Personally I don't participate mainly because Scarby people do theirs on our 'off' day. It doesn't bother me that other people do it and I sometimes find it amusing. I barely have time to invest in the normal garb that I am making, so I consider doing something deliberately wrong a waste of time.
But I have talked to people who are vehemntly opposed, as well as those who love it and plan for it all year..
Where do you fall in the spectrum?
If the Pink Pirate and I participate in the Day of Wrong we do it in character. For example, this year the PP dressed as his alternate character Sir Roland, a very up tight British nobleman who doesn't like things out of of the norm. This contrast with the PP's normal attire and character attitude.
While I dressed in the pink pirate outfit and was more of Flaming Flora, while my regular dress is either my black and red Briar Rose outfit which looks 'normal' in a faire setting or my sewing fairy outfit of Lady Stitch, which while a little out there , isn't out of character for the faire. (People we talked to said it made day of wrong to see the pink on the wrong person)
I see the Day of Wrong as a chance for people who feel 'normal' on their garb, to have a chance to do something completely different to change up and be 'odd' for once.
In other words, Danes see garb as odd. Rennie's see garb as normal, but on the day of wrong they are wearing something Rennie odd. That make sense?
I love DOW. I don't do something TOTALLY new each year, as I am part of Clan MacGiggle, and our "tartan" is a HIDEOUS tropical print of bird of paradise on a black background. Our Clan has about 8 or so kilts out of it, a handful of court dresses, and a myriad of corsets, sashes and other various & sundry bits out of it. Mine is a cover for my favorite corset, which I attach via a whipstitch on the inside and leave just the lacing holes exposed. What I wear with it varies from year to year, some more wrong than others. Of course, each year we appear at Scottish Court, and our Laird thoughtfully supplies Her Majesty an appropriate pair of sunglasses, so as not to blind her with our presence.
I see it as an opportunity to provide a little amusement for those on cast who spend a quarter to a third of their year in preparation for and the entertainment of us all.
One of my favorite groups is the Highlander's Own Queens who appear at Scarby every DOW.
Absolutely love it.Always try and do something for it, whether it's crossdressing, or somethign smaller, like wearing my wench duck.
We've only been at Scarby for one DoW, but we thought is hilarious, even tho' we didn't wrong it up. We didn't know much about until that weekend, so we were pretty much not prepared anyway.
I really love DOW and participate fully. I have pretty much settled at this point on one DOW character and that is a FOP by the name of Sir PA (Poofs Alot). I have added things to the garb over the years but the basic character is still the same and I have ton of fun with him. I actually now also pull him out a few other times a year as he has gotten to be somewhat popular, as there are no FOPs regularly at Maryland, and I get requests for an appearance. This year we had Dr. Evil, Drow Elf Klingons, and all kinds of other fun and inventive characters. I say that DOW rocks and should be enjoyed!
Quote from: GoodyTombShoes on October 24, 2011, 07:10:00 PM
I love DoW. It's my chance to have my character play another person.
I had Mistress Goody (complete camo garbset) all packed for MDRF this year when the word came that it was discouraged in place of "best dressed". I had a blast getting pictures with a gnome, Dr Evil, Snow White and an orange traffic cone. I wasn't the only one, the danes were loving it too. I also saw a lot of silly mixups of garb that made me giggle. It's fun for a weekend and I have picture proof of it.
I'm not quite sure how, if you are not on cast, an official volunteer, shop staff, or otherwise an "official" representative of the festival, and thus have PAID FOR YOUR TICKET, management has any say in what you wear, so long as you aren't dressing in a manner that would legally be defined as obscene.
As I've heard quoted from multiple sources, including a professional costumer that I know has produced amazing costuming for multiple cast members at a couple of different faires, "you paid your money, you can wear what you want, regardless of historical accuracy or sumptuary laws"
To the best of my knowledge, Scarby doesn't seem to have a problem with it. We don't do it on the last day of faire since it's Memorial Day, and we honor our current & former servicemembers that day. Although, according to historical accuracy and pretty much anything else, there are those who would say that my Tribute to The Military skirt is wrong...
I don't think we have it at BARF but I would have to say no thank you.
