zaroff appeared to deliberately shoot online e-commerce billionare Bunny Varney and remove his body from grounds. On March 20, a federal injunction required Merrie Faerie Faire to end the event and evacuate all participants citing public health and intelligence concerns. Later reports allege Varney's body was found skinned.[59][60][61] Hare and Krishna's enclosure was replaced with a penguin exhibit in 2025.[62]
  • On June 4, 2024, an 18-year-old student was trampled in the Elephant and Camel Ride area while trying to lead an adult Asian elephant ridden by his girlfriend out of the area to the site of the Merrie Schoole Nite Fete. Both individuals were intoxicated at the time of the incident. The victim's mother sued Merrie Faerie for allowing her inebriated son onto the premises and school chaperones for not properly supervising the teenagers. The lawsuits were unsuccessful.

The King's Arena[edit]

  • On October 16, 2021 a cast member playing Sir Cumference suffered significant puncture wounds during the Halftime Hastilude when his mount spooked and threw him onto the polearms rack. The actor survived and dropped charges after being promoted to El Cid.[63]
  • In an effort to address increased public demand for realistic violence and character death, park coordinators introduced the Crowne Cage Matche series in 2023, in which patrons could vote weekly for which Perfomance Crew cast members or contracted cosplayers they wanted to see in kayfabe combat to the death. Losing characters' deaths or executions were publicly staged and enforced for the remainder of the season. The series was considered extremely successful, going on for five seasons and spiking attendance for matches such as Voldemort vs. Vlad the Impaler, Daenerys Targaryen vs. Bloody Mary, and Rasputin vs. Baby Yoda.[64] The series was put on hiatus in 2024 when a Captain America loss to Genghis Khan resulted in the Khan actor being followed back to his camper and severely beaten by a group of agitated spectators.[65] Merrie Faerie paid damages to the actor's family in 2025. The series returned in 2027 as holographic performances, but was significantly less popular after Merrie Faerie was ordered to cease and desist in the use of licensed characters.[66]

Xanadu[edit]

  • On May 29, 2022 a 3-year-old girl's thumb and index finger were bitten off by a pony in the Ride with Kublai attraction when the girl's mother encouraged her to feed the animal the rest of her Xanadog. The fingers were recovered by a park employee, and the girl's hand was stitched to her abdomen by paramedics to prevent infection until the digits could be reattached.[67] A jury did not award damages to the guests as the feeding was a clear violation of posted regulations against guest animal husbandry, but Merrie Faerie was ordered to euthanize the pony in early 2023.[68]
  • In 2023, a face-painting station in Golden Dragon Village was found to be using period-accurate ceruse with high concentrations of lead as three parents reported their children having convulsive episodes after visits to the area. Merrie Faerie settled with the victims' families, based on the cost of the victims' continuing medical care and potential cognitive impairment.[69]
  • On November 24, 2024, a 42-year-old woman became ill while riding the Marco Polo: Silk Road coaster. At the unload area, she was unable to exit the vehicle. Because the woman was slumped in the car, ride operators did not notice she had not exited the ride and accidentally sent her through an additional eight times.[70] A 10-year-old boy seated in the car in front of the woman's flagged the issue to operators when her purse struck him in the back of the head. [71]Paramedics determined she had likely died of a pulmonary embolism by the fourth trip through the ride.[72][73]
  • A dancer of Korean descent successfully sued Merrie Faerie for racial discrimination in 2026 when a park verisimilitude coordinator fired her for looking "too occidental" after a blepharoplasty.[74]

Buccaneer Bay Water Parke[edit]

  • On May 24, 2021, a 15-year-old boy drowned in the Sea Devil Tsunami Pool.[75]
  • On August 18, 2021, 12 riders became trapped on the Siren's Call Underwater Coaster for 28 hours when an unidentified error in the track mechanism stranded the pod 245 ft. below the surface of Lady of the Lake Lake (formerly Kleen Solutions Reservoir).[76] Upon rescue, some riders reported their car having been attached by a large aquatic animal described as having an "ancient grace not seen in the age of man” and “several tentacles."[77] Medical examiners later attributed these accounts to severe hypoxia. No other injuries were reported. The ride was reopened two days later.[78][79]
  • On July 19, 2022, an 18-year-old from Queens drowned in the Sea Devil Tsunami Pool.[80]
  • Two women were hospitalized with parasitic infections in September 2022 after exposure in the Mermaids & Manatee Swim attraction.[81]
  • On June 20, 2023, an 17-year-old Oklahoma resident and his 8-year-old brother stayed in Buccaneer Bay past park closure by exiting the Pirates of the Mediterranean ride early and concealing themselves in the Treasure Room.[82] The ride was shut down by operators when the empty boat was found, but failing to locate the children before close, they were left locked in overnight.[83] The ride was re-opened by operators at 10:58 a.m. the following day and the boys were found in a maintenance closet locked from the inside, into which they alleged they were pursued.[84] Lacerations on the victim's arms and legs were consistent with track mechanisms.[85][86]
  • On August 3rd, 2024, an 11-year-old drowned in the Flounder Tide Pool (formerly the Sea Devil Tsunami Pool).[87]

