Freinds of Faire organization

[Rowan MacD]

  Ok.  I don't see a thread/topic/subject that this fits into, so I'll post it here.  I'm pretty sure I've asked this question before so forgive me if you've seen the subject.
   What exactly is FoF?  What do they do, what is their purpose, and what is needed to pull one together?
   Everything I've read so far, as well as what little advice I have been offered has been rather vague; running to 'find someone who aready set one up and join it'.  That would be great if we had one within 150 miles of here, but we don't.
   Advice please!
 

   

[DonaCatalina]

At Scarborough, the Friends of Faire is set up by the fair itself. It is merely a more expensive version of the season pass where they offer free water/gatorade and close in parking as an additional perk.
I believe at most fairs it is the same situation if they have "FOF".

[Rowan MacD]

  I was hoping it would be more like a confederation of volunteers (or RenRats) who help the fair organizers with local tasks.  Set up, gate, tear down, posters/flyers, etc.  and help get the word out to get new folks in to see the fair.
  I'd love to have something like the Siouxland Renaissance Association:

"The Siouxland Renaissance Association is an all volunteer, non-profit organization whose mission is to provide the community with education and an opportunity to participate in family-friendly events with a focus on the Renaissance throughout the year, including an annual festival, other educational programs, and fund-raising events."
   A lot of the fund raising is done with commemorative merchandise.  These are only sold at the gate in a specific spot.   
 
 

[Merlin the Elder]

I would imagine it's going to be as varied as the faires themselves, which may be why you haven't gotten a straight answer. As Doña Catalina has already said, it's a more expensive season pass, but with some additional perks. Scarborough though, unlike what you're describing Siouxland to be, is a for-profit business, and is privately owned, as far as I know.

According to the "press," the money raised by the Scarby FoF members is used to build or rebuild some of the facilities. For example, this year, our funds rebuilt one of the main stages. We don't have any duties, and other than a few perks, we have no special privileges.

[angusmacinnes]

I like the Scarby FOF pass.  It really only boils down to about $6 a visit especially if you utilize the water and gatorade stations as opposed to buying drinks from the vendors.

[SirBlackFox]

For the Friends of The Maryland Renaissance Festival, I started a yahoo chat group back in 2002 and announced it on the old A.F.R. newsgroup.  It grew to the point where I set up http://www.friendsofmdrf.org and created a bulletin board for it at http://fomdrforg.proboards.com.

ProBoards is a great way to build content by having other folks who share your love add to it with you!  Oh and setting up the board is absolutely FREE. . . .and it's pretty easy to do with their instructions.  They even automatically seed your board to Google and other search engines too.

At least that's how I-now-WE did it.  It brings a great group of folks together for a common love.

[Dayna]

bristol faire in Kenosha WI has a friends of faire garden, an actual place on site with free ice water and gatorade, private privies, shaded benches and tables, and shelves in the back to leave your stuff so you don't have to carry it with you all day.

We have two feasts per year where members bring in food and we cook dead beast on our 9 food grill.  Last year between the two feasts we cooked IIRC almost 600 Pounds Of Meat!

We also have educational classes during the season.

Total cost is $35 for the 9 week season, or a weekend membership can be purchased for $5.