I understand that D of W can lighten up what can become routine for the regulars or the staff who go to Faire constantly, but if you are a person who either only visits a Faire once or twice, or it is a newbie visiting for the first time to see what it is all about, it will put people off returning. I mean wrong, like really wrong - not the lacing the wrong way or Not-Historically Correct, but wrong.
For example, if there was a person (perhaps a Playtron in Training) interested in history, the romance or escapism fantasy (as many of us are) and they attended Faire and saw a lot of people dressed like I have seen in D of W photos, they may be put off, as the people and their "errors" come off as either incredibly amateurish (if the person doesn't realize it is D of W) or could be outright making fun of the people who want to go back in time. Ever been made fun of for playing Dungeons and Dragons, or something similar? A person may come to Faire looking for a type of acceptance, and feel that they are just having fun poked at them again. Think that person will come back?
It isn't much different for a first time Mundane visiting. They come to Faire with the expectation of seeing something at least historical and see a bunch of StormTroopers in kilts, or the Robot from Battlestar Gilactica or whatever it was. It's hard to see that and not notice, and that person may leave and not come back- there is nothing even close to 1300-1600's historical about Stormtroopers. At least Fairies, ogres, trolls, wizards and the like were believed in at some point, so they could be considered at least Historically accurate fantasy.
For me and my troop, we travel long distance to every Faire we go to. There isn't a Faire close to us – the closest three are a 4, 4 or 5 hour drive away. It means a weekend away, including the cost of a hotel, gas, food out, etc. When we get to Faire, we have already put a lot of time, effort and cost into getting there. We want to walk through the gates and be enveloped in the Fantasy of Faire, of stepping into a world that I like better than the one I have to exist in 99% of the time. I don't want that ruined by someone who is bored with what normally happens at Faire and want to do something so wrong that it is funny to them. It bursts my bubble of the escape that Faire is supposed to be.
You may get bored and want to have a D of W, say one out of say 15 days during the run of a Faire to mix it up. But that one day may be the only day that some people visit, and you have just altered the only impact Faire has on them. A Newby or a Mundane may not return. One of only a few chances for a person to escape may have been taken away.
It may well be funny for the people who are in on the joke, but take a moment to consider the impact on those who aren't.
Because you by your ticket and the Management can tell you what not to wear, but perhaps you should consider that request and why they are making it.
Just because you "can" doesn't mean you "should"
A few years back I visited MIRF for their day of wrong weekend. I had a blast coming up with something for that day. I went as a visitor from The Emerald City. All in green with a hat I was so tickled to have turn out well. I made a pillbox topped it with a poppy field and constructed a tornado twirling out of it's center. I had so much fun showing off my silly creation. :) One of
Y friends I was visiting went as Jane Austin. She was so funny. I saw several others here and there that were in the spirit of the day. Fun and silly. :)
I guess if I were to go to an SCA event or some other recreation I'd expect to see nothing but period garb, but faire is different to me. There certainly were not enough in DOW to make me feel like the flavor of the faire was spoiled. In fact it made me feel I'd been invited to add to the fun of the day. :)
Robert of Armstrong said it well for me. I understand the impulse behind DoW, but having been on performing company, and having had to think of things from that point of view, the DoW is not something that I enjoy. Sure, some of the stuff that I see amuses me, but I always find myself coming back to the fact that THIS is the first impression that a large majority of that day's visitors are going to take away from the faire and THAT saddens me because the management, the cast, the performers and the other employees all go to great lengths to create a very fragile illusion. It's not a perfect illusion by any means (there were no Dr. Pepper bottles floating around jousts in the Renaissance, that's for sure!) but those are details. The main illusion occurs when you look around and see the big picture. For me, DoW is rather like having the Mona Lisa flashing a gang sign. Sure, the main focus is still there, but that jarring detail is enough to throw the entire perspective off.
Different faires vary, of course. Some of the more fantasy-oriented faires that don't focus on historical accuracy can probably get away with a bit more looseness, but at the historically-oriented faires, to me it is jarring and a disfavor to those working so hard to create that illusion.
I love DoW and I don't want it to go away. But what Robert says is pretty true. The first time I saw a DoW while visiting a new faire for me. I was not a fresh playtron, but not exactly an old hand and my home faire didn't do DoW. I walked by a group of playtrons who looked me up and down and said "THAT's just wrong!" and started to point and laugh. My feelings were truly hurt. I was wearing my favorite garb. It wasn't until much later in the day that I realized they were saying I was WRONG to be right and I got the joke. In the interim however, I definitely muttered to myself -"I am never coming back to THIS faire".
