HEAR YE, HEAR ye! The Texas Renaissance Festival has announced its plans for its 50th anniversary season, which opens on Oct. 12 and is preceded by a series of exciting events of magic and merriment.

Texas Renaissance Festival, which runs on weekends through Dec. 1, says this year's will be its biggest yet and include several new attractions. Already the largest event of its kind, the Renaissance Festival is attended by more than half a million revelers every year. It was the subject of a three-part docuseries called Ren Faire, which aired earlier this year on HBO and portrayed the battle for who might succeed octogenarian founder George Coulam in running the festival. (Officially, the Texas Renaissance Festival issued a statement distancing itself from the film.)

Ahead of the party in Todd Mission, Texas, those in Houston can experience adventure and enchantment at several kickoff events this month. On Sunday, Sept. 18, the Once Upon a Symphony concert in The Woodlands "transports visitors to far off lands" in a celebration of some of fiction's most fantastical fairy tales. The next day, Sept. 19, Ren Fest and Karbach kick off the Karbachtober Fest at the brewery. St. Arnold also has an Oktoberfest on Oct. 4.

Then the gates open on Oct. 12, with the Ren Fest's own Oktoberfest celebration taking place Oct. 12-13. "Journey back in time to old Bavaria ... . Show off your lederhosen in our daily costume contest or participant in our bratwurst eating contest," beckons the website. Other themed weekends include "Pirate Adventure" and "Heroes and Villains," inviting the likely-already-dressed-up attendees to put on even more costumes and gear.