Ummm... "bondage camp"??

[PollyPoPo]

we have been going to the ref fest for over 10 years but this was the first time to camp. i pulled the  trailer in early. friday morning and picked a spot in the new area right on the road across from the handycap parkng. i set up my tt and got it ready fo
the family's arrival. there was no signs up yet for bondage camp. i was approached late in the day as more of them showed up and was told if i had kids i had to move. i told them there is no reserved parking. when i pulled in there was no one in the area.we got into a bit of an argument and i told them i had no problew with what they were doing but they should hace choosen a more isolated area. The group turned out to be rspectfull ....

Thank you prothos for giving us more insight into what was actually transpiring between at least some of the bondage group and campers who had already set up before the bondage group arrived.  While you stood up to them and stayed, rather than be involved in an argument/altercation, other campers may have just packed up and moved to the quiet campgrounds or left the campgrounds entirely. 

Posts by campground management through the last couple years (here and on the Facebook pages), have repeatedly responded to queries about the "adult" area by saying there is no "adult" area; there is general camping and the quiet area. 

While Terre Albert indicated TRF is tolerant of various lifestyles, if big groups like this come in and are allowed to displace campers already set up, does that not create an intolerance for the other campers? 

In this particular case, prothos said he was told if he had kids he had to move; Barbarian Queen told us she and her escort were stopped while driving back to their campsite and asked if they had children.  Is there a procedure in place for campers who are told to move by a someone not wanting kids in the area to report such activity to officers or management? 

Perhaps it is time for TRF campgrounds to reconsider reserved areas or designating specific areas for adult-themed camping. 

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

This is my point.  Established clans DO NOT impose upon campers not affiliated with them.  I have yet to see any clan threaten people camped in "their" area...usually its "Howdy Neighbor", the clan scoots over a bit and invites the others to come by for a beer.  Bondage Camp isn't really a clan... its a loose group of like minded individuals.  Kind of like my clan, they only camp once a year... we talked to some of the "leaders" during the open house and they seemed to be nice people.  I'm sorry that some people from their group tried to be a**hats but as a whole, it sounds like they tried to follow the unwritten clan rules.  If they REALLY wanted that spot, they would've had landgrabbers there Thursday morning.

This is all IMO.   

[Seamus Ex Machina]

Naked Ed......(shudder)

[BarbarianQueen]

Again, just to clarify -
Bondage camp wasn't really a clan, and they weren't claiming a "spot". The single sign for the event was on the main road outside Chaos camp. It seemed to basically designate the entire new area, and that proved to be the case. There may have been a "central" area, but multiple camps were there to participate (20?), scattered throughout the entire new area (which is about  the size of the entire original area near the bonfire). And, many of the individual camps had  set up quite the elaborate bondage equipment.  We saw probably 10-12 large wooden bondage crosses set up across the new area. Only a couple  of these were in use during the afternoon, but from the sounds of smacking and moans of pleasure, quite a few more were in use as the sun went down

Well, I've said my piece, and now have begun to feel like I'm judging or expressing distaste for what folks were engaged in, and that was not my intent or purpose. My only thought was to raise questions of how groups like this could be safely managed in the future, such that TRF doesn't run into problems, putting the rest of our fun at risk.

Rest assured, Camp Naked Knights and Disrobed Damsels will be tucked away in a quiet corner somewhere in the old or new camp, with good screening and warnings, far from impressionable young eyes, and, like Shangri La, the only way to find  it will be through sheer luck, help from the Barbarian God's, or if the Barbarian Queen smiles upon you and imparts the secret directions...   

[prothos]

Smile away on me queen. We will return Barbarian weekend without kids in tow.

[PollyPoPo]

Ah, Barbarian Queen, you might have just hit upon what  I question. 

While, as Laird Fraser says, clans may have traditional spots for camping and send "land grabbers" to make sure they get tents up first, the bondage group appears to have decided that the entire new area was theirs and by virtue of a sign they could make it off-limits to other campers who might have members under 21.

Several years ago, clan groups sent people ahead to put up ropes or sheeting barriers to block off large areas for their particular group.  That is no longer allowed. 

If the long-established clans cannot claim an area without having tents on the ground and clam members on site, is it acceptable for this group to do just that?

The question has nothing to do with their activities, but why they can designate the entire new area for their exclusive use simply by posting a sign. 

[<Alex>]

...By the way, for those who didn't venture over or weren't there ( we DID go over to say hi to some of the camps), this wasn't really a "bondage camp", like camp McLotofus or Phoenix Risen...

  Wait, we're a bondage camp?

  The wife and I must be going to sleep way too early.

[Breandan]

Alex, you have noooo idea 

...seriously, though, Mouse had a line longer than a downtown McDonalds drivethrough at lunch rush waiting to spank him, I think it wrapped around the camp twice. Dunno if that counts, per se, but he didn't seem to mind much

[SirRichardBear]

BarbarianQueen you make me wish I was camping in two weeks.   I'll not be down again till highland weekend or closing.  If  Camp Naked Knights and Disrobed Damsels are there then I'll just have to force my self to visit and say hello

[BarbarianQueen]

...By the way, for those who didn't venture over or weren't there ( we DID go over to say hi to some of the camps), this wasn't really a "bondage camp", like camp McLotofus or Phoenix Risen...