I did, of course, every year, and happily participate. But I learned to have a care for the others who didn't participate.
If there's a Day of Wrong at TRF I doubt anyone would notice. ::) Or maybe it's every day?
Honestly, I'm so used to seeing that sort of stuff all the time at TRF, I think if I saw it at another faire it would not even register. So based on that, I don't see how it would so negatively effect a newbie's enjoyment of a faire, or really hurt attendace.
That being said, although I've always been in favor of folks having fun, and thought it was fun to see the Starfleet away teams, Jedi Knights and clone troopers etc.. I sometimes wish they'd put that effort into some more "traditional" faire garb...
Bristol has a day of wrong, in which we don't participate, mostly for the same reasons Robert stated. We enjoy the illusion of the time period and find DOW distracting, even to us, veteran faire goers. We're not H/A, don't care to be, and appreciate those who are, but some of it is over the top.
Having said that, many, many people treat Bristol as a costume party, even on other days besides the DOW. There is someone who dresses in a kind of garb but wears a rubber alligator head. Another person who also dresses in what he/she considers to be garb, then wears a furry, very accurate tiger head and paws. Not to mention those who consider themselves time travellers, and wear whatever concoctions they think would pass for travelling through time.
Aside from the fact that they will have several thousand people staring at them, many of the regulars just think "why would they?" And since it is their choice, no one will stop them or say anything, but it is strange to see them walking around.
I'm torn on this topic. While I find many DoW get-ups to be amusing and others to be complete wastes of time and effort involved in putting them together- I don't begrudge those that choose to take part in DoW. However, after this year at MNRF I am leaning more towards the side of NOT liking it at all. DoW at MNRF this year ended up coinciding with the Queen's Coronation and I found it quite distasteful and disrespectful for DoW participants to be sitting right up front in full view during this "serious" event. Granted, DoW was set up BEFORE the Coronation finally landed on the same date (it had to be moved quite a few times due to the Queen's health and wellness) so I can't truly be too upset about it, but it does irk me a bit. If you are a paying customer, by all means, wear whatever the heck you want, just try to be conciencious about the event you are attending. Now when performers or staff choose to blatently ruin the atmostphere of Fest for a bit of "inside fun" that is a HUGE area of concern to me. And an entirely different thread...
I don't know of any of the performers or cast at Scarby who actually participate in DOW, honestly, or really shop staff either. I think THAT would be a problem for newbies and first time attendees, as they wouldn't understand WHAT is going on.
Another thing to consider is that there is a LOT of what I personally consider WRONG coming through those gates every single day of the festival (not to be snarky, but spandex and chainmaille do NOT work on all body types) that I would think is far more damaging to the atmosphere than the fact that there is a whole gang of us wearing matching court dresses, bodices, corsets, kilts and other sundry accessories that are within the accepted "period" styles, made from a garish tropical print.
Have to agree with Zardoz here. I've never been to a faire with a DoW, but every year I accept storm troopers in kilts at TRF as an unavoidable norm.
TRF seems to be a costume party more often than not anyway, but I would hate to see what would happen if the management would encourage the madness...
Quote from: LadyFae on November 02, 2011, 08:55:02 AM
I'm torn on this topic. While I find many DoW get-ups to be amusing and others to be complete wastes of time and effort involved in putting them together- I don't begrudge those that choose to take part in DoW. However, after this year at MNRF I am leaning more towards the side of NOT liking it at all. DoW at MNRF this year ended up coinciding with the Queen's Coronation and I found it quite distasteful and disrespectful for DoW participants to be sitting right up front in full view during this "serious" event. Granted, DoW was set up BEFORE the Coronation finally landed on the same date (it had to be moved quite a few times due to the Queen's health and wellness) so I can't truly be too upset about it, but it does irk me a bit. If you are a paying customer, by all means, wear whatever the heck you want, just try to be conciencious about the event you are attending. Now when performers or staff choose to blatently ruin the atmostphere of Fest for a bit of "inside fun" that is a HUGE area of concern to me. And an entirely different thread...
