Help! Burnout!!

[Lady Toadflinger]

 Well, I'm sorry to admit it, but I came home from Folsom Ren Faire today and concluded that I am suffering from Faire Burnout!   We just have so many small faires in Northern California that are run by the same company, and they have the same entertainment, vendors and food! I am actually glad that  the season is over for several months! AAACK! Has anybody else had this problem? If so, how do you keep it from ruining your faire experiences?

[LadyShadow]

I've had that problem before, but not with faire.  I just reduced my exposure to it for some time until I felt that the joy and excitement started to return.  Best of luck.

[Lady Neysa]

From what I've heard from other people, this feeling is completely normal.  We don't like to admit it, but too much of a good thing can make one jaded.  Who would want it to be Christmas everyday?  Sure, it may seem great at first, but after a while, it would get old.  Perhaps for a while you should limit yourself to just one of two of your most favorite faires if you can.  Or go less and give yourself a chance to miss it, "absence makes the heart grow fonder", and all of that..

[Noble Dreg]

I too have suffered "burn-out" at fair and outside of it.  We all get bored with what we love, work, play, Hobbies, spouse.

The key is to re-energize your love.  I realized years ago I had become routine in my fair visits.  Where I ate, shopped, pee'd, it all became a scheduled event.  I decided to go to different fairs to break the cycle...way different fairs.  I went to TRF one year and Twig the next (Texas is by far the biggest and Twig in northern Minnesota by far the smallest).  When I felt burnout coming back again I signed on to work in a shop every weekend, what a blast!

When I tired of building/flying R/C models I moved up to real jet turbine powered models.

Burnout and boredom are human nature...shake it up, try something new and have your own "Renaissance"!

[Craigmeister]

Ditto to what Noble Dreg said.  I experienced burnout about 5 years ago b/c I only thought that Oklahoma had 1 Renfest.  I went to it once or twice a year.  I was on the brink of quitting Renfests altogether.  Once I started looking at websites that list the Renfests around the U.S., I found several more in my own backyard.  I started to go to them throughout the year & now I am quite happy.  I also have gotten involved in Renfests.  I've created my own website which lists the fests around here & I set up a booth at a lot of them sharing that info.  It has been loads of fun & I've learned lots.  Try new festivals in different areas & see how things are done differently.  It's a blast!

[Lady_Claira]

I also find that a nice break helps with the burn out. Because of my funds and the fact that I have to drive quite a distance (anywhere from an hour to three hours) to get to a ren faire, I find that I don't have the opportunity to go to as many as others. And having been on the cast of one this year, I am definitely burnt out and exhausted and not in the mood to do anything faire related for awhile.

So I'm taking a nice winter break. By the time spring comes around with faire season starting up and auditions for faires being posted, I'll be missing my friends so much that I won't be able to sit still and wait for the audition notices even being posted.

[Lady Toadflinger]

Gramercy for the advice.  I think I am going to try something a bit different: A Dickens Christmas Faire.  There is one in San Francisco in late Nov and most of Dec.  Now all I have to do is dig up or make garb!

[Capt Robertsgrave Thighbiter]

We ( The Brigands) perform basically from April thru October, with July off ( July is sacrosant, being the time of the annual mid-summer themed backyard party, now in its 6 year and would cause my wife to divorce me if it were not held).  Even we get burnt out a bit.  Albiet at different faires and festivals.
Our method of coping is ..... mischief!  Pranks,  petty thievery of props from cast and friends ( to be returned of course), and coming up with street bits to play with patrons ( my favorite).

Example, our run of CTRF is 4 weeks.  I make cool fake pirate hooks ( real steel hooks) and I found an old rubber hand. I got hours and hours of enjoyment walking up to patrons and either tossing the hand on the ground in front of them or accosting them, asking if anyone if thier group was a seamstress. Simple, stupid joke for a simple stupid pirate, but I coulda done that all day!