A letter to the ren community

[deafdrummer]

There are several smaller faires, but the "Big Three of Texas" would be TRF, Scarborough, and Sherwood.  Sherwood's growth in its short lifetime has been nothing short of phenomenal, and it rivals some of the longer established faires, if not in size, then certainly in quality.

I did a double take at "the big three in Texas" because I knew only TRF and Scarby would be the big ones, but did not know that the perception about Sherwood is already changing in spite of its youth.  This is very encouraging, considering the gamble, the risk the owners took even though a lot of things were favorable at the time of decision.  Anything big like this you try, there are risks involved, and that includes the people who make it happen.  I completely trust the people making it happen at Sherwood will continue to make it happen.  Also, every year, the campground continues to bring in ever more people, and sometimes, the campground has to expand outward.  Fortunately, there is extra land for this and a possible expansion of the faire.

TAKE NOTE, commercialized faire owners/operators...  This is not meant as a blast at them, but it must be said that the commercialization of the faires akin to that of Six Flags or the Disney parks creates a different feel, a different presence.  I don't know if you intended that, but as a patron, it's rather jarring to see that.  I wonder about how commercialized the faires in CA are, since I have never been to one out there, and I would imagine everything is expensive out there, including land, labor, and inputs of the faire, not to mention taxes on the state level.  This probably forces them to get commercial sponsorship because they cannot pay for it out of their own pockets (correct me on this, please).

[Merlin the Elder]

LOL!  Look at the things that have happened already at Sherwood after only five seasons. Some of what is going on there goes on at no other faire in the country! ... okay, technically, it's not "at faire" (and no...I'm not a paid shill for Sherwood!  ).

Sherwood's progress has been extremely ambitious to date, but it appears to me, as a distant outsider, it is definitely generating a following. I don't know about bottom line, but from watching the growth from year 2 thru 5, there is obvious growth happening.

It's only my opinion, but yeah... Sherwood is a "biggie."

[RenStarr]

My 2 cents (for what that's worth) & my perception:  Sherwood has succeeded for a variety of reasons.  Well thought out business plan, fantastic piece of land at a great location (close to Austin & San Antonio), and probably the best decision they made was the ongoing inclusion of people that are literally "partners" in the community that is Sherwood.  There is the annual Faire that lasts 8 weekends, the Celtic Festival that is 2 weekends.  And during the rest of the year, they open up the campgrounds and Faire itself for the gatherings that are every 30 - 60 days.  Those are a time for folks to come together and work on their camp sites as well as do some work in and for the Faire itself.  This builds a certain level of "ownership" in Sherwood that in my opinion, is at the core of the success of the Sherwood story. 

As in any new business venture, it generally pays to study the predecessors of the type of business one is getting into.  What they did and why they did it.  What brought about success and what didn't.  Sherwood would be a good study in building a successful Renaissance Faire.  Call it "RenFaire 101".

Having said all this, comparing what works well in one location in the country certainly doesn't guarantee that it will work everywhere else.  It seems in recent years the state of California has done a lot to make things hard on businesses in that state.  And some of those businesses have up and left that state.  I'm not saying that is the case here, but if Faires in general are growing and succeeding through out the country but the ones in CA are struggling............

[deafdrummer]

I want to add that Sherwood also does summer camp for kids with a choice of one of three weekends and a summer camp for adults for a long weekend as well.

You're right, it's a volunteer-run thing with the maintenance of the faire grounds, camp grounds, and marketing meetings for people who live in their respective areas and how to market Sherwood.  The more often the faire grounds are used, the more money can be made and the more cohesive the faire people can be.  It keeps the spirit alive and moving.