Of the three faires that I known cast and management, I have been given to understand that cast, staff, vendors, etc. has been discouraged or outright forbidden to participate in DoW. Specifically because this would detract from the random paying patron experience of the Renaissance or Middle Ages.
Does anyone know the origins of DOW? How and where it to began? I'd always thought it was a sanctioned event. Not frowned upon. Our smaller fairest here in Florida don't do this so I have no frame of reference as far as cast thoughts on the subject.
Quote from: raevyncait on November 02, 2011, 09:20:11 AM
I don't know of any of the performers or cast at Scarby who actually participate in DOW, honestly, or really shop staff either. I think THAT would be a problem for newbies and first time attendees, as they wouldn't understand WHAT is going on.
Another thing to consider is that there is a LOT of what I personally consider WRONG coming through those gates every single day of the festival (not to be snarky, but spandex and chainmaille do NOT work on all body types) that I would think is far more damaging to the atmosphere than the fact that there is a whole gang of us wearing matching court dresses, bodices, corsets, kilts and other sundry accessories that are within the accepted "period" styles, made from a garish tropical print.
Cast does not participate in DoW. Few performers do. There is a contingent of shop folke who do. However, what you need to remember is this:
To the average T-shirt and jeans patron EVERYONE wearing garb works for the faire. They don't know, and rarely do they care, that a number of the folks in garb are patrons like themselves. So every time someone in garb does something that breaks the illusion in any way, they are assumed to be cast by many of the people around them.
Faire often gets complaints about something that "someone who works here" did, and it turns out to be another patron. Hell, even when I was a performer I had a playtron get in my face and shove me out of his way because his CHARACTER was a ship captain and thus "more important" than me. (Luckily for him, my husband was working the other end of the festival at that moment.)
The vast majority of patrons and playtrons are awesome people, and are completely and totally appreciated by the performers for their enthusiasm and desire to keep that fragile bubble I talked about earlier in place. And then DoW happens and that fragile bubble shatters and the performers are left to frantically try and superglue it back together because out of the 25,000 people who enter the gates that day, perhaps 1,000 get the joke (at most) and the rest just assume that is what the illusion looks like all of the time.
I don't say this to tell anyone not to do it. You paid for you ticket, you wear what you want as long as it is legal. I am simply answering the question from a (former) performer's point of view. An inside joke is an inside joke because most people don't know about it. It is fun for the people in the know, but for the vast majority on the outside it is confusing at best.
Quote
Specifically because this would detract from the random paying patron experience of the Renaissance or Middle Ages.
Which is why I would not do it.
And I have never understood the stormtroopers, potter, etc paying customers who show up, but those are usually a small number. Those are obviously not part of the effect as viewed by most all attendees, staff or customers. To me it would be like attending a Science Fiction Convention in total Ren HA apparel. I just wouldn't feel right at all about doing it. Guess it doesn't bother them.
QuoteOf the three faires that I known cast and management, I have been given to understand that cast, staff, vendors, etc. has been discouraged or outright forbidden to participate in DoW.
Not to stir the pot, but doesn't the Queens own guard participate in DoW at Scarby? Or at least someone informed me of that when we visited there this year for the first time. And it should be noted that they did NOT participate with cast in any way on that day.
Very much an on the fence topic for me. And I am certainly not judging as none of what I wear comes close to HA. But I do try my best to further the magic and feel of Ren. I suppose it runs alongside of what patterns I have seen in books, movies, events etc over the past few years. And that being that for the most part everyone seems to be taking old stories, old movies and old events and retelling it THEIR way by adding things that were never there in the first place. The latest 3 Musketeers movie is one example. Whatever happened to the differences between "Tradition and "Originality?" Seems at least to me those lines are being blurred more and more. I have always encouraged free expression, but also at the same time personally remember lines between genres. Sometimes I worry one day I will open up a site and it says "Opening this weekend!!! The biggest RenTrek Steam Faire ever seen!" :o
But that is just me and my views. Thoughts from the mind of a Madman.
Wear what ya want. However I do reserve the right to point and laugh. ;D
This is a very interesting topic.
To be honest I had never even heard of DoW until recently here on the forum.
When I first saw this topic open up my first thought was 'whats the big deal? why would anyone be against it" and decided to keep my mouth shut and just follow along.
After reading everything here are my thoughts
My home faire is FLARF- the people who own and run the faire treat it as purely a money making activity- why do I say that??
