Alaska Fairs

[Vain]

So I think I am the only Alaskan on here?  If there are anymore speak up!  I bet I could bring some more Alaskans to this!  Use it as an information hub!

[Cobaltblu]

I didn't know there were Alaskan faires?  Which one do you attend and does it have a website?

Regards,

CB

[Vain]

I didn't know there were Alaskan faires?  Which one do you attend and does it have a website?

Regards,

CB

There are a few in Alaska I am in the biggest and we also do a lot of the smaller ones that happen over the year.

Ours is called "The Thee Barons Renaissance Fair"
http://www.3barons.org/wiki/Main_Page

I'm sure it is NOTHING like stuff down in the lower 48 or over in Canada.  We are a small fair but it's still fun!  I do it for the people and the little kids that come to watch the fight shows and the tomato shows the magic show what ever they want to see.

Since it is 3 Barons you have Green(mid evil english)(me)), Red(mid evil italin), Blue(mid evil ummm like I dont know what to call them like people in Aladin)  Sorry I cant spell... But then you have they whole city(hillshire) full of merchants/venders and presents and what not. 

This is my "click" green


Red


Blue



My two directors he is fight show she is green court






My cuzin(girl)




Me 5 years ago!  My first year in fair had no idea what I was doing.  I had a shiny out fit haha

[DeadBishop]

Yes, feel free to pass on this site to your friends!  We'd love to see more faire goers/participants from Alaska here on the forum! 

[Vain]

Some more random pictures from over the years, I will try to take some tonight at rehearsal!

[LadyElizabeth]

Those seem like pretty large casts!  And it looks like ya'll are having a blast!  I've never heard of a fair that didn't have a set King and Queen, but instead 3 Baron courts... very cool indeed!  Of course, I was expecting more fur lined cloaks and fuzzy boots.. but I guess your fair must be in the summer!

[Vain]

Those seem like pretty large casts!  And it looks like ya'll are having a blast!  I've never heard of a fair that didn't have a set King and Queen, but instead 3 Baron courts... very cool indeed!  Of course, I was expecting more fur lined cloaks and fuzzy boots.. but I guess your fair must be in the summer!

Yep three!  Green, Blue, Red

Green is the largest there in about 50-70 of us normally...Green is mid evil English and were the bad weed puller's who are the ones that will kill anyone in our way

Red is the Italian very pretty snobby stuck up

Blue Araibian just fun and all tricks and games and throw away money

[Vain]

Our fair is almost here!  I have a few good friends in it with me and we go all out!

[Sabina]

Hey there, another Alaskan 3B cast member here. I've been working in the show since I was born, I kid you not, my parents were working this show before I was born! But it was not the 3 Barons Renaissance Faire then.

The 3 Barons Renaissance Fair came about after some issues and eventual colapse of another Renaissance Fair, I think it was called The Renaissance Fair or something very simple back in the late 80's early 90's. From the creation of the 3 Barons Renaissance Fair we had spread out to Eagle River for the Bear Paw Renaissance Village. Due to some issues though this branch has grown small over the years and will not be appearing at Bear Paw this year.

Having been outside to witness and be apart of other Renaissance and medieval events I can say 3 Barons is difficult to compare. Attendance by locals is small (by comparison), though there are many factors that contribute to this such as the Saturday Market and the joy of road construction a few years that has diverted traffic. Though I was not there in 2008, I was around in 2007 after returning from military service and found the fair rather lacking in it's stage.

This is to say, it needs a bit more work in lay out and set design. I know many of these stages and sets date back a ways. But again there is reason why these have not been worked on as much as shows down south do. We have long winters and there have been times when the show was moved (back when it was on Hilltop Ski Area) due to there still being snow on the ground in that location. This means there is only the time after the show to work on props, sets, stages, what ever needs the ability to work outside. This is also not a permanent site, therefore every thing must be able to be taken down and stored.

The 3 Barons has also been a little behind in evolving the shows. It seems that shows outside have been changing a lot recently and developing what they want to be more. Alaska has always had hard time doing this in a lot of things it does because it is isolated. Down south if one show changes near by you know about it and you can visit other shows to see how you can better your own. That's a little pricey to do when you live in Alaska though and the 3 Barons is the only real Renaissance show in the state as far as I know. There is an SCA group here but that's not a Renaissance Festival.