New World Excursions[edit]

In 2026, The Merrie Corporation acquired 30 acres of land formerly reserved for Southern Tiwa peoples that had been made commercially available by the Reparations Adjustment Act.[88] These were developed into additional faire zones connected to the main Faire grounds via the Santa Maria Monorail. These were the first zones to incorporate VR and AI features.[89]

TECHNOtitlan[edit]

  • Between March 2 and June 29, 2027, 13 separate guests reported severe headaches and difficulty removing headsets required in the zone, which was billed as the first VR (Virtual Renaissance) experience.[90] Several patrons reported only being able to hear the sound of a woman weeping while wearing the headsets. The glitch was resolved in July 2027.[91]

El Dorado[edit]

  • On September 9, 2028, on opening weekend of the El Dorado Experience, journalist Caridad Vargas was abducted by a park cast member piloted by AI directives to increase verisimilitude and authenticity in a live-action representation of the conquest of South America.[92] Vargas was assaulted repeatedly over a period of three days and unable to contact other guests in the zone. She was found semi-conscious on September 12 by a park employee performing environmental resets in the Andean Corridor.[93] Merrie Faerie representatives stated September 22 that the AI system developed by ORB for the attraction was designed to only enforce authenticity protocols between piloted cast members, but that the profile Vargas encountered had been unable to distinguish between Vargas and performance crew of a similar appearance. Data subpoenaed from ORB demonstrated the system had not been adequately tested with non-white guests. The zone has remained closed since October 2028 as the case awaits trial.[94] ORB and Merrie Faerie announced in January they intend to implement a color-blind version of the system in the event of reopening.[95]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ When
  2. ^ I
  3. ^ was
  4. ^ a
  5. ^ girl
  6. ^ I
  7. ^ used
  8. ^ to
  9. ^ dream
  10. ^ of
  11. ^ disappearing
  12. ^ into
  13. ^ a
  14. ^ portal
  15. ^ in
  16. ^ my
  17. ^ closet
  18. ^ I
  19. ^ imagined
  20. ^ emerging
  21. ^ on
  22. ^ the
  23. ^ other
  24. ^ side
  25. ^ in
  26. ^ gossamer
  27. ^ and
  28. ^ brocade,
  29. ^ smooth
  30. ^ and
  31. ^ unhurt
  32. ^ as
  33. ^ a
  34. ^ pearl
  35. ^ I
  36. ^ would
  37. ^ look
  38. ^ back
  39. ^ on
  40. ^ my
  41. ^ old
  42. ^ life
  43. ^ as
  44. ^ through
  45. ^ a
  46. ^ fogging
  47. ^ mirror
  48. ^ pitying
  49. ^ its
  50. ^ hungry
  51. ^ shape
  52. ^ before
  53. ^ it
  54. ^ vanished
  55. ^ into
  56. ^ smoke
  57. ^ This
  58. ^ place
  59. ^ must
  60. ^ have
  61. ^ seemed
  62. ^ like
  63. ^ that
  64. ^ portal
  65. ^ at
  66. ^ first
  67. ^ The
  68. ^ place
  69. ^ the
  70. ^ chosen
  71. ^ ones
  72. ^ go
  73. ^ when
  74. ^ plucked
  75. ^ from
  76. ^ their
  77. ^ suffering
  78. ^ at
  79. ^ last
  80. ^ But
  81. ^ what
  82. ^ they
  83. ^ don't
  84. ^ tell
  85. ^ you
  86. ^ in
  87. ^ the
  88. ^ stories
  89. ^ is
  90. ^ you
  91. ^ can
  92. ^ never
  93. ^ go
  94. ^ back
  95. ^ through
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