-Port a potties in plain sight without any kind of shrubbery to hide them
- inflatable bounce castles and other county fair like activities for kids,
-no one on staff or as a vendor are encouraged to speak in accent - the few that do, do it out of their own choice
So my original basis of 'why not who cares' is based on the fact that there is really so little attention paid to be H/A or even relevant at my home faire that it really wouldn't make much of a difference if there was a DoW because its not like they are creating any kind of fantasy realm anyway.
However we get very very few 'time travelers' storm troopers or the like.
Now if I attended one of these wonderful faires where the employees and shop keepers actually put on a facade of the renaissance, as a paytron I would be bothered by DoW, especially if I wasn't aware of it. Even more so if my financial situation allowed me to attend only one day or weekend so I would have no other day to 'make up for it'
Lord Dragon,
Queen Margaret's Own at Scarby are paying playtrons. They are not official members of the cast. At least eight of them I consider good friends.
Auryn,
you are welcome to come and stay with us anytime you wish to visit Scarby and see what a well played Renaissance Faire is like.
Oh LordDragon
I forgot
QuoteThe biggest RenTrek Steam Faire ever seen!"
that already exists and its called DragonCon- totally awesome ;)
Quote from: Lord Dragon on November 02, 2011, 01:08:02 PM
Not to stir the pot, but doesn't the Queens own guard participate in DoW at Scarby? Or at least someone informed me of that when we visited there this year for the first time. And it should be noted that they did NOT participate with cast in any way on that day.
Yes and no the Queens own Highlanders and the Royal Highland division aka the queens body guards are all playtrons and are not members of the cast, performers, or official part of the faire. The group does not participate as a group in the DoW. Several of our members do participate in the DoW as individual playtrons. Several are good friends and I enjoy their teasing during Dow.
As a personal choice I don't participate but its just because its not my thing, don't have a problem with those that do. Kinda the same for Anime and Science fiction conventions I enjoy them but I don't do the cosplay its just not my thing. I can understand the other side that have a DoW makes the cast job more difficult but on the other hand I've seen "T-shirt and Jean" crowd wearing stuff that was more wrong then most of the DoW grab
And so I stand rightfully corrected. Appreciate that, I was merely curious anyway. :)
Doing a staff DoW would, in my opinion only, be another matter.
I think any traditions on it would be hard to find as I personally am led to believe it was started by Playtrons, not any sort of staff.
/offtopic
Quote from: Auryn on November 02, 2011, 01:31:44 PM
Oh LordDragon
I forgot
QuoteThe biggest RenTrek Steam Faire ever seen!"
that already exists and its called DragonCon- totally awesome ;)
Good point. ;D And I cannot tell you how much I would dearly love to attend one, it is certainly on my bucket list. And I would do everything in my power to honor it by the most appropriate garb as possible ( I do have some theoretical mechamagicsteampunkanimefantasy massive creations already in the works ). I just as yet have been unable to make the reservations/money needed/etc to make that happen....YET. ;D
/topic
Lord Dragon not corrected just clarified the QOH is so large and involved many people are surprised we are not cast. And it easy to see when some of our officers are doing DoW that its easy to think its a group activity.
I've got DragonCon on my list too. Might be interesting to do a leather armour invasion of DragonCon some year.
I'd have to go back to another thread where we were talking about folks being in costumes/garb of different eras or contexts... His Majesty Himself stated that the primary idea was to have fun, so He didn't really care one way or another what the patrons were dressing as.
I find it much less confusing to see a large group of DoWers, because to me it's perfectly clear that something odd is up, than to have someone come up to me, a bit oddly dressed (obviously not completely `dane), spouting some spiel that made no sense at all to me. This happened at Scarby, and left the poor young man embarrassed, and me totally confused. Someone who overhead explained that the young man was supposed to be Dr Who. It may seem odd, but I've never seen Dr Who.
For when Scarborough's DoW falls, I wonder just how much damage, if any, is done by it. It happens on the final Sunday of the faire's run, and when we were there, it was a rather light crowd. Temps were 100+...
I dunno... I don't think I personally want to do it, but I did get a kick out of seeing some of the outfits. I have no strong feelings either way.
Quote from: SirRichardBear on November 02, 2011, 04:41:59 PM
Might be interesting to do a leather armour invasion of DragonCon some year.