  Wait, we're a bondage camp?

  The wife and I must be going to sleep way too early.

Ha!  Not my intention - it has been edited to reflect my meaning.

[Zardoz]

   yet another reason ol' Zardoz never camps anymore

[Finn McCool]

New user here.. Hello everyone

My family and I are the ones mentioned in the original post and indicated by the blue dot on the map posted by BarbarianQueen. This is the story of how we got there

Our family consists of my wife, myself and our 4 children (all 6 and under).  This is our second year camping at TRF (visiting the fair for 5.)

I arrived at the campgrounds around 2:00 and began to look for a place to camp.  Having experienced the opening weekend deluge, I wanted to scout a few areas out before I set up camp.  We do not like the family camping area.  It is too far from the entrance, too quite, too secluded, no shade, and few porta potties.  When you have 4 kids, it is wise to camp near the potties (and the entrance).  Although this is only our second year, we have camped multiple times in different areas (we have not yet found the perfect spot or clan to camp with).
SO back to the story, after driving around for 30 minutes I decide to talk to Red Beard and Bonny Pearl about a good place to camp.  Bonny, pointed out the bondage camp so I would not camp near there (Thank you Bonny.)  So I continued to drive around - and still could not find an appropriate spot (groups kept running me off the second I drove up telling me I could not camp near them because they were having more people arrive - even though there was no one at the spot at the time.)  After many unsuccessful attempts I decided to camp near the entrance and close to 4 porta potties in a row.  I found a flat spot and proceeded to set up the camp.  Come to realize - after I had set up the tent and canopy, that I was right in front of the bondage camp.  I did not realize it was right behind me.  There were no signs in the area I was in - the signs were on the road in front of the bondage camp - not the entrance road.  No one came up to me and warned me or asked if I had kids. I did not realize where I was camped until I saw a 'gentleman' who was camped next to me unpack a cage (dog cage) and paddles. As I began to look around I saw a woman bent over a car bumper getting flogged.  Now I am a very open minded person I could care less what anyone does - and in fact under different circumstances - who knows I may be there myself.  This does not mean,  however, that I want my 6 year old daughter to be exposed to it.  So back to the story, after I figured out where I was, I called my wife (who was still driving - with the children) and told her the situation.  We determined that we would reassess the situation when she arrived.  In the meantime, I re-arranged the canopy and my truck to block the views and hoped it would be enough.  Luckily 2 RV's parked perpendicular to our tent and completed our security perimeter.  When my wife finally arrived, we determined that between the canopy, the truck, her mini-van, and the 2 rv's  our view was almost completely obstructed.  It turned out well and we stayed the entire weekend.  No one ever asked us to leave and I never had to ask anyone to remove themselves from my children's' view.  Overall we had a extremely nice weekend with zero problems.

Now people could say (and they do) that my family and I should stick to the family area - I say hell no.  That is the most boring place at the entire faire.  We like being around people, the noise, and the general faire camping atmosphere.  My only wish is that we sometimes had a babysitter so my wife and I could participate in some of the adult activities.

I will see you all soon
McCool

[Bonny Pearl]

Finn!!  You finally made it on here lol!  Good to see you!

[Sir Martin]

Ladies and Gents,

This thread is informative, but has at times gotten a bit too spicy for the public section of R/F.  Please remember that images and video (and links to these) cannot contain nudity.   We all appreciate helpful info about the campgrounds (and other aspects of TRF), but this info cannot include details about activity that is of a sexual nature.  Adult fun is part of our great faire, but we are drifting a bit too far into specificity here.

[Finn McCool]

Thank You Bonny and Barbarian Queen for your warm welcome.

I have tried many times to register for the site but never had the motivation to not to give up until this thread.  I told my wife "hey honey they are talking about us on renaissancefestival.com".  She was a bit shocked 

Anyway I did want to add to the discussion a little more.  When Bonny told me about the camp, we were located near Laughs a Lot. I did not know that the bondage camp was spread about the entire area all the way to the last camping spots in the far corner located on entrance road.  The area was HUGE.  This is why I did not realize we were in the camping areas for the folks participating in the activities.  The extravaganza was actually pretty far away.  I doubt we could have seen anything even without my obstructions.  It was just the participants that were near us.  One group or about ten 20somethings were actually not even involved so, it was not that bad.  The only suspects were a little north of us.

The only problem my wife and had with the bondage camp was the location.  It was positioned so that almost everyone in the entire camp had to pass by it at some time.  There was no escaping it. You could not choose to bypass it.  In other words you could not give your consent. You were compelled to be subjected to it.  Even if you did not participate or search it out, it was so evident that you could not miss it.  Everyone in the entire camp knew exactly where it was because they had to pass by it.  In my opinion, it should be located in the desolate hinterland - AKA Family Camping. 

McCool