Could the Faire ever be moved out of the stormy season?

[Tiberius]

Hello all, Very nice to be here, I am new to this wonderful forum but have been going the TN Faire for years. It seems like we have had a really bad time with the weather for a number of years now. Is there a reason they choose to have the faire in the middle of spring which is by far Tennessee's worst weather season?  Does anyone know if the powers that be ever though of moving it to another time of the year. Summer can get hot but at least not as much rain and Autumn would be beautiful and cool out in the forest setting. 

I would think that we will start to lose performers/vendors if they keep losing so many days work from flooding, mud, rain, tornadoes etc every year. I love having it in the spring when the weather is nice,  but it just seems like the precious few days we get for the Faire are less and less every year because of this ridiculous weather. I am guessing that the Ren Faires around the country try and schedule around each other out of respect? Just wondering out loud here on a day when I had hoped to be at the faire and not down in the basement hiding from tornadoes yet again!

I hope everyone is staying safe and dry which in the end is what is truly important. Hoping for a sunny weekend next weekend! 

[celtaban]

The fair was originally in the summertime - June or July, I forget - and we got rainouts then.  I remember vividly watching people slip-sliding down the muddy pathways on the old site, and sitting in my tent staring out at the rain, when I wasn't melting from the heat.  The weather issue is why the show was originally moved to May, if memory serves.  April is a stormy/cold month; July, August and September are unbearably hot.  That leaves October and November, which have their share of wild weather.  You also have to consider overlaps with other festivals (not just renfairs, but also colonial and celtic events) that are within easy driving distance.  Scheduling is a headache - I'm just glad I don't have to pick the dates!

[Sigundo]

Not really sure myself, as I just started going to faires last year, but from what I have noticed, faires tend to avoid overlapping with another in the same region. Two opposing faires within a few hundred miles would compete with each other,  and even if there were enough patrons to support two faires at ones, many of the performers and vendors go from place to place and couldn't be in two places at the same time. Even as it stands now you have to be careful on the first and last weekends of any faire as you may miss a show or vendor because they are either still at the last one or have left to one just starting up.

Still, I understand completely, as I myself hate hot weather and try to go on the (normally) coolest time that the fair is running. Which is why I planned on the 8th/9th for Tennessee, and the first weekend of the Kentucky faire, then a break while the sun beats down and back to Ohio faire in October. Looks like this next weekend is supposed to be good, but then again its already went from sunny / cool to 30 percent chance of thunderstorms as the forecast gets more accurate the closer we get.. I hope it holds at "slight chance" or better. I don't get many weekends off without a fight, so a cancelled trip pretty much sets it to "try again next year" for me...

[BLAKDUKE]

the heat was the main reason for the faire being moved to May.  June was ususally 90+ degrees and heat stroke.  May is only a little better.  There is overlap with other faires(GARF + SCARBY)  but not in any way injurious to TNRF attendance since Nasville can more than hold its own.   That being the case backing up 2 weeks to do 2 weeks in april and 2 in May might help but I still thinks it's a toss up as fasr as the weather, however doing that would lose the long Memorial day week end.