I'm IN!!!! ;D
I'd like that as well, but that would be one hell of a trip to swing.
Quote from: Merlin the Elder on November 02, 2011, 04:51:02 PM
For when Scarborough's DoW falls, I wonder just how much damage, if any, is done by it. It happens on the final Sunday of the faire's run, and when we were there, it was a rather light crowd. Temps were 100+...
That actually tends to be one of the busier weekends because it is final weekend. People who have spent the whole season saying, "We should go..." realize that it is their last chance to do so. :)
Quote from: Lord Dragon on November 02, 2011, 01:08:02 PM
I have always encouraged free expression, but also at the same time personally remember lines between genres. Sometimes I worry one day I will open up a site and it says "Opening this weekend!!! The biggest RenTrek Steam Faire ever seen!" :o
:D You do have a point. I'd never thought of it that way.
I confess I have a bit of a double standard with seeing "wrong" costumes... things like LOTR, Harry Potter, or SteamPunk I don't mind at all and actually kind of enjoy as long as they are still the minority. Things like that often incorporate earth tones or styles that don't readily jump out of a dense crowd. But things that really stand out like storm troopers, etc, do kill the mood a little bit for me.
And I've never looked into Dragon Con, but it sounds like something I would love!
I'm going to preface this by saying this is ONLY my opinion, from my experience and feelings.
I am fairly new to Ren Faires, unlike my Lord Dragon who is the one that got me hooked. I looked forward to attending Scarby this past May. I spent weeks getting our garb together, making sure everything we needed was packed, baking scones for all the early birds, and just anticipating the excitement.
Saturday was wonderful, even though it was as hot as Hates outside. I loved meeting the many people we have talked with on the boards at the fair. I enjoyed passing out my baked goods, and sharing in the morning revelry. The day was a pleasant diversion to our normal weekends which I enjoyed very much.
Sunday morning when we came into the parking lot and someone told us about the DoW I felt kind of let down. I didn't say anything because everyone there was in on the fun, but I felt left out. Scarby isn't our home fair, we drove 10 hours one way to get there for the weekend. Hotels, food, gas, dog boarding, a big expense to participate in a fair we've never attended, and it felt to me like someone took a pin and burst the bubble. Lord Dragon didn't seem to mind, and we had a great time, there weren't many participating that day, probably due to the temperature. But if this had been my first faire, I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much seeing garb, that to me, was out of place.
My first Faire was TRF in Oct./2009, I know I'm spoiled, but it was the atmosphere that hooked me. By the end of Day One we had Lord Dragon garbed, and by the end of Day two I found mine. And we've been building our wardrobes ever since. The idea of being able to join in the fun and adding to the illusion is addicting and I like having the ability of doing that for someone else who might be there for the first time.
Like Lord Dragon has stated, we are far from H/A, but we try to add to the feel of the period. If a Dane saw us, they would think we are part of the atmosphere if not a cast member. We do our best to stay in period so the illusion is there for anyone not in garb. It's part of the fun of faire and why I got involved. Maybe I'm not bored with it yet, so I don't need a DoW to make it fun or silly. But my point might be this:, I knew what was going on before cannon and felt let down, what did someone who never attended before feel when they saw the out of place garb. Will I attend Scarby again? In a heart beat, will I ever participate in a DoW? I have learned never to say never, but I will say it is very doubtful. I love the illusion of Faire too much to spoil it for someone else.
Granted, I have never been to a faire with a Day of Wrong, nor have I ever seen storm troopers at faire, but for me, it's waay more distracting to see people dressed in super ill-fitting clothes (no boning, spilling out on top, super short shorts, chain mail bikinis etc) than to see people dressed up in inaccurate garb. I enjoy seeing the few random Steampunkers that always seem to pop up at every faire. And at the norcal faire, when I saw someone dressed up as Russel from Up, I absolutely loved it! To me, costumes like that are no more inappropriate than the random people who dress up in leather monster-like outfits. And at least they're having fun, which frankly, is what really counts.
