Let The Countdown Begin!

[jrcoolt]

The aftermath of this weekend is bittersweet, and has some good-news/bad-news from our end of things.

The bad news- after the things I saw and heard inside faire this weekend, the skyrocketing prices for, well, everything, and learning some things that are going on behind the scenes that gave my inner moral outrage an eye twitch (and not rumours, got it directly from the source), this is my last year at TRF for the foreseeable future. It's lost its way, and there are other faires that still have the soul of what made TRF great for so long. So, alas, after over a quarter century t'would appear tis time to part ways.

The good news- This means I'll have more money (MUCH more, dear Gods and Ancestors, $9 for a turkey leg?!?) for Sherwood, and can even check out Avalon. I will be taking a large group of people with me as we jump ship from TRF, which means we might be able to put together enough to get ten paid people out every weekend (or ten FoF passes) to get a clan camping slot in the cue if I can pull it off. *crosses fingers*

Breandan,

Are you able to provide any more information on what is going on? My clan and I are still pretty new to the scene (About 4 years), and we are still enjoying ourselves. I have noticed a price increase as well. We have also made a few appearances at Sherwood, and I do very much enjoy Sherwood. i am just curious on if we should follow suit and consider just Sherwood. I know we haven't been around as long, and haven't seen as many changes as many of you.

[Sir Martin]

Looks like another weekend with "liguid sunshine".  StudMuffin hates that.  He easily gets stuck in the mud, not to mention possibly shorting out.
Hopefully next weekend will be drier.  I need my faire fix booster.
Queen Bonnie & Merlin, please see what you can do to divert the moisture from the sky.

All sorts of craziness has prevented me from getting out to TRF so far this season, but I'm going to do my darndest to make it for Highland Fling and Celtic Christmas weekends.

[KeeperoftheBar]

Looks like the weather Wizards performed and this weekend should be dry and cool.  So StudMuffin and I will be daytripping on Saturday.  If you see us riding by, give a shout out.

[Breandan]

Breandan,

Are you able to provide any more information on what is going on? My clan and I are still pretty new to the scene (About 4 years), and we are still enjoying ourselves. I have noticed a price increase as well. We have also made a few appearances at Sherwood, and I do very much enjoy Sherwood. i am just curious on if we should follow suit and consider just Sherwood. I know we haven't been around as long, and haven't seen as many changes as many of you.

It's not any one particular thing so much as the culmination of a lot of major and minor things and the general feel of the place. Some of the things that rubbed me the wrong way are insider things people who aren't familiar with the inner workings and history of faire, while others- particular the price increases and the loss of the Rennie soul of the faire- are pretty evident to anyone but the Beer-and-Bewbies crowd. I say look around, feel for yourself and figure out what you want to do. A lot of the folks here go out to TRF solely because of friends and not for the faire itself, but that will only carry so far. I always advocate people make up their own minds on things

[dbaldock]

Looks like the weather Wizards performed and this weekend should be dry and cool.  So StudMuffin and I will be daytripping on Saturday.  If you see us riding by, give a shout out.

Hope you have a fun weekend!

But even when it's wet at TRF, I'll bet StudMuffin's eccentric cousin could get around...    

[Breandan]

As an FYI, due to "issues" we'll be daytripping tomorrow and then heading home. We'll be out by noonish, and I'll be hanging out at the Barbarian Inn quite a bit

[KeeperoftheBar]

Looks like the weather Wizards performed and this weekend should be dry and cool.  So StudMuffin and I will be daytripping on Saturday.  If you see us riding by, give a shout out.

Hope you have a fun weekend!

But even when it's wet at TRF, I'll bet StudMuffin's eccentric cousin could get around...    



That is exactly what I need, if only it had a motor and a place to set my beer....

[dbaldock]

As an FYI, due to "issues" we'll be daytripping tomorrow and then heading home. We'll be out by noonish, and I'll be hanging out at the Barbarian Inn quite a bit

Aren't there some burlesque performers at the Barbarian Inn?   

[Breandan]

There are, and they are attractive as hell, but I go upstairs to relax and just let some of the tension go. It's a weird mix of character immersion and catharsis, because while I walk in there as a weary battle-scarred barbarian warrior looking to kick back and down some ale as a character, I also walk in there as the 21st century equivalent of that looking to find a place where I am not reflexively watching my back and tense waiting for IDF to drop on me while I sit down at a table. I sit there and soak in the environment and step out of the real world and all of the cares, pain, troubles, nightmares, etc. and step into a fantasy world where war is more noble and glorious, taverns are a place for song and ale rather than bar fights and chem tests on the ladies' drinks (long story), and where I can be Hrolf of Norland for a bit. Used to be able to do that faire-wide, but these days the number of places I can let my guard down and relax shrinks every year. I get an eye twitch at the Sea Devil due to the crowd and noise, and the Prince of Wales is great for a break on hot days, but too closed-in. Anyway, apologies for the exposition, it just kinda came out. Been a seriously stressful day for people in my profession, and I've been fielding work emails that have left me on edge. See everyone tomorrow!

