Not sure if this is the right (or best place to put this, I hope so though) There is a brand new fest starting up in Needles CA called "Kingdom by the River" (the Colorado river to be exact) and we are looking high and low for street performers. If anyone out there would know how or where to look or get people to volunteer to do this, please HELP. I'm new to this "making of a new ren fest" thingy and hoping Dear GOD don't let me screw this up.
Wish I lived closer and could help!
Wishing you the best of luck!! :)
Thanks, the head planner I've been working on has been so busy that every time I ask her for something, she goes YEAH YEAH, but then it never seems to happen. I feel sorry she is SO busy, but if she wants the help, then she needs to follow through. I've asked the others on the committee to talk to their guild members as well as the local schools for anyone interested as well, but never heard back from them either.
Quote from: Lord Figaro on October 11, 2009, 07:08:45 AM
Not sure if this is the right (or best place to put this, I hope so though) There is a brand new fest starting up in Needles CA called "Kingdom by the River" (the Colorado river to be exact) and we are looking high and low for street performers. If anyone out there would know how or where to look or get people to volunteer to do this, please HELP. I'm new to this "making of a new ren fest" thingy and hoping Dear GOD don't let me screw this up.
I don't live in CO, sorry, but it would help if you will post the following:
1) time-period of the Faire (medieval, Renaissance, 1300, 1550, anything)
2) Season or time-frame for your gate. Will this faire be open 3 weekend in spring, or fall?
This will let people know if they can assist in the type of characters you need without having to scrounge costuming, and if they will have open week(ends) to commit.
Capt Marga
The event is actually in California hun not CO. As for time period it is during the reign of Queen Elizabeth the first. So the 15 to 1600's. The season is Nov, but this is the Mohave desert area of the Colorado river basin. Average Temps can be highs in the 70's and lows in the 50's range from what I'm told. For full details on the fest I have posted it on another board:
http://www.renaissancefestival.com/forums/index.php?topic=9124.0
It is going to be the first year of this event named "Kingdom by the River". Since it's the first season though and we aren't going overboard on the historical accuracy thing, it really doesn't make to much difference if peoples garb is "that" accurate.
We're looking more for people who are willing to come out, have fun and enjoy themselves and help others have fun through out the day. Sadly though because of certain issues with the planning committee, the training session we were going to have for improve street performing has been canceled.
A Ren Faire in Needles CA? Last time I was in Needles it was 18 degrees F. :D
Wish I could help, but I'm on the other end of the country. :(
http://scribe.faire.net/faqs/Renstart.Htm
I'm across the country, but this article written decades ago, might help some.
Thanks for the info Queen Maggie, even though we are way past the initial planning stages of the event. I was really looking for local people who would be interested in working as street performers. I've been rather disappointed with a lack of enthusiasm from any of the locals with that idea though. Perhaps next year I'll get more results :/
Try your local high schools and performing arts schools: they'll at least be intrigued by the idea of gaining an audience. Juggling clubs? Improv comedians?
Most people with top of the line interaction skills will expect to be paid (and, please don't ask them to do it free "for the exposure and advertising value" that's truly an insult) But students, starting out might well be available.
We've hit up the local high schools with little real reaction, believe it or not. But we do have some performance groups from them coming out to do some things. So that should be fun to see. We're two weeks away from opening gate now so this idea is pretty much moot at this point. I'm hoping to get more interest from any locals next year though. I was hopeful but realistic with this being our first run, but you gotta try. Thanks for the help.
Have you thought about getting in touch with the local Wench and Rogue guilds in the area and offering an invite? That would be a good way to get the word out to local rennies. The Wench forum should be able to help you out.
Good luck in your new venture. :)
Quote from: Anna Iram on November 04, 2009, 07:48:08 AM
Have you thought about getting in touch with the local Wench and Rogue guilds in the area and offering an invite? That would be a good way to get the word out to local rennies. The Wench forum should be able to help you out.
Good luck in your new venture. :)
Unfortunately, most of the performers in California are not or no longer members of the these social guilds as they were members of the performing guilds (St. Ives, St. Cuthberts, Court, etc...).
As currently California really has no central communication may I suggest the Friends of Faire boards? Many of the performers out here check those on a regular basis.
I looked at the Friends of Faire site and unfortunately the cost factor would prevent myself from joining. I can suggest it to the head of the committee but right now our budget is so tight it's hard to justify something at this point without being able to show an immediate return for the first season. Especially since it depends on the success of this season as to whether or not we'll be able to have one next year? Besides which, it also looks like the regions for the site don't really cover this area of southern California, only "Southern" which isn't really a good describer of a location "Bristol" and New York".
But thanks for the advice.
Quote from: Davyes on November 04, 2009, 12:10:40 PM
Quote from: Anna Iram on November 04, 2009, 07:48:08 AM
Have you thought about getting in touch with the local Wench and Rogue guilds in the area and offering an invite? That would be a good way to get the word out to local rennies. The Wench forum should be able to help you out.
Good luck in your new venture. :)
Unfortunately, most of the performers in California are not or no longer members of the these social guilds as they were members of the performing guilds (St. Ives, St. Cuthberts, Court, etc...).
As currently California really has no central communication may I suggest the Friends of Faire boards? Many of the performers out here check those on a regular basis.
Perhaps you won't get seasoned performers on the social guilds, but there should still be plenty of rennies with outgoing personalities who know how to play. I'd still give those a shot, especially the forum on wench.org that's dedicated to the local in your area. You'll still probably have to have a conversation about what is and isn't allowable behavior from a performer's POV, but they'll certainly be more experienced than high school or college students who've never been to faire before.
A couple of others thoughts for you, though you may well have covered this already. Don't rule out the Arizona market, even though the faire is technically in CA. There's four faires in AZ, and all but one seem not to be an overlong drive from Needles,(well,, not by Rennie standards :D) unless I'm musjudging distanes. You might look and see if any of these faires have a Facebook you can join and get to know more prospective villagers that way.
http://www.renaissancefestival.com/festivals/list.php?state=arizona