I hope this dosn't sound to critical, the show does have a lot of fun parts to it. But after working with the show for so long and being outside and coming back one tends to notice things. And if one dosn't address things that could benefit from change then a show becomes stagnant. It's also good to realize that this is not a big scale production by lower 48 standards. If you go in their expecting jousting or extravagent stage design then you might be dissapointed. But if you go to it and except it as a small town (because Anchorage is a small town comapred to Seattle) then you can appreciate it for it is and enjoy the shows.

[Vain]

Hey there, another Alaskan 3B cast member here. I've been working in the show since I was born, I kid you not, my parents were working this show before I was born! But it was not the 3 Barons Renaissance Faire then.

The 3 Barons Renaissance Fair came about after some issues and eventual colapse of another Renaissance Fair, I think it was called The Renaissance Fair or something very simple back in the late 80's early 90's. From the creation of the 3 Barons Renaissance Fair we had spread out to Eagle River for the Bear Paw Renaissance Village. Due to some issues though this branch has grown small over the years and will not be appearing at Bear Paw this year.

Having been outside to witness and be apart of other Renaissance and medieval events I can say 3 Barons is difficult to compare. Attendance by locals is small (by comparison), though there are many factors that contribute to this such as the Saturday Market and the joy of road construction a few years that has diverted traffic. Though I was not there in 2008, I was around in 2007 after returning from military service and found the fair rather lacking in it's stage.

This is to say, it needs a bit more work in lay out and set design. I know many of these stages and sets date back a ways. But again there is reason why these have not been worked on as much as shows down south do. We have long winters and there have been times when the show was moved (back when it was on Hilltop Ski Area) due to there still being snow on the ground in that location. This means there is only the time after the show to work on props, sets, stages, what ever needs the ability to work outside. This is also not a permanent site, therefore every thing must be able to be taken down and stored.

The 3 Barons has also been a little behind in evolving the shows. It seems that shows outside have been changing a lot recently and developing what they want to be more. Alaska has always had hard time doing this in a lot of things it does because it is isolated. Down south if one show changes near by you know about it and you can visit other shows to see how you can better your own. That's a little pricey to do when you live in Alaska though and the 3 Barons is the only real Renaissance show in the state as far as I know. There is an SCA group here but that's not a Renaissance Festival.

I hope this dosn't sound to critical, the show does have a lot of fun parts to it. But after working with the show for so long and being outside and coming back one tends to notice things. And if one dosn't address things that could benefit from change then a show becomes stagnant. It's also good to realize that this is not a big scale production by lower 48 standards. If you go in their expecting jousting or extravagent stage design then you might be dissapointed. But if you go to it and except it as a small town (because Anchorage is a small town comapred to Seattle) then you can appreciate it for it is and enjoy the shows.

I have been in the 3B fair for 5+ years now, My cousin been in it for much much longer   She is the one who got me to do it.   

[Sabina]

I have been in the 3B fair for 5+ years now, My cousin been in it for much much longer   She is the one who got me to do it.   

Why is it always our family that get us into this?

[zalea_girl]

Hi,
I am new to AK, recently moved here from CA. I have to agree, after attending the 3 Barons fair last weekend, that it is definitely set on a different premise than other faires I have attended, and gladly so!
yes, it did have that home-grown quality, but I fould it charming and full of heart, whereas some of the larger and more commercial CA faires can be quite like a decorated mall, with repetitive vendors, street kids and oppresive heat making it impossible to fully enjoy...
I want to say also that your pictures are wonderful and really capture some great action!