I have no problem with it. What I don't like - and this is not aimed as an insult to anybody because I firmly believe if you pay to enter you can wear what you want - is when the faire itself has a steampunk weekend (totally out of period) or a costume contest where any costume can enter. I guess it's all in the presentation and how it fits a particular faire. For example, my home faire had a Time Travel Weekend last year, and at first I was like, WTF?? But GLMF is a smaller, fantasy based faire, so it went over a bit better than it would elsewhere, and a lot of people had fun with it. Still not sure how I feel about it, but if it brings more people out and generates more $$$ for the faire, who am I to argue?
As for DOW, why not? It's clearly presented for what it is, and sometimes wrong can be so right, haha. ;D I've been to the one at MIRF and saw some cool costumes, but the one at MDRF really blows me away. Haven't been to that one myself, but I've seen pictures and video on YouTube, and it looks like so much fun! People get really creative with what they wear, and it's close to Haloween, so you've got the revelry of closing weekend and the upcoming holiday. I'd love to go and experience myself someday!
....related but different.
I have heard some suggestions for using DOW as a protest day for entertainment changes. A day of naked. Personally I think the protest would be lost in the sea of mundanes.
Quote from: DonaCatalina on March 22, 2012, 11:32:46 AM
....related but different.
I have heard some suggestions for using DOW as a protest day for entertainment changes. A day of naked. Personally I think the protest would be lost in the sea of mundanes.
Entertainment changes are going to happen. This is the 31st season of Scarborough Faire. There is no way that the entertainment would have stayed the same for the entire existence of the faire. Acts come and acts go. Some don't return because they have moved on to other areas of their professional life, some don't return because the Faire chooses not to renew their contracts, and some just can't come to a financial agreement with the Festival.
It is one thing to let the faire know that you really enjoy a particular act and would love to see them return should everything align correctly. It might tip the balance if the Faire is deciding between two acts as it lets them know that an act has a built-in audience already. But while we all have certain acts that we would love to see there every year, year after year, it just isn't going to happen.
Someday Don Juan and Miguel will retire from the stage.
Someday the members of Queen Anne's Lace will decide that they are done.
Someday Noobler will want to expand other areas of his artistic abilities and just won't have time for the Festival circuit any more.
Someday the Mud Show guys will go their separate ways...oh, wait...
But if the Mud Show guys hadn't gone their own ways, we wouldn't have Dr. Kaboom now, or Arthur Greenleaf Holmes. If The Corsairs hadn't retired we wouldn't have The Ramblin' Sailors.
Change is part of what keeps the Faire so vibrant and alive. And while I will miss the folks who are not returning for whatever reason, I will welcome the new acts and performers to our home and gladly share the joy that is the Scarborough season with them.
Those are my thoughts, anyway.
The first time I saw the DoW, I was like..WTF? I'm pretty much a weirdo.... will fit in anywhere and really can't be offended or effected by actions of others.
I see both sides to this thing.... hard core rennies really want the ren faire to be exactly that. I've seen people in kilts wearing Air Jordans... my thoughts were... "They look like they are enjoying themselves....good." I've seen people in horrible Halloween knight costumes... my thoughts were "At least they are trying".
Steampunk.... they have a Time Machine so what can you do?
Darth Vador.... meh. Sucks to be that guy!
Point is... I never take it personally or feel the atmosphere is dampered by others... UNTIL they actually interfere with the faire.
I'm referring to one year when a Dr. Who invasion showed up and tried to march in the parade. No problem with the cast of Dr. Who being there...but to assume you belong in the parade is wrong...IMHO.
I've never participated in the DoW and frankly I make a very ugly girl...(not that Brian O-Farrell isn't a handsome man....but he too is scary as a lady...lol) Do I have a problem with it? Not at all.
Inside the walls of faire is my happy place. All worries of the real world are left outside. Seeing drunken roudies being escorted out by the Sheriff is sad and off-putting but my day returns to a happy one. Seeing someone in non HA garb.... no negative effect on me or my day.
Other than slightly losing my appetite.... the guys participating in the DoW have no effect on me. Some of the girls participating make me question myself at times.... "Wow! That guy is hot!"
Lys! I think you lost count...if I'm not mistaken, this will be season 32! But, I, for one, agree. Change is inevitable, and good for the faire.
Let DoW be when everyone can be funny (like the dudes in prom dresses) or totally out-of-place (like the lovable Darth Vader). The rest of the time, I would prefer that there be some attempt to play along, but I wouldn't butt heads with anyone over it. I'm there for a good time. The number on the restroom wall didn't pan out.