The man who brought the Renaissance Festival to Maryland has died.
Jules Smith Sr. died Thursday of natural causes in his Minnesota home, according to his family. He was 88.
Smith co-founded the festival in 1971 in Minnesota. In 1977, he brought the festival to Maryland, on a plot of land near Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia.
“My father happened to be having a drink with Jim Rouse (a notable developer in Columbia) and said he was thinking of starting a Renaissance fair,” festival president Jules Smith Jr. said. “That’s how we ended up in Columbia for our first eight years.”
Smith’s legacy is carried on by four of his six children, who now run the festival.
Smith Jr., 60, has been managing the festival since 1986. His father was the largest shareholder of the company until the younger Smith became president in 2010. Justin Smith, 56, is the food and beverage director; Mark Smith, 59, is the physical plant manager and Adam Smith, 51, is the construction and decoration supervisor.
Smith Sr. is also survived by his daughter, Ann McGlennen, 53, in Minnesota and son Jonathan Smith, 48, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as well as seven grandchildren.
In 1985, the elder Smith moved the festival to its current plot of land in Anne Arundel County, where he turned it over to Smith Jr. the next year.
“He was really an inspiration in the way the festival operated and the way we try to work with our participants and performers. We have a pretty good reputation, and I think a lot of that is from the foundation he created,” Smith Jr. said.
The festival opened this season on Aug. 25 and will run each weekend until Oct. 21. The celebration filled with role players and those dressed in medieval costumes also includes jousting and street entertainment like juggling and knighting ceremonies.
While the festival has become an institution in Maryland, it wasn’t Smith’s only accomplishment.
Smith practiced law for 52 years before retiring about 10 years ago in Minnesota. There, he was on the metropolitan planning commission for 32 years, and at one point was city attorney for 18 cities at the same time.
He taught as a professor at the University of Minnesota for 28 years. In the 1960s, he was a chair of the Minnesota Republican party for about a year and ran for Congress.
Smith was also known as a kind soul and a gentle giant at 6-foot-9, McGlennen said. While he gave his children his height — McGlennen is the shortest at 5-foot-11 and her brothers are all at least 6-feet tall — he also passed on his passion for family and community.
“He believed in doing a lot to support the community he lived in. He believed everyone needs to contribute to make the community better,” she said. “My mother passed away 30 years ago, but when she was alive they believed in raising us with integrity and honesty. He really loved his grandkids and being an active part of family life.” Smith and his wife, Mary Ann, were married July 27, 1957.
Smith Jr. said their father also passed on his love for the Renaissance era.
“These fairs came to life in the counterculture era. This was the way to express yourself without being militant or too aggressive. It was uninhibited, but not in a bad way. It was free. This was the period when arts began to flourish,” Smith Jr. said.
“At the festival, you can experience chivalry and become someone you’re not in your real life. You can be a nobleman, a wizard or a witch, or whatever you want to pursue. It was really the first type of role-playing.”