If it is not too bold, I would Like to offer some ideas? 
The wood chips were quite rough, and made getting around in sandals a challenge, and with a stroller (or I would imagime a wheel chair also) nearly impossible.
The "stamp your passport" scavenger hunt on the program is great! It gets the visitors to interact and see all the main attractions.
More PR! I had no idea this was going on just by local media, had to hunt it down online... I'm sure that local tv or radio stations would have reasonable rates, or possibly free airtime for local events...
Has anyone thought of inviting vendors or performers from the lower 48? In CA the summer is a dry season for faires due to the heat, and though not everyone could afford the travel, a couple of groups might consider a "working vacation" for a good cause (maybe comp entry in the fun run and feast in return for performance?)
Invite local groups to have a booth... might be as simple as a local drama club selling hot chocolate or snow cones (depending on the weather) or a health club offering chair massage...


as far as not having time to work on or mailtain sets in the off season, even in AK there are garages, basements, school gyms, etc.  that could be utilized, as well as the few weeks leading up to the fair for large-scale construction, painting. 
There is so much potential for creativity, I just think its silly to limit the possibilities to maintain and improve your fair by saying "we can't..." if you get enough people saying "We Can!" amazing things will happen.

I do not mean this to be criticism, I enjoyed the fair and intend to return this weekend, but hope that by keeping fresh ideas circulating there will be increased participation and no worries about it getting smaller or fading away.
I am sad to hear that the Eagle River fair was cancelled, I had just found out about it, and was hoping to visit there as well...
I would really love to join the performing community here, and would love more info on how to get involved in the fair.

[DeadBishop]

Welcome to R/F.com, zalea_girl,

Make sure to introduce yourself in the main intro area of the forum as well!

[Sabina]

If it is not too bold, I would Like to offer some ideas? 
The wood chips were quite rough, and made getting around in sandals a challenge, and with a stroller (or I would imagime a wheel chair also) nearly impossible.
The "stamp your passport" scavenger hunt on the program is great! It gets the visitors to interact and see all the main attractions.
More PR! I had no idea this was going on just by local media, had to hunt it down online... I'm sure that local tv or radio stations would have reasonable rates, or possibly free airtime for local events...
Has anyone thought of inviting vendors or performers from the lower 48? In CA the summer is a dry season for faires due to the heat, and though not everyone could afford the travel, a couple of groups might consider a "working vacation" for a good cause (maybe comp entry in the fun run and feast in return for performance?)
Invite local groups to have a booth... might be as simple as a local drama club selling hot chocolate or snow cones (depending on the weather) or a health club offering chair massage...

as far as not having time to work on or mailtain sets in the off season, even in AK there are garages, basements, school gyms, etc.  that could be utilized, as well as the few weeks leading up to the fair for large-scale construction, painting. 
There is so much potential for creativity, I just think its silly to limit the possibilities to maintain and improve your fair by saying "we can't..." if you get enough people saying "We Can!" amazing things will happen.

I do not mean this to be criticism, I enjoyed the fair and intend to return this weekend, but hope that by keeping fresh ideas circulating there will be increased participation and no worries about it getting smaller or fading away.
I am sad to hear that the Eagle River fair was cancelled, I had just found out about it, and was hoping to visit there as well...
I would really love to join the performing community here, and would love more info on how to get involved in the fair.

Here are the answers to your recommendations...

The wood chips are from ground up Christmas trees, at times you can still find the plugs from lights that were still on the trees. Though I am not sure if they are placed there by the city or by the fair I can tell you that the piles are spread out before the fair to attempt to cover the swampy spots caused by the melted/melting snow.

I believe our PR person is new this year. We do tend to have one or more of our people be guests on radio shows and were apart of a weather report on Friday. Advertising is harder then it looks though. With that said I will bring the point to my director to take to the next meeting, it is important feed back.

Vendors is another problem. To invite vendors requires people to visit other fairs to find vendors to contact and there is a combined expense to the vendor of not only travel costs (driving/flying) but also the added cost of their goods to sell, equipment and a place to stay.

There is also the problem of Saturday Market and other events drawing vendors away. Locals go to a Renaissance Fair usually but tourists go to the Saturday Market and offer a fresh group of people to sell to. Or at least that is how I understand it. We used to have some nice vendors years ago but they also say that China is taking their business.

As for the making the fair look great, that takes a lot of work and we are a non for profit fair meaning all money earned goes into putting the fair on. I'd say the majority of things you see there are paid for out of pocket by its members. A lot of people have full time jobs so there is not always time for making this stuff on top of rehearsal. Just things to keep in mind.

It is good to hear the input though as there are somethings we are capable of improving on.

Good to hear you enjoyed the fair and thanks for coming, I know the road construction was rather bad this year.

[Vain]

Haha