[Breandan]

Sleep deprivation, sugar rush from eggnog, and nuclear ordnance are a bad combination, m'kay? 

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

There are, and they are attractive as hell, but I go upstairs to relax and just let some of the tension go. It's a weird mix of character immersion and catharsis, because while I walk in there as a weary battle-scarred barbarian warrior looking to kick back and down some ale as a character, I also walk in there as the 21st century equivalent of that looking to find a place where I am not reflexively watching my back and tense waiting for IDF to drop on me while I sit down at a table. I sit there and soak in the environment and step out of the real world and all of the cares, pain, troubles, nightmares, etc. and step into a fantasy world where war is more noble and glorious, taverns are a place for song and ale rather than bar fights and chem tests on the ladies' drinks (long story), and where I can be Hrolf of Norland for a bit. Used to be able to do that faire-wide, but these days the number of places I can let my guard down and relax shrinks every year. I get an eye twitch at the Sea Devil due to the crowd and noise, and the Prince of Wales is great for a break on hot days, but too closed-in. Anyway, apologies for the exposition, it just kinda came out. Been a seriously stressful day for people in my profession, and I've been fielding work emails that have left me on edge. See everyone tomorrow!

A lot of us that have a brain are nervous right now...

Carry an extra mag or two.

[jrcoolt]

It's not any one particular thing so much as the culmination of a lot of major and minor things and the general feel of the place. Some of the things that rubbed me the wrong way are insider things people who aren't familiar with the inner workings and history of faire, while others- particular the price increases and the loss of the Rennie soul of the faire- are pretty evident to anyone but the Beer-and-Bewbies crowd. I say look around, feel for yourself and figure out what you want to do. A lot of the folks here go out to TRF solely because of friends and not for the faire itself, but that will only carry so far. I always advocate people make up their own minds on things

Thanks for explaining. My group was just out there this past weekend, and boy was it busy. Ive actually never seen that long of lines before. I will be out there again for Celtic Christmas, which it the trend keeps up, will more than likely be the same way. I do agree that the faire has lost some of the things I originally found magical. The feeling that it was a different world, a different time where (I am also a barbarian) was away from war in a village relaxing and picking up wares for my next quest. That feeling seems to have dwindled a bit.

I will more than likely continue my trips to TRF, but I think next year it will be a lot less. I am looking at probably only twice. I have already begun making plans for more trips to Sherwood in the upcoming season.

[Breandan]

TRF goes through self-correcting cycles. Reading back-issues of TRF-WTF (which is back up and running, by the way, got informed of that this weekend) you can see the ups and downs TRF has been through one of those cycles ('08-'15). It will nosedive hard (bets are that next year will be terrible, as a lot of folks are likely not coming back), bottom out, then start the climb back up and eventually have a year or three that are excellent. I'll be back for those years. The art is learning the cycle and learning when to go out and enjoy faire, and when to stay home and save money for Sherwood, Avalon, Scarby, etc.

Oh, and we'll also be out closing Sunday for Celtic Christmas for the kids.

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

TRF goes through self-correcting cycles. Reading back-issues of TRF-WTF (which is back up and running, by the way, got informed of that this weekend) you can see the ups and downs TRF has been through one of those cycles ('08-'15). It will nosedive hard (bets are that next year will be terrible, as a lot of folks are likely not coming back), bottom out, then start the climb back up and eventually have a year or three that are excellent. I'll be back for those years. The art is learning the cycle and learning when to go out and enjoy faire, and when to stay home and save money for Sherwood, Avalon, Scarby, etc.

Oh, and we'll also be out closing Sunday for Celtic Christmas for the kids.

I should be there...

[Awilda Rider]

We too have branched out to other Faires. Since my crew is in Louisiana, we patron LARF, although we don't quite consider it home.  We tried out Avalon this last year and everyone seemed really nice. Of course, our original plan was to go to Four Winds, but we all know how that turned out. We try to plan our Faires around holidays so that we can stretch it out and take the extra time off. This next year, we are going to hit GCRF in Pensacola (day trip), Sherwood for Easter, and possibly Scarby at the end of April as a birthday bash.
I have heard a lot of negatives about TRF this year through the various groups I lurk in. But I say that Faire is what you make it. I love it...it